Tag Archives: Company News

In New York and Florida, sellers appear to be gaining an advantage in the marketplace. According to data Manhattan Miami Real Estate, both states demonstrated significant pricing increases during the first quarter.

Fitch Ratings downgraded servicer ratings for Residential Capital LLC on the heels of a bankruptcy filing by the Ally Financial subsidiary. The ratings agency slashed credit ratings for the residential servicer to RMS4, down from RMS3. Earlier Monday Ally Financial announced that Residential Capital, or ResCap, decided to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy, selling assets from the estate to Lewisville, Texas-based Nationstar Mortgage Holdings Inc. Nationstar billed the maneuver as one that would make it the nation's largest non-bank residential mortgage lender and one of the largest residential mortgage originators.

Residential Capital LLC, the embattled mortgage subsidiary of Ally Financial, filed Chapter 11 Monday, with Nationstar Mortgage Holdings Inc. set to acquire it. The Detroit-based company framed the move as a way to shave losses, repay taxpayers, and preserve its position as an auto lender. Lewisville, Texas-based Nationstar said in a separate announcement that it would acquire ResCap, with the purchase including $374 billion in mortgage servicing assets and $201 billion in primary residential mortgage servicing rights.

California-based technology provider, Platinum Data Solutions, has announced a new reverse mortgage client partnership in San Diego. The company recently revealed that Plaza Home Mortgage Inc. has implemented Platinum's RealView platform, targeting quality appraisal review for reverse mortgages across the U.S.

Coester Appraisal Group is updating its technology offerings, recently announcing enhancements to the company's Cloud Control program. The platform upgrade will add Coester's automated appraisal review technology, C-Data, to the Cloud Control module.

Fannie Mae revealed that it produced $2.7 billion in net income for the first quarter this year, enough to prevent another draw from the Treasury, a first for the mortgage giant since it entered federal conservatorship in 2008. The favorable results offer a significant difference to a net loss of $6.5 billion from the same quarter last year, along with a net loss of $2.4 billion by the fourth quarter. Despite net income for the first quarter, Fannie Mae sustains a debt for more than $180 billion in taxpayer funds it has received with Freddie Mac since 2008.

Targeting better risk management for the mortgage-backed securities market, RiskSpan, Inc., has added a new independent pricing initiative to the company's service offerings. The enhancement will give risk managers, traders, and pricing professionals immediate, daily access to security prices and changes, enhancing risk mitigation and streamlining audits.

Proving that financial and mortgage professionals do take a break from the bank occasionally, Wells Fargo recently received an award from United Way in honor of the company's volunteer activities.

Mortgage origination numbers from the first quarter of the year are in and closing totals indicate a generally diminished lending pace. While diverse factors contributed to the decline in originations, the departure of two major correspondent lenders during the period are considered a key catalyst in driving down closings. According to statements from Mortgage Lender Ranking, residential production sunk by 5.56 percent between quarters. However, year-over-year origination tallies are in opposition to the quarter-to-quarter results, showing a 10.88 percent improvement.

PHH Mortgage Corp. revealed Monday that it will supply private-label mortgage origination services to HSBC Bank, an agreement that brought approval from market experts. The Mt. Laurel, New Jersey-based financial institution and subsidiary of PHH Corp. said that it would subservice HSBC's $15.5 billion prime mortgage loan portfolio, along with $36.6 billion of loans serviced by the bank for third-party investors. PHH said that it expected 400 HSBC employees would transfer from its Depew, New York-based facilities to operations elsewhere in the area.