Tag Archives: Investors

While the nation's negative equity rate continues to diminish--falling an estimated 7.4 percentage points since the start of the year through October--Lender Processing Services (LPS) says a new threat looms in the form of home equity loans. According to LPS' data, the average credit score for a borrower with a home equity line of credit (HELOC) originated in 2007 has fallen about 20 points since then, posing a threat to lenders who "are often on the hook for almost all of 2nd lien losses."

In 1998, the top ten mortgage loan originators held around 40 percent of the market. By 2010, their share increased to nearly 80 percent; since then, it's dropped down to around 60 percent. Why the decrease? Because only five of the top 20 single-family mortgage originators in 2006 remain active today. So what's driving the big guys out--market cycles or market restructuring? And will the current trend of favoring smaller lenders last forever? Fannie Mae's Gerry Flood and Patrick Fischetti explored the topic in a recent commentary.

Reverse mortgage software provider ReverseVision has a new client: Universal Lending Corporation (ULC), a Denver-based lender with more than three decades of experience in the business.

As part of its "Strategic Plan for Enterprise Conservatorships," the Federal Housing Finance Agency has directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to bring up their guarantee fees (g-fees). Based on the GSEs' loan purchases in Q3 2013, FHFA expects the announced changes to the g-fee structure to produce an overall average g-fee increase of approximately 11 basis points, which represents an average increase of 14 basis points on a typical 30-year mortgage.

The Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) of San Francisco has elected Pacific Premier Bancorp CEO Steven R. Gardner to its board of directors.

The Mortgage Bankers Association's" (MBA) Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI) slipped 1.2 percent to settle at 110.2 in November, wiping out the 0.7 percent gain recorded a month prior.

LoanSifter, a Wisconsin-based company specializing in technology for loan originators and secondary departments, is hosting two industry panels this week to address concerns and strategies revolving around the soon-to-be-implemented qualified mortgage (QM) rule.

The Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) has had laser sharp focus on ensuring foreclosure fraud offenders suffer the consequences of their offenses. A northern California man is now behind bars after a SIGTARP investigation found he used the U.S. bankruptcy courts to con desperate homeowners into paying him monthly fees to postpone foreclosure proceedings. He was sentenced to 10 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release on fraud charges.

Crowdsourcing caught fire as a vehicle for financing documentaries and small businesses. Now, the concept of pooled resources is being used as an investment vehicle offering equities in homeownership to investors and loan assistance to selected prospective homeowners. One of the first companies to offer such a program is PRIMARQ, a capital market company headed up by founder and CEO Steve Cinelli, who says equity deficiencies have become a major barrier for prospective homeowners.

In Massachusetts, Pro Teck Valuation Services introduced Appraisal Desktop with Inspection (ADI), a new hybrid appraisal product for home equity and second mortgage lending.