Tag Archives: Wells Fargo

Wells Fargo announced a small shakeup in leadership. Effective May 15, current CFO Timothy J. Sloan will take over a new position as head of the bank’s Wholesale Banking group, with EVP John R. Shrewsberry stepping up to the CFO role.

According to a company release, Carrington has lowered its minimum credit requirements to a FICO score of 550 and expanded its guidelines on certain loan programs under the Federal Housing Administration (FHA), Veterans Affairs (VA), and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), extending eligibility to more property types and reducing overlays.

The appointed monitor for the National Mortgage Settlement revealed Tuesday that all banks involved in the settlement have satisfied their consumer relief and refinancing obligations—and nearly a year ahead of schedule. In a release, Joseph A. Smith Jr. commented, "Because of the way this landmark agreement was designed, an unprecedented amount of relief has been provided to consumers quickly and efficiently."

In two reports issued separately Monday, Wells Fargo's Economics Group explores two promising trends that both indicate a positive climate for economic growth. The first report follows FDIC loan performance, noting cyclical improvement in loan performance and a trend favorable for credit quality. The second report comments on underwriting practices, noting ongoing relaxing in standards.

While mortgage origination volumes looked different last year compared to 2012, the list of top lenders looked very much the same. In full-year originations, Wells Fargo held on to its top spot, generating approximately $351 billion in loans—about 19 percent of last year’s total volume, according to Mortgage Daily. JPMorgan Chase followed up at No. 2 at $168 billion.

A. Charles Thomas has been appointed to oversee data strategy at Wells Fargo as chief data officer, the bank announced.

Wells Fargo is reportedly looking to return to the subprime market by bringing in customers with credit scores as low as 600, according to Reuters. Lenders venturing back into the high-risk loans market are even using a subtle marketing trick to assuage fear and spur demand—subprime loans become "another chance mortgages" or "alternative mortgages," shedding the stigmatized "subprime" label, the report says.

A recently announced deal between Ocwen and Wells Fargo on $39 billion in mortgage servicing rights has been halted by the New York Department of Financial Services amid investigations of alleged abusive behavior toward borrowers. Ocwen announced Thursday the indefinite hold on the deal by the New York Department of Financial Services headed by Benjamin Lawsky. In its release, Ocwen pledged to work with the regulator to resolve concerns about its servicing portfolio growth.

For the entire year, industry numbers point to a total of $1.8 trillion in originations, well above what many analysts projected at the opening of the year. Given the current trend of declining mortgage rates and the Federal Housing Finance Agency's expected push to open credit availability at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, FBR Capital Markets says we might see originations in 2014 push to $1.3 trillion or higher, depending on how the next few months play out.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) released over the weekend its year-end ranking of commercial and multifamily servicers' volumes--and once again, Wells Fargo topped the list. According to MBA's numbers, Wells Fargo took the No. 1 spot with $434.4 billion in dollar volume and 33,354 in loan volume. Following it were PNC Real Estate ($369.6 billion, up from $337.6 billion the previous year) and Berkadia Commercial Mortgage ($235.4 billion, up from $197.3 billion).