Refinance Free Credit

A series of letters sent this week to banks by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. served to warn mortgage bankers on HELOCs and REO management practices, as many are increasingly looking to freeze home equity lines and find ways to reduce carry cost associated with growing inventories of bank-owned real estate. The deep freeze hitting many [...]

As the origination industry continues to contract, it’s certainly worth noting whenever a new lender makes the decision to jump in — doubly so when that lender starts off with a nationwide wholesale mortgage operation. Laguna Hills, Calif.-based Fortes Financial, Inc. said Tuesday that it had rolled out Fortes Residential Mortgage, a nationwide independent mortgage banking [...]

A housing bill frozen in the Senate is “running out of time,” White House spokesperson Tony Fratto said in a press conference Tuesday. Softening the administration’s stance on proposed housing relief legislation set to be at the top of Congress’ list after the July 4 break, Fratto said that President Bush wants to see a [...]

It looks like investors and rating agencies alike are discovering REO, finally. Unprecedented growth of U.S. real estate-owned property volumes and the costs needed to maintain these assets are hindering recoveries and may increase loss severities upon liquidation, presenting a lofty task ahead for RMBS servicers, according to Fitch Ratings in a new report released Tuesday [...]

Titanium Solutions, Inc., one of the larger in-person loss mitigation vendors in the servicing industry, said Tuesday morning that its co-founder and CEO, Todd Sibley, has been named as a regional finalist for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award in Utah. The award recognizes exceptional entrepreneurs and their abilities to inspire others [...]

IndyMac Bancorp, Inc. (IMB: 0.6549, +5.63%) felt the pain of a mini bank run this past week, thanks to a leaked letter from New York Senator Charles Schumer that questioned the bank’s solvency and led to widespread press coverage last week, the Pasadena-based thrift said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission late [...]

The most-discussed mortgage transaction in industry history is complete, with Bank of America Corp. (BAC: 23.78, -0.38%) saying Tuesday morning that it had completed its purchase of mortgage industry giant Countrywide Financial Corp. Cue the memoirs, and the forward-looking analyses of what lie ahead for the North Carolina-based bank, which now becomes the nation’s largest [...]

Europe’s worst-hit bank throughout the U.S. mortgage mess, UBS AG (UBS: 20.66, 0.00%), saw its shares slide further Tuesday morning as the bank shuffled its governance in an effort to appease uneasy investors, kicking four board members to the curb in the process. Stephan Haeringer, Rolf Meyer, Peter Spuhler and Lawrence Weinbach decided to “step [...]

Europe’s worst-hit bank throughout the U.S. mortgage mess, UBS AG (UBS: 20.66, 0.00%), saw its shares slide further Tuesday morning as the bank shuffled its governance in an effort to appease uneasy investors, kicking four board members to the curb in the process. Stephan Haeringer, Rolf Meyer, Peter Spuhler and Lawrence Weinbach decided to “step [...]

Private equity firm Lone Star Funds is building itself a mortgage lending and servicing empire amid a historic industry downturn — and on Tuesday morning, the company added to its growing portfolio, snapping up the home lending business of commercial finance giant CIT Group Inc. (CIT: 6.81, 0.00%). CIT sold its mortgage business fro $1.5 billion [...]