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Inside Mortgage Trends

June 9, 2006

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Lenders Marshal Forces with Other Industries To Fight Costly Sarbanes-Oxley Rules

There must be something mystically evil about the number 404. Many Internet users have been unduly surprised by the “Forbidden 404: Not Found” error – usually at the most inconvenient time. For the mortgage industry, 404 is the onerous Sarbanes-Oxley section that requires lender and servicer executives to analyze – and certify on the threat of criminal prosecution – the soundness of their firms’ internal controls to prevent fraud and mismanagement and then post… Read More

The Year is Half Over, but Plenty of Time Remains for the Next Big Merger Deal

The industry talkfest caused by the news of Wachovia spending $25.5 billion for Golden West Financial has died down a bit, but the buzz is still on for the next big deal. Any of the firms that might be in the market for an acquisition or become an acquisition are keeping tight-lipped about any future plans, which seems to fuel speculation even more. … Read More

The Industry Remains in Constant Turmoil Over Whether or Not Loan Officers Deserve Overtime

Washington Mutual is the latest lender to be sued by its loan officers, who are charging that the company failed to pay overtime wages. Employees from New York, California and Illinois also say that WaMu failed to pay the federal minimum wage. The complaint, filed in New York federal court, says that the lender’s “home loan consultants” may not be paid for work on a loan if it is not approved. “This practice violates the… Read More

Top Lenders Continue Trend of Growing Servicing Faster Than Overall Market in the First Quarter

Among the perennial top five lender/servicers, CitiMortgage posted combined big gains in loan production volume with aggressive servicing acquisitions to build up its mortgage business during the first quarter, according to a new analysis by Inside Mortgage Profitability. CitiMortgage turned in a healthy quarter by originating $6.81 billion more than 1Q05 and added $49.5 billion in servicing from 4Q05. … [One data table included] Read More

Golden West Plans to Sweeten Severance Packages of Its Terminated Workers for Two Years after Merger

It pays to be an employee of Golden West Financial. The firm will be handing out an additional $50 million in severance payments on top of the severance its new parent, Wachovia, will be giving to redundant workers. About 1,100 Golden West and Wachovia employees will lose their jobs once the deal closes later this year. … Read More

Columbia National Settles Claims Its LOs Faked HUD Documents, and Quicken Loses Federal Appeal

Columbia National Mortgage will pay $800,000 to the government to settle claims loan officers faked and fabricated mortgage information submitted to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. American Home Mortgage bought the lender, which it renamed American Home Mortgage Servicing, in 2002. American Home was not aware of any misbehavior or pending lawsuits when it bought the troubled firm. … Read More

Ginnie Mae Cuts Costs, Enhances Issuers’ Profitability by Installing New Technology

Issuers and FHA/VA lenders will find doing business with Ginnie Mae more efficient and profitable because of changes to the agency’s mortgage-backed security guaranty program and an innovative interest-only MBS program designed to ease regulatory pressure on mortgage servicing rights portfolios. Ginnie Mae announced two minor changes in All Participants Memo 06-04. First, the agency reduced the processing time to one day for all electronically submitted Ginnie Mae II single-family, multiple issue pool packages. This… Read More

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