Unlike online mortgage applications that borrowers have eschewed, electronic payment options seem to be taking off. A study conducted by Crone Consulting and commissioned by vendor Fort Knox National Company, has found that electronic payment use is expected to double by 2007. This is good news for mortgage firms because they can offer payment services that help nurture reliable bill paying habits and in turn lessen administrative costs to pursue late payments, among other…
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Residential real estate investment trusts continue to wrestle with how to keep up their profits during a softer mortgage market. Several are considering de-REITing, while others are restructuring to find cost savings. Yet, while REITs have seen a larger drop-off in new originations this year than other lenders, the group as a whole has enjoyed solid profitability. … [One data table included]
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Barclays Capital is ready to dip into its cash reserves and spend $469 million to buy Wachovia’s subprime servicing unit, HomEq Servicing Corp. The acquisition is just one of several that have taken place over the past year as Wall Street firms look for ways to expand their securitization businesses. …
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The top commercial bank mortgage-backed securities servicers saw growth slow considerably in the first quarter to $22.01 billion. Servicing income also dropped in the $950.9 million from $1.47 billion in the fourth quarter and was down $667.4 million from the same period a year ago. The quarter reflects the volatility of MBS servicing as 17 of the top 40 banks saw servicing balances fall, including a $61.28 billion drop posted by Bank of America,… [One data table included]
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It may make good business sense for mortgage banks to outsource technology and data processing functions to foreign third-party providers, but the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. is warning that institutions must consider and mitigate the risks that doing business overseas creates. In new guidance, the FDIC writes, “financial institutions cannot accept the benefits [of foreign outsourcing] while ignoring the potential risks.” And there is a whole list of risks that banks ought to be concerned…
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Inside Mortgage Finance Publications, the publisher of Inside Mortgage Profitability, has filed a lawsuit against Credit Suisse in New York, accusing the Wall Street firm of copyright infringement. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court in Maryland, alleges that Credit Suisse systematically infringed IMF Publications’ registered copyrights by making unauthorized copies of the weekly newsletters Inside Mortgage Finance and Inside MBS & ABS as well as the biweekly newsletters Inside B&C Lending and Inside The…
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