What does it take for a community bank to be considered for an award for innovation? It would seem a lot in the case of Seattle-based HomeStreet Bank. Perhaps, it may also be due to the fact that HomeStreet Bank has gone from “troubled institution” to “well-capitalized institution” in four years. In fact, in March last year, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions terminated a 2009 cease-and-desist order for the bank and ...
Mortgage Master, a Walpole, MA-based super-regional lender and one of the largest privately held mortgage companies in the United States, is actively expanding into some key markets in the country, while out-racing behemoth competitor Wells Fargo to the top of the ranking of mortgage lenders in its home state. And the keys to success nationally and locally are the same: strong recruitment of top-notch originators and consistent exceptional service. “I think we’re out-running them [Wells Fargo]. They have ...
Freddie Mac is still owed $1.2 billion from the bankrupt Lehman Brothers and likely will not be reimbursed anytime soon due to the fact that the GSE is an “unsecured” creditor, according to a new report by the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s Office of Inspector General. The report notes that the loan was made in August of 2008, not long before Lehman went bust and Freddie was placed into government conservatorship. The loan was described by Freddie officials as a “Fed Funds” transaction available to Lehman on an overnight basis. However, the limit on such transactions was $250 million, according to the OIG Report.
Freddie Mac’s real estate sales unit is looking to bring in more lending partners to widen the reach of its financing program implemented last year specifically to move the GSE’s real-estate owned properties. Since the company rolled out its Homesteps Financing program during the second half of 2012 in four select states, the new financing option for both owner-occupied and investor purchase of REO properties has yielded promising enough results to prompt expansion, says a Freddie…
Contrary to what critics claim or what other studies purport to say, the majority of appraisals support the home-sale contract price, thanks to appraisers’ due diligence in developing a market-value opinion on the underlying collateral, according to the American Enterprise Institute. Citing data from a 2012 study by FNC, Inc., on how appraisal valuations respond to stressful local market conditions, the AEI said that a separate real-estate industry study claiming that low appraisal values are ...
Fannie Mae is having internal discussions regarding how it might change the way it holds mortgage seller/servicers responsible for losses when a deficiency is discovered on a delivered loan. A spokesman for Fannie told Inside The GSEs that under one scenario, a lender might take the “credit loss” on a mortgage with Fannie agreeing to keep the loan as opposed to forcing a buyback. A deficiency might include a mistake made during the underwriting process, such as borrower information being incorrectly punched into a computer. “If data were punched in wrong, there might be a pricing change,” said the spokesman.
Banks and thrifts reported a sharp increase in the volume of home loans sold in their mortgage banking operations last year, hitting the highest level since 2009, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of bank call report data. Mortgage banking units generated $1.553 trillion in loan sales during 2012, a 36.9 percent jump from the previous year. Activity peaked at $417.1 billion in the fourth quarter, a 3.9 percent increase over the third quarter. Some double counting ... [Includes one data chart]
The “near-term efforts” that the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s 2013 Conservatorship Scorecard take aim at include an update of mortgage insurance master policies and formulating eligibility standards, as well as developing a set of “aligned standards” for force-placed insurance, the FHFA announced last week. The announcement comes a month after the Finance Agency abruptly overruled a plan pushed by Fannie to buy force-placed insurance directly from a number of insurance companies at an estimated 30…
Fannie Mae announced it has replaced the company’s outgoing top finance executive from within. David Benson, 53, currently Fannie’s executive vice president of capital markets, securitization and corporate strategy, will be the GSE’s fourth chief financial officer since the company’s government takeover in September 2008. Benson replaces Susan McFarland, who joined the company as CFO in July 2011. She will step down as soon as Benson assumes the position and will remain employed by Fannie as a senior advisor for a transition period through June 30, 2013, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
The Treasury Department is on board with a risk-sharing mandate from the Federal Housing Finance Agency that sets a $30 billion goal this year for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. That’s the word from FHFA officials who discussed the matter with Inside The GSEs, but who did not want to be identified by name. “Treasury has taken a great interest in these things,” said one FHFA official. “They’re not ignoring what we’re doing.” The Treasury Department did not return telephone calls about the matter.
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