Vol. 68 Nbr. 8, May 2008

Index

• An uphill battle.
• Congress, administration each propose FHA mortgage relief.
• MBA/MARI report: mortgage fraud continues to pose threat.
• DOJ plans national mortgage fraud sweep in June.
• Changes sought to Fed's proposed HOEPA rule.
• Financial Freedom named new Ginnie Mae reverse-mortgage lender.
• Second-home sales made up one-third of RE sales in 2007.
• OFHEO, GSEs provide $200 billion to aid mortgage liquidity.
• WaMu raises $7 billion from TPG-led investor group.
• Home prices post quarterly decline in 36 states.
• Radian launches program, partnership to keep borrowers in homes.
• The ticker.
• How to end appraisal pressure once and for all.
• Merle D. Sharick--Mortgage Asset Research Institute.
• Family values.
• Calendar of events.
• A tough test: rating agencies are grading servicers on their ability to prevent losses in a really tough environment. Call metrics, financial stability, loss-mitigation results and innovative use of technology are ways servicers are earning good grades despite the challenges.
• Risk management in untested waters: many see reverse mortgages as the next big loan product. That means the fraud artists can't be far behind. Here are some tips for outsmarting the fraudsters.
• Flagging fraud: as identity theft goes mainstream, regulators want all credit-grantors to do more to attack the issue--but are the new "Red Flag rules" too much for lenders to take?
• No assignment no foreclosure? Some recent court decisions in the state of Ohio make it even more critical to have your paperwork in order before pursuing judicial foreclosures.
• You had me at 'hello': sometimes a simple phone call can reveal a hidden fraud. Here's how mortgage lenders can leverage customer contact strategies to reduce their fraud risk.
• The lowdown on loan modifications: what are the social, business and legal hazards of an effective subprime ARM loan-modification program? Can the American Securitization Forum framework provide a roadmap for addressing them?
• Managing for litigation risk: lenders need a way to manage all the operational data that could be key to their defense should litigation arise.
• Default prevention 101: a few practical tips on how to head off mortgage defaults before they happen could help commercial mortgage lenders and servicers avoid costly headaches.
• Domenica Puleo has been promoted to marketing manager for Pro-Tech Services in Waltham, Massachusetts.
• Gregg Holsapple has been named vice president of product and technology for Del Mar DataTrac[R] Inc. in San Diego.
• Lewtan Technologies Inc.
• Mortgage Bankers Association.
• Technobabble.
• Wolters Kluwer Financial Services.
• The fraud file.
• The wallet.
• Hot and cold markets.
• What I've learned from 25 years in mortgage tech.
• Airfare vs. video conferencing.
• Bad times for information technology spending.
• The state of imaging and thoughts looking forward.
• Workflow is more than queues and menus.
• Putting quality and control back in quality control.
• Mortgage 2.0: how will industry changes affect the evolution of the mortgage process?
• The smartest lender in the room: master of the call center, Ditech is now taking its message online.
• An alternative to credit scores: in recent years, mortgage lending has resorted to an over-reliance on credit scores. Here's an alternative approach.
• FICS' Loan Producer interfaces with Triad.
• FIS rolls out new product developments.
• IMS adds six new clients.
• Majestic Homes goes live with Loan-Score POS solution.
• MISMO, PRIA release draft eRecording document.
• FNC platforms ensure lender compliance with GSE guidelines.
• MARI unveils new Loan Fraud Alert Service.
• Alaska USA FCU deploys Metavante's LOS solution.
• iFreedom Direct chooses Interthinx.
• LSSI, Loan-Score form strategic alliance.
• Debt market panic overstates commercial real estate risk.
• Investor delinquency rates end 2007 at or near record lows.
• Apartment industry stable despite financial turmoil.
• Cambridge loan origination requests decline in February.
• GE Real Estate funds purchase of manufactured-home communities.
• Jones Lang LaSalle secures $108 million loan for new D.C. building.
• Bradley Associates gets $488 million for 32 industrial properties.
• Condo builder confidence declines in 4Q 2007.
• Wachovia receives Freddie Mac Delegated Underwriting status.
• A.J. Swope has been named vice president of secondary marketing and Greg Frost has been named vice president of national training for Primary Residential Mortgage Inc. in Salt Lake City.
• Chapman and Cutler LLP.
• Fidelity National Information Services Inc.
• Jun Chen has been named senior economist and co-director of the debt research group, and Yili Dolan has been named senior research analyst with the investment strategy services group for Boston-based CB Richard Ellis (CBRE)/Torto Wheaton Research.
• Keaton Merrell has been promoted to senior vice president for Irvine, California-based Johnson Capital.
• Kevin Callan has been named a director in the loan sale advisory group, Los Angeles office; and Terence Bundy has been named an analyst for New York-based Mission Capital Advisors LLC.
• Kimberley E. Hill has been promoted to assistant vice president of the corporate banking group.
• Kimberly Raphaeli and Nate Moore have been named associates, and Kurt Biederman has been named escrow closings manager for Routh Crabtree Olsen PS in Bellevue, Washington.
• M. Allison Gould has been named of counsel with Morris, Manning & Martin LLP's commercial real estate lending group in Atlanta.
• Rob Weening has been named chief financial officer for Velocity Commercial Capital in Westlake Village, California.
• Long road to recovery.
• A real story of recovery.
• Reverse mortgages, eMortgages and distressed real estate investors.
• The unlovely topic of product training.
• Market performance gauge.
• 25 worst-performing states by appreciation rate.
• Best- and worst-performing counties by 3-month and 1-year HPI change.
• Top 25 counties--residential FRM markets.
• Top 25 counties--residential ARM markets.
• Mortgage performance.
• Mortgage applications indexes: Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).
• Key economic indicators and interest rates.
• Housing activity: residential structures (thousands of units, SAAR).