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As loan volumes slow this year, will brokers benefit as big retailers move to cut costs and opt to use the wholesale channel instead?

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Most Popular Stories

These were the past week's most frequently emailed stories on our site:

  1. Foreclosures Get Trickier In Florida
  2. Due Diligence Firms Boom, But Questions About W-2s/a>
  3. Illinois AG Sues Two Reverse Mortgage Brokers
  4. California DRE Revokes Record Number of Real Estate Licenses
  5. Fannie and Freddie Foes No Longer
If you would like to share a story with a colleague or friend, just click the "Email this page" link at the upper right corner of each page on this site.

Quote of the Week

“If Ginnie Mae is to fulfill its mission in the years ahead, it requires a structure that provides for its independence and the ability to respond to the always changing secondary markets.”

Joseph Murin, managing director, The Collingwood Group, Washington, and former president and CEO of Ginnie Mae

Reprints

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Lead Story

A New Concept Aims to Help Resolve Problem Loans

By Bonnie Sinnock

Bonnie Sinnock

The SwapRent concept has been slow to find traction and faces some challenges, but its potential benefits make the case that there may be hope for it yet.

Among a host of benefits that could be realized from its large-scale implementation is its ability to address today's loan resolution problems, according to creator Ralph Liu, founder/chairman of consultancy Advanced e-Financial Technologies Inc. and a veteran of the derivatives and global financial markets.

SwapRent could allow borrowers to reversibly and flexibly sell some, but not all, of the equity in their property back to the lender in exchange for a reduction in payment.

Read more

Daily Mortgage News Briefing

Last updated: March 10, 2010

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Senate Committee Near Agreement on Consumer Protection

Senate Banking Committee leaders are close to agreement on a way to enhance consumer protection as a part of a larger financial regulatory reform bill.

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Appraisers Warn About BPOs and Property 'Flopping'

Appraisers are raising alarms that the Treasury Department's decision to use broker price opinions (BPOs) for its new short sales program will exacerbate mortgage fraud and property "flopping."

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Purchases Drive Mortgage Bankers' Application Increase

Purchase mortgage application volume had a strong week and was the driver of the increase in the Mortgage Bankers Association's Market Composite Index for the week of Feb. 26.

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Americans' Default Risk Seen as Still High But Improving

Although 20% of U.S. mortgages are currently under water, Americans' risk of defaulting on their home loans is at its lowest point since 2005, according to an executive and academic expert at a risk-management firm.

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Index Finds Home Prices Drop with Less Micro Variation

Data from Integrated Asset Services LLC, Denver, Colo., show that national home prices fell 2.3% in January, when there was somewhat less variation than usual at micro-market levels.

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Developers Closed on Most South Beach Condos Built Since '03

Condominium developers in South Florida's famed South Beach area have closed on some 4,150 new units since 2003, for an average price of $891,000 per unit. But that still leaves about 1,450 apartments that remain unsold, according to a report published by Condo Vultures, a Bal Harbour-based real estate consulting firm.

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ICP to Transfer Businesses to PrinceRidge

ICP Capital has agreed to transfer its domestic and international capital markets businesses to PrinceRidge Holdings LP to create an international investment-banking boutique serving investors and issuers in the institutional fixed income markets.

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Centerline Servicing's Ratings Improved by Acquisition

The sale of commercial mortgage-backed securities servicer Centerline Servicing Inc. to an Island Capital affiliate has reversed the ratings damage caused by its corporate parent's financial woes, according to analysts.

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ResCap Working on Changes to GMACM Servicing Practice

ResCap has been working to change a practice involving the netting of cash flows of multiple residential mortgage-backed securities deals serviced by its GMAC Mortgage LLC subsidiary.

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Global Venture Capital Firm Invests in 1010data

1010data, a provider of data warehouse and business intelligence for mortgage-backed securities market participants and others, has secured a $35 million equity investment from Norwest Venture Partners.

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New-Issue of Benchmark Notes Set for Thursday

Fannie Mae is planning to offer a new-issue of three-year Benchmark Notes.

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Video of the Day

A Gibsonia homeowner accuses her mortgage company of stealing her pet parrot -- and that's not all. In a lawsuit, Angela Iannelli says the company mistakenly targeted her house for foreclosure and staged a home invasion, cutting her utilities and even pouring antifreeze into the pipes.

Mortgage Video Library

National Mortgage News presents Mortgage Focus, a video library of hot topics addressed by mortgage industry experts. Topics include servicing, government mortgage plans, refis, loan mods, technology, REO and more.

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Editor's Choice

The One Point of Contact, Small Shop Approach

Traditional methods of contacting troubled borrowers - face-to-face and by telephone - remain the best strategies for servicers striving to improve the trial-to-permanent loan modification ratio.

But many servicers might be missing the point, an expert said.


Click here to read the details.

Other Voices

This story is from our sister publication, American Banker

The Shoe That Refuses to Drop: Home Equity Losses

By Kate Berry , American Banker

The mortgage crisis is once again subverting the traditional understanding of consumers' debt-payment priorities.

A few years ago, eyebrows rose when homeowners began falling behind on their mortgages, risking the loss of their homes, while continuing to service unsecured credit card debts. The new paradox: defaults and loss rates on home equity loans remain low compared with those of first mortgages, which historically were considered safer.

Read more...

Blog of the Week

Join the Discussion!

Each week we will feature a mortgage blog from one of our writers on various topics of interest. To add your two cents, click on the link below, scroll down to the bottom of the blog, type into the comments box, and click submit.

Do not file your FHA/HUD audit too soon or it may be wrong warns Herman Thordsen in his latest Legal Corner blog post.

Click here to read the details.