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Archive for November, 2011

Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011

The exceptionally weak housing market continues to weigh down any significant economic recovery, and the Federal Reserve is considering more monetary accommodation.

The minutes of Nov. 1-2 meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee show central bank policymakers believe recent data continue to point to a tepid economic outlook and "appear to reinforce market expectations that additional policy accommodation would be forthcoming in the near term."

The FOMC said "consumer pessimism about the outlook for jobs and income, the depressed rate of household formation, and tight underwriting standards for mortgages" keep Americans from buying new homes despite historically low interest rates.

And the decision by some lenders to stop selling properties that have been foreclosed upon will further hinder home sales over the near term, according to the FOMC.

The Fed said the housing sector remains depressed and foreclosures continue putting downward pressure on home prices and housing construction. Some members expect disputes over mortgage and foreclosure documents to delay the eventual recovery of the sector, according to the minutes.

The committee expects low interest rates to help stabilize commercial real estate prices somewhat, but the market is still weak and the availability of credit remains limited.

The FOMC minutes also show plans to have Gov. Janet Yellen be the chairman of a Fed subcommittee that will review the central bank's communications guidelines.

Earlier this year, Chairman Ben Bernanke held the first press conference the Federal Reserve had immediately following its monetary policy decision, the most recent of which received one dissenting vote.

Thomas Hoenig, outgoing president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, once again voted against the FOMC action, as he has all year. Hoenig believes additional quantitative easing "would risk a further misallocation of resources and future financial imbalances that could destabilize the economy." Hoenig was recently nominated to become the vice chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

The FOMC meets again Dec. 14.

Write to Jason Philyaw.

Follow him on Twitter: @jrphilyaw

Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011

Arizona Judge Richard Gama refuses to vacate an order which permits the Arizona Department of Insurance to maintain control of the struggling mortgage insurance firm.

In Arizona's Maricopa County, Judge Gama rejected a motion by The PMI Group (PMI: 0.00 N/A) in which the insurer said the order to assume control of the company by the insurance department should  be vacated "because the director did not establish exigency or irreparable harm."

PMI argues that the seizure was unnecessary because the insurer had over $2 billion in cash and enough liquid investments to pay claims through December 2013.

Judge Gama responded to PMI's argument: "although it might have $2 billion in liquid assets available for payment of claims until Dec. 2013, PMI is currently insolvent, with a negative policyholder surplus as of Sept. 30, 2011 of approximately $1 billion."

The judge said PMI losses have been off at least 35% every year for the past three years, creating even more uncertainty about the company's financial forecasts.

After evaluating the situation, Judge Gama refused to overturn the department of insurance's hold over PMI.

The regulator took over PMI in October two months after the company lost 50% of its stock value in one day, before rebounding, and was forced to stop writing new business in August.

Write to Kerri Panchuk.

Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011

The mass layoff at the default services law firm Steven J. Baum P.C. will occur on Feb. 20 and will include employees in Amherst and Westbury, N.Y., according to employment documents filed with the state of New York.

A Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act letter to the New York Department of Labor provides additional detail on the firm, which announced via a press statement Monday that it would shut down. The firm said a total of 67 employees would be laid off in mid February in compliance with a law that requires a 60-day notice of mass layoffs. That leaves 22 whose layoff date wasn't specified in the letter.

Although the WARN notice, dated on Monday, said the entire firm wouldn't close, a company spokesman confirmed Tuesday that it will shut down as reported by HousingWire and other news outlets.

The Baum firm is the second large default services firm to cease foreclosure operations in the wake of last fall's robo-signing scandal and the investigations it spawned. The closure notice came as Fannie Mae sent out a directive Monday that servicers are authorized to transfer Fannie Mae foreclosure or bankruptcy matters from the Baum firm to any other retained attorney network firm in New York.

In March, the Law Offices of David J. Stern in Plantation, Fla., one of the largest foreclosure firms in the nation, ceased foreclosure work.

Last month, the Baum firm agreed to pay the Department of Justice $2 million and change its practices to resolve a probe of faulty foreclosure filings.

In April, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman subpoenaed the firm. At the time, Baum said he was cooperating fully with Schneiderman's investigation.

In a public relations disaster, a New York Times column reported late October that the Baum firm held a Halloween party last year during which employees dressed as foreclosed-upon homeowners.

Write to Kerry Curry.

Follow her on Twitter @communicatorKLC.

Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011

Lower readings on private inventory investment, nonresidential investment, and consumer spending led the Commerce Department to lower its estimate for gross domestic product growth for the three months ended Sept. 30.

GDP growth for the quarter was revised down to 2% from a prior reading of 2.5%. The economy rose at a rate of 1% in the second quarter.

Paul Ashworth, chief U.S. economist of Capital Economics, said the third-quarter revision "was mainly due to an upward revision to the negative contribution from inventories."

"Accordingly, we are now likely to see an even bigger gain in (fourth-quarter) GDP as inventories are rebuilt," Ashworth said. "Current quarter GDP is on track to increase by more than 3%" on an annual rate.

Analysts polled by Econoday estimate GDP growth of 2.4% for the third quarter with a range of estimates from 2% to 2.9%.

The Commerce Department said corporate profits rose nearly $40 billion in the third quarter on top of the second-quarter increase of $61.2 billion. And the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said Tuesday that American bank earnings climbed 48% for the third quarter.

Still, Simon Hunt Strategic Services, based in Surrey, England, said the world economy will go through a period of deleveraging through at least the year 2018, as the United States slips into another recession either in 2012 or 2013.

Write to Jason Philyaw.

Follow him on Twitter: @jrphilyaw.

Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency posted the actual engagement letters Tuesday between the major mortgage servicers and their third-party consultants hired to perform reviews of foreclosures that took place over the past two years.

The letters reveal how the consultants will conduct their reviews and approximately how long it will take. According to the Bank of America (BAC: 7.225 -1.03%) engagement letter with Promontory Financial Group, the process must not take more than 423 days from when the engagement letter was signed on Sept. 6.

Promontory will use more than 200 file reviewers working on an assumed 10 hours per file, according to the letter.

The letter between JPMorgan Chase (JPM: 37.225 -0.71%) and its consultant Deloitte & Touche gave a similar timeline of 469 days to review any claims brought by borrowers.

The reviews will determine if documents were signed properly, if federal and state laws were followed, even if the Home Affordable Modification Program and private program guidelines were correctly implemented for individual cases.

But when it comes to any potential conflict of interest, the OCC and the 14 major servicers are keeping the public in the dark.

Below are images taken of the letter between BofA and Promontory over the firm's past work with the bank. (For a complete list of the engagement letters go here.)

The letter reads: "Promontory and BAC agree that the success of the Foreclosure Review will require Promontory to conduct itself with a high degree of independence."

But many other segments of the letter are blacked out as well, including the names of certain attorneys that will trigger an automatic review. Some attorneys have come under investigation by the state attorneys general for their involvement in the robo-signing mess. Some like David J. Stern in Florida and Steven J. Baum in New York are winding down or already shut down completely.

Rep. Maxine Waters recently led a letter from 15 other lawmakers asking for all information be revealed in the foreclosure reviews.

"The only way this process will be fair is if the regulators shine a bright light on mortgage servicers, and make them demonstrate to the public how they’re being held accountable. To date, this entire exercise has been conducted in the shadows," Waters said. "I fear that without greater transparency, we’re setting homeowners, and foreclosed-upon families, up for more disappointment."

The parent banks of the 14 of the largest servicers received nearly $125 billion in bailouts combined under the Troubled Asset Relief Program. These institutions and their chief regulator now ask for complete trust on any potential conflicts of interest sorting out the foreclosure debacle committed since the bailout.

"The OCC closely evaluated and approved consultants to prevent conflicts of interest with regard to issues the independent consultants are charged to review, and to ensure that reviews are conducted consistently and fairly across all servicers," the agency said. "This language specifically prohibited servicers from overseeing, directing or supervising any of the reviews."

Write to Jon Prior.

Follow him on Twitter @JonAPrior.

Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011

The U.S. and other major industrialized economies face more pain ahead, with the world "in a balance-sheet depression" that could make another credit crisis likely.

The world economy will go through a period of deleveraging through at least the year 2018. In the meantime, the U.S. is predicted to slip into another recession either in 2012 or 2013, according to a November-December economic report from Simon Hunt Strategic Services, based in Surrey, England.

As this less than optimistic report hits the markets, The Commerce Department is also advising Americans that third-quarter gross domestic product is lower than previously thought, dropping from a 2.5% growth estimate to 2% in the final report.

Economists with Econoday said the downward vision was "primarily was due to a downward revision to inventory investment," the equivalent of a 0.43 percentage point lower contribution to GDP growth." Slowing activity in the areas of personal consumption, residential investment and government purchases also slowed growth for the period.

Looking forward, Simon Hunt says the U.S., Europe and China will face deep financial troubles in the 2012-to-2018 era. The study sees the next decade and, even beyond, as a volatile period that will include the paying down of debt, slowing trade, aging populations and government commitments that will outpace workforce levels, making it difficult for government's to fund their debt obligations.

The report, in a decidedly pessimistic view of the future, calls the truth ugly and the solutions painful.

"But, policymakers will not own up to this simple description of the world economy, preferring to put band-aids on gaping wounds. The truth, though both ugly and painful, is that the world is heading toward its second and, arguably, most serious global credit crisis within five years of the first," the study said.

The report highlights the U.S. deficit as one area of extreme volatility. It now should be clear that debt slows growth, and America's current debt levels are unsustainable. On Monday, the congressional super committee admitted defeat in its efforts to forge a bipartisan compromise on U.S. deficit reduction, which will trigger automatic cuts in the years ahead.

Simon Hunt says the next decade and a half will offer some periods of reprieve, but they will be short since deleveraging decades of debt is a long, painful process. The firm sees rolling recessions that will begin in 2013 and run through 2018. By 2018, the long period of paying down debt will have run its course and world production could grow as much as 3% per year through 2030.

A demographic shift in the U.S., European Union and China also will derail rapid growth.

Citing a study from consulting firm McKinsey & Co., the research report says aging in these developing countries will slow growth in household financial wealth by more than two-thirds across countries like the United States, Japan and Europe going forward. McKinsey claims slower growth will deplete household wealth by 36% in the year 2024, cutting away $31 trillion.

Write to Kerri Panchuk.

Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011

Earnings at financial institutions insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. continue to strengthen on lower loan-loss provisions with 63% of the banks reporting higher third-quarter results.

The FDIC said banks it insures earned $35.3 billion for the three months ended Sept. 30, up 48% from $23.8 billion a year earlier. Bank earnings increased each quarter for two years now and are at the highest level since the second quarter of 2007.

The number of banks on the regulator's problem list decreased for the second straight quarter, yet remains elevated at 844. Total assets at these institutions declined to $339 billion from $372 billion at June 30. Third-quarter bank failures rose to 26 from 22 the prior quarter, and decreased from 41 a year ago.

Deposits at American banks rose 3.4% during the third quarter with the 10 largest insured banks accounting for nearly 76% of the growth.

Loan portfolios inched up 0.3% as loans to commercial and industrial borrowers increased by $44.8 billion and residential mortgage loan balances rose by $23.7 billion, according to the FDIC.

Banks lowered loan loss provisions by nearly 50% to $18.6 billion from $35.1 billion a year earlier, and the number of banks reporting a loss for the three months declined to 14.3% from 19.5% for the year-ago third quarter.

"U.S. banks have come a long way from the depths of the financial crisis," FDIC Acting Chairman Martin Gruenberg said. "Bank balance sheets are stronger in a number of ways, and the industry is generally profitable, but the recovery is by no means complete."

Gruenberg was named acting chair when Sheila Bair announced her decision to leave the regulator in July.

The FDIC's deposit insurance fund balance rose to $7.8 billion from $3.9 billion at June 30, which was the first quarter in the red for the fund in nearly two years. Assessment revenue and fewer expected bank failures led to the strengthening of the DIF balance.

Write to Jason Philyaw.

Follow him on Twitter: @jrphilyaw.

Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011

Investors looking for yield are acquiring more low-priced homes to fill growing rental demand, according to the latest HousingPulse Tracking Survey from Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance.

The survey shows that investors now dominate discount housing markets, and that first-time homebuyers are fading in favor of short-term living arrangements.

In fact, 61.6% of properties purchased by investors in October are slated to be rented out at some point.

The report notes that investor purchases represented 22.3% of all closed transactions in October. That compares to 19.6% in July, which is the last time the survey recorded this type of information.

Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance says the upswing in investor demand for real-estate owned properties comes at a time when more families are turning to rentals. Average prices for REOs in October hit $101,100. This low price allows investors to grab the property, revamp it and turn it into a rental unit.

While investors are absorbing more distressed properties, first-time homebuyers are becoming less active in the lower-priced market.

Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance bases its conclusions on feedback from 2,500 real estate agents.

Write to Kerri Panchuk.

Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011

The average interest rate on mortgages sold to the government-sponsored enterprises fell 20 basis points to 4.36% in October, the Federal Housing Finance Agency said.

The agency bases its average rates on conventional, 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage purchases of $417,000 or less.

The national average contract mortgage rate to buy previously occupied homes, used as an index in some adjustable-rate contracts, was 4.19% based on loans closed in October, down 0.19% from September.

The results from FHFA are based on rates from loans that closed between Oct. 25 and Oct. 31, and the rates depict market conditions prevailing in mid- to late-September.

The contract rate on the composite of all mortgages (fixed- and adjustable-rate) was 4.17% in October, down 19 bps from 4.36% in September.

The effective interest rate, which reflects the amortization of initial fees and charges, was 4.29% in October, down 20 bps from 4.49% in September. The report contains no data on adjustable-rate mortgages due to insufficient sample size.

Initial fees and charges were 0.83% of the loan balance in October, down 0.11% from 0.94% in September.

The FHFA said 28% of the purchase-money mortgage loans originated in October were "no-point" mortgages, down 1% from September. The average term was 28.7 years.

The average loan amount was $218,500, down $2,200 from $220,700 in September.

Write to Kerry Curry.

Follow her on Twitter @communicatorKLC.

Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency released the names of the third-party consultant firms that will be conducting the reviews of more than 4.5 million foreclosure files at the largest mortgage servicers.

Under the consent orders signed with the OCC and the Federal Reserve, servicers such as Bank of America (BAC: 7.225 -1.03%), JPMorgan Chase (JPM: 37.225 -0.71%), and Wells Fargo (WFC: 29.34 +1.00%) had to hire these firms to independently review foreclosures completed between Jan. 1, 2009 and Dec. 31, 2010 in order to identify which borrowers directly affected by fraudulent and messy practices.

Last year, the servicers were found to be foreclosing on borrowers during modification trials. Some firms were found to forging signatures on some processing documents, as well.

The reviews began in November. The servicers began mailing letters to eligible borrowers explaining how they can request a review of their case and receive a possible remediation. The borrower has until April 30, 2012 to request a review.

Promontory Financial Group will be reviewing files at BofA, Wells and PNC Bank (PNC: 58.88 -0.03%).

Deloitte & Touche will be reviewing files at Chase.

PricewaterhouseCoopers will conduct reviews at Citi and U.S. Bank (USB: 27.78 -0.04%).

Ernst & Young will review files at HSBC (HBC: 42.55 +0.88%) and MetLife Bank (MET: 35.005 +1.46%).

Clayton Services will conduct reviews at EverBank.

Navigant Consulting will go through files at OneWest. And Treliant Risk Advisors will conduct reviews at Sovereign Bank.

Two other servicers that signed consent orders Ally Financial (GJM: 22.43 -0.62%) and SunTrust Banks (STI: 20.44 -0.29%) are regulated by the Fed. The third-party companies reviewing their files have not been released yet.

"The Federal Reserve is nearing completion of its review of engagement letters between the mortgage servicers it supervises and the independent consultants who will review the files of foreclosed borrowers," a spokesperson said. "Once the review is complete, the Federal Reserve intends to publicly disclose as much of the letters as possible."

The servicers submitted engagement letters with their selected consultants in July. The OCC said it evaluated the companies for any conflicts of interest before approval. The agency did say it had to reject some proposals.

In only some cases will the consultant review 100% of the file, including certain bankruptcy cases in foreclosure between 2009 and 2010, any foreclosure cases filed against military service members, cases referred by state or federal agencies, and any borrower claims approved under the consent order program.

The consultants will then sample mortgages based on geography, which attorneys handled the cases, borrower history and any modification programs such as HAMP.

The reviews will determine whether the servicer or attorney properly documented ownership of the mortgage and whether it was done under state and federal law. The consultants will determine if a foreclosure sale occurred while the borrower was in a modification or under consideration for some other loss-mitigation tool, such as a short sale. The reviews will cover any inappropriate fees charged outside of state or federal law.

Interestingly, the consultants will also check to see if guidelines for HAMP and even the banks' own proprietary program were followed correctly.

Then, the review will seek to determine if any of these errors or misrepresentations resulted in direct financial injury.

"While much of the work to correct identified weaknesses in policies, operating procedures, control functions and audit processes will be substantially completed in the first part of 2012, other longer term initiatives will continue through the balance of 2012. Actions and progress vary by servicer," the OCC said.

Write to Jon Prior.

Follow him on Twitter @JonAPrior.



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