Items Tagged with 'Kate Berry'

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The newest fight in the mess that is now the U.S. foreclosure process is a real doozy. It's the idea that securitization trusts may not actually own their own mortgages, and therefore have no standing to foreclose. A recent case involving Bank of America [stock BAC][/stock] in a New Jersey bankruptcy lit the most recent fire, after reporter Kate Berry at American Banker first reported on a ruling in the case on Nov. 22.

How I long for the days when MBS research was about dry, specialized stuff like prepayments and relative value, projecting cash flows, building data bases and models of prepayment and yield curve processes. Dull matters you would be careful not to mention at a dinner party or drinking with pals in a bar. Tedious topics that could put Main Streeters to sleep. Conversation stoppers.

American Banker's Kate Berry, in a story published last week, looks at how repayment plans are used to manage default roll rates. "Roll rates," for the non-industry folk out there, are industry-speak used to describe how many 30+day past dues "roll into" 60+day past dues, and so forth. The rating agencies use all sort of roll rate analyses to determine how efficient a servicing operation is -- particularly in loss mitigation, foreclosure and REO disposition.

Reports by FBR Investment Management Inc. and Morgan Stanley said today that the mortgage meltdown appears likely to push the U.S. economy into a moderate recession during 2008. American Banker's Kate Berry covers a report by FBR managing director Michael Youngblood: "Non-agency mortgage credit performance is deteriorating more rapidly and more broadly than previously," he wrote.

The short answer: a whole lot more than it used to be. Kate Berry over at American Banker reports that Fannie Mae has recently hiked its guarantee fee to 30 basis points, the highest level in at least a decade and the latest way lenders -- even prime lenders -- are seeing their own margins erode. Some analysis:

Regular HW readers know I come from the default management trenches -- knowledge that I suppose right now is more in demand than ever. (Yet, here I am blogging something completely free for you to read; but that's a story for another day). With that in mind, I read a story by Kate Berry at American Banker today with intense interest -- Fannie Mae is now apparently incenting its foreclosure attorneys to pursue workouts versus merely hitting a timeline:

American Banker's Kate Berry has a great lead today on how lenders' unrealistic price expectations are hurting the REO sales market -- and, by extension, the rest of the housing market. As REO inventories swell at most institutions, many sellers simply haven't adjusted their pricing expectations downwards enough to account for where many markets have been heading (sounds familiar to the consumer resale market, doesn't it?).

American Banker reports on the latest from IndyMac (subscription required and highly recommended, hat tip to AB reporter Kate Berry): IndyMac Bancorp Inc. ... is taking a hard look at how it acquires loans and to whom it sells them. The $32 billion-asset thrift company ... said it is considering shuttering its conduit production unit. It said the move would free $250 million of capital within 90 days.