Countrywide Starts a Subsidiary To Advise Others in the Industry
CALABASAS, Calif. - Countrywide Credit Industries has created a subsidiary to consult with mortgage and real estate companies.Countrywide International Consulting Services LLC is to draw on its parent company's expertise in technology, process management, and the international market to advise businesses worldwide.
Michael J. Lea, former president of Cardiff Consulting Services, is to be the unit's president. He has advised such major institutions as the European Commission, the World Bank, and the U.S. Agency for International Development. He was Freddie Mac's chief economist in the early 1980s and was a senior vice president in charge of finance and capital markets at Imperial Corporation of America from 1987 to 1991.
Insurer to Back $140M of Lender's A-Minus, Alternative A Mortgages
SAN FRANCISCO - PMI Mortgage Insurance Co. has made a commitment to insure up to $140 million of Alternative A and A-minus loans originated by Pinnacle Direct Funding, a subsidiary of Pinnacle Financial Corp. of Orlando.The Alternative A program lets homebuyers take out loans with less documentation than is usually required. Available to lenders on a negotiated basis, the A-minus program is for borrowers who are "generally creditworthy but have minor blemishes on their credit records that prevent these loans from being classified as 'A' quality," PMI said.
Calif. Firm Sells Residuals, Servicing For $19M; After-Tax Loss Is $17M
RIVERSIDE, Calif. - Life Financial Corp. has sold the last residual mortgage securities retained from its securitizations, as well as the servicing rights on the underlying loans, for $19.4 million.The residual bonds and servicing rights are from bond issues in 1997 and 1998. As a result of the sale, Life took a $16.8 million after-tax loss. With the money it raised, the company was able to retire a $15.4 million credit line from PaineWebber Inc. that it had used to finance the residuals and to pay down $2.5 million it had drawn from a revolving line of credit from Bank of America Corp.
It also eliminated $2.5 million to $3 million of federal tax obligations. ?
Prudential Unit Joins Lending Site For Commercial Property Owners
BETHESDA, Md. - Redbricks.com has signed up Prudential Mortgage Capital, a unit of Prudential Insurance Company of America, to be a direct lender on its Web site.Commercial property owners and developers can use Redbricks.com to fill out a loan request and get prompt price quotes from 23 real estate lenders. Under the agreement, Prudential is to bid on and finance all "appropriate" loan applications that come through the site, Redbricks.com said.
