New Home
Jess Lederman, a pioneer in the mortgage-backed securities market and an editor of numerous financial books, has joined Countrywide Financial Corp.'s home loans unit as its executive vice president of credit and secondary markets administration.
A spokesman confirmed to American Banker that Mr. Lederman, who had been an executive vice president at Ohio Savings Financial Corp., started at Countrywide Home Loans Inc. on Oct. 31.
He is working out of the company's Plano, Tex., facilities and reports to Russ Smith, the managing director and chief operating officer of the unit's consumer mortgage division, the spokesman said.
Reversing Course
Gerald L. Baker, the president and chief executive of First Horizon Home Loan Corp., said in an interview this week that his lender is testing reverse mortgages in a few markets.
"My view has always been that there's a lot of talk about it, but not a lot of people have moved in that direction," he said. "Perhaps as the baby boomer generation ages, we'll be more in it."
First Horizon is working with outside companies that are experts and have serviced those types of products, he said. The test started this summer.
"I think we'll really watch it for a year, evaluate it, and see where it goes," he said. "We could offer it more broadly."
Seniors use reverse mortgages to tap home equity in lump sums, credit lines, or regular payments. The money does not have to be repaid until the homeowner moves or dies.
American Banker reported in September that Countrywide is thought to be
Delay from Buybacks
Questions about the accounting for losses on potential repurchases of $13 million of conforming mortgages have forced NetBank Inc. of Atlanta to delay the release of its third-quarter earnings.
The report, which had been scheduled to be released Wednesday, has been rescheduled for Monday after the market closes. NetBank said it must resolve the accounting under generally accepted accounting principles for any potential losses.
The problem loans "appear to have some irregularities stemming from the appraisal and underwriting process," NetBank said.
A spokesman said that the problems with the loans came to light only when NetBank was closing its books for the third quarter, and that it is still trying to assess the situation. "We're working as diligently as we can."
NetBank had warned about issues with the loans last month. At that time it said it might have to reserve up to $10 million, which it then believed to be the amount outstanding on the loans. It also warned that other conforming loan repurchases and related provisions alone would keep earnings "just below" analysts' expectations.
Dividend Down
Impac Mortgage Holdings Inc., a Newport Beach, Calif., real estate investment trust specializing in alternative-A loans, said its third-quarter taxable income fell 39% from a year earlier, to $30.3 million, or 40 cents a share.
Also Tuesday, Impac reported net earnings of $126.4 million, but that included a $107.9 million noncash mark-to-market gain in the fair value of derivatives. Only taxable income is available to common shareholders.
The REIT's acquisition and origination of mortgages, primarily alt-A ones, fell 10%, to $6.2 billion. Impac retained $3.3 billion of the mortgages.
The third-quarter dividend for common shares was slashed to 45 cents, from 75 cents in each of the previous five quarters.
Minding Costs
NovaStar Financial Inc., a Kansas City, Mo., subprime mortgage lender and REIT, said its third-quarter earnings increased 52% from a year earlier, to $34.6 million.
However, earnings per share of $1.12 missed the average estimate of analysts by 9 cents.
NovaStar said this week that nonconforming loan originations rose 14%, to a record $2.8 billion.
Its mortgage portfolio increased 27%, to $14.1 billion as of Sept. 30. Net interest income from the portfolio rose 68%, to $63.4 million.
The average cost of wholesale production fell 63 basis points from the second quarter and 25 basis points from a year earlier, to 2.16%.
"Cost control and production efficiency will continue to be a primary focus as we move into 2006," Greg Metz, NovaStar's chief financial officer, said in a press release.
Credit Collaboration
Experian Inc. has sold the mortgage credit-reporting assets of its Credit Data Services to First Advantage Corp. of St. Petersburg, Fla., which is majority owned by the Santa Ana., Calif., title insurer and data provider First American Corp.
First Advantage said the acquisition "provides additional southeastern market share" for its mortgage credit division, First American Credco. Credit Data Services is based in Maitland, Fla.
Since 1997, Experian, a unit of Britain's GUS PLC, has owned a 20% stake in First American's Real Estate Solutions property-data unit, a spokeswoman said.
"Experian will continue to be the preferred provider of credit-reporting services to First American Credco for the mortgage and automotive finance industries, and we also look forward to contributing to the numerous other First Advantage business lines that utilize credit information," said Chris Callero, the CEO of Experian Americas, in a press release Tuesday.
