The News Review:
- Visionet Systems Upgrades its VisiRetention offering to facilitate …
- Expectations lowered for new mortgage aid program
- For Buyers, Mortgages Harder to Get as Banks Require More
- Brookdale Announces Third Quarter 2008 Results
- Mortgage Refinancing
- Mid-Tier Lenders Shut Out of Hope for Homeowners, Sources Say
Visionet Systems Upgrades its VisiRetention offering to facilitate …
MarketWatch
VisiRetention can be up-and-running in a client’s
environment in just four to six weeks. On October 1, 2008, HUD issued the requirements for the Hope for
Homeowners (H4H) program, a program created by Congress under the
Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. The H4H program is designed
to help mortgage borrowers at risk of default and foreclosure to
refinance into more affordable and sustainable loans. Mortgage lenders and investors need intelligent refinancing campaigns to
effectively identify borrowers and help them through the H4H program. The key to success involves proactively and quickly targeting troubled
homeowners that qualify for the program to reduce further damage to
their current portfolio and ensure home retention. VisiRetention
determines the borrower’s eligibility for the
program by utilizing workflow and rules based technology, thus
significantly reducing the setup and re-fi execution time. It has
state-of-the-art mechanisms to collect relevant data from multiple
systems and create a single version of the truth for rapid and accurate
action.
Expectations lowered for new mortgage aid program
AZ Central.com, AZ
3, 2008 03:42 PM The Associated Press WASHINGTON – The government expects only 20,000 troubled borrowers will be able to refinance into more affordable home loans by next fall under a new mortgage aid program passed by lawmakers over the summer. The $300 billion Hope for Homeowners’ program was launched Oct. Designed by lawmakers eager to respond to the mortgage crisis, the Congressional Budget Office had projected it would let 400,000 troubled homeowners swap risky loans for conventional 30-year fixed rate loans with lower rates. But the early results are discouraging: the government received only 42 applications in the program’s first two weeks, according to the Federal Housing Administration.
For Buyers, Mortgages Harder to Get as Banks Require More
RisMedia.com (press release), CT
For everybody else, the story might be different. “On the other side of that, I don’t know if we can give them a loan,” Maschhoff said. Borrowers who want to get a new home mortgage, refinance a home loan or open up a home equity line of credit are up against some challenges in today’s crumbling financial world. Times have changed from the days of easy lending and no-money down loans, maybe, local bankers say, more to the way things should be. The number of 100% financing offers available in Central Illinois has diminished, meaning many people need to have cash up front for a mortgage. More borrowers also have gravitated to Federal Housing Administration loans that allow grants and gifts to cover a down payment. The importance of credit scores also has grown when it comes to qualification — and the loan’s interest rate.
Brookdale Announces Third Quarter 2008 Results
MarketWatch
We have recently taken a number of steps to manage down our cost levels including containing salary and wage growth. These actions, together with the more recent dramatic declines in commodity and energy costs, will positively impact our expense growth going forward. On the balance sheet side, we raised funds through the sale of a joint venture interest and a refinancing and extended all of our near-term mortgage debt maturities without contractual extension options during the quarter. As our only debt maturity next year without contractual extension options, we are focused on refinancing our existing line of credit and expect to do so in a timely manner. Overall, we remain confident about our liquidity position and ability to manage expenses lower going forward. ”
Brookdale’s management utilizes Adjusted EBITDA and Cash From Facility Operations to evaluate the Company’s performance and liquidity because these metrics exclude non-cash expenses such as depreciation and amortization, non-cash stock-based compensation expense and straight-line lease expense, net of deferred gain amortization. Brookdale also uses Facility Operating Income to assess the performance of its facilities.
Related from Aviationmonster: Embraer Releases Third Quarter 2008 Results in US GAAP
Mortgage Refinancing
Food Consumer, IL
But before deciding, you need to understandall that refinancing involves. Your home may be your most valuablefinancial asset, so you want to be careful when choosing a lender orbroker and specific mortgage terms. Remember that, along with thepotential benefits to refinancing, there are also costs. When you refinance, you pay off your existing mortgage and create anew one.
Mid-Tier Lenders Shut Out of Hope for Homeowners, Sources Say
Housing Wire
If only things worked the way they were supposed to. In reality, servicers and investors are reportedly leery of taking the 13 percent haircut relative to current LTV needed to get into a H4H loan (that extra three percent is an up-front insurance premium). Worse yet, smaller, independent mortgage bankers — the so-called mid-tier lenders in the mortgage origination market — now say they are finding it difficult to turn around and sell these refinanced loans to the large investors they work with on a consistent basis. Which means even if an investor or trustee agrees to take the loss and refinance a loan into the H4H program, there often isn’t a buyer on the other end willing to take the loan.