Wednesday, April 04, 2007

Mortgage tree lending update

All those who said "business as usual with MTL" apparently are not in the loop on whats going on? I have highilighted some information in the story below.


From the Central Valley Business Times:

W.J. Bradley Company Merchant Partners LLC, a Denver-based acquisition firm that is consolidating small and medium sized mortgage brokers and banks, says it has reached a definitive agreement to acquire MortgageTree Lending Corp., a Modesto-based mortgage banker and broker.

The transaction is expected to close in late May. Terms of the transaction were not released.

Founded in 1986, MortgageTree is a privately held retail originator of residential mortgage loans that acts as both a mortgage banker and broker. In 2006, the company originated $788 million in residential mortgage loans. The company is licensed in 32 states, has approximately 390 employees and 55 retail branch offices, located throughout the country. The company originates conforming, non-conforming and subprime loans.

As is the case with other W.J. Bradley acquisitions, Ms. Diana Grossmann and Robert Draizen will continue in their positions as CEO and chief operating officer, respectively, Bradley says. They will continue to have a financial interest in the company's future.

Ms. Grossmann says her company was looking for a partner who could help it “work through the current, challenging market environment and give us better platform to grow when market conditions improve.”

“We are already taking steps to restructure our operations to reduce costs and eliminate redundancy as we move onto W.J. Bradley's centralized fulfillment platform," she says. Details of that restructuring were not revealed
.

9 comments:

lovin' the positive side! said...

This could be a letter from any company in most any industry (other than maybe oil) at this time. The global markets are contracting, not expanding. And that's all Bush's fault! Or is it Mickey Mouse?

Bakersfield Bubble said...

The Boston Globe. “New York mortgage broker Vertical Lend Inc. forged borrowers’ signatures, created false loan records, and charged fees that were never disclosed to customers, state regulators said yesterday as they ordered the company to stop selling mortgages in Massachusetts.”

“Also yesterday, Massachusetts ordered SouthStar Funding LLC to halt operations after regulators learned the company is no longer funding some loans it had agreed to make, said David Cotney, the banking division’s chief operating officer.”

“‘The chickens are coming home to roost,’ said James Campen, a former economics professor at the University of Massachusetts at Boston.”

Bakersfield Bubble said...

The Chicago Tribune. “Amid rising levels of defaults and foreclosures in the home-lending industry, nearly 900 Chicago-area workers at four mortgage firms will lose their jobs, according to recent filings with Illinois employment officials.”

“ACC Capital Holdings told the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity in three separate filings last month that it is cutting a total of 515 jobs at three locations.”

“Meanwhile, Fremont Investment & Loan told the state that it was laying off 270 workers. H&R Block Mortgage Corp. is cutting 58 workers. In addition, WMC-GEMB Mortgage Corp. told the state that it is letting go 51 workers in Schaumburg as a result of ‘the current climate’ in the subprime mortgage industry, a spokeswoman said.”

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0704030646apr04,0,2814319.story?coll=chi-bizfront-hed

Bakersfield Bubble said...

From Builder Online. “Credit Suisse analyst Ivy L. Zelman says possible lender restrictions involving subprime and Alt-A mortgages, which accounted for an estimated 40 percent of purchase dollar originations in 2006, may result in a shrinking pool of buyers for new homes.”

“‘Some of the investors said, ‘I’m delivering the loan back to you. Give me my money.’ And that’s basically why New Century went belly up,’ Zelman explained. ‘What people think right now is that this is just a subprime problem, and unfortunately, I wish it was. Subprime is not that significant for many (builders) but we all should realize that housing is a food chain, and there is a domino effect.’”

http://www.builderonline.com/industry-news.asp?sectionID=26&articleID=470011

Bakersfield Bubble said...

"involving subprime and Alt-A mortgages, which accounted for an estimated 40 percent of purchase dollar originations in 2006"

Bakersfield Bubble said...

It is difficult for the Federal Reserve to gauge the true health of the housing sector given the recent damage in the subprime mortgage market, said Richard Fisher, the president of the Dallas Fed Bank on Wednesday. He said the housing markets may "feel some short-term pain" because 40% of homebuyers last year were nonprime, either subprime or Alt-A loans. This pain will make it "less clear whether housing construction has bottomed and how long the housing downturn may last," Fisher said. Fisher said the economy will grow more slowly because of the housing market, but is strong enough "to weather this storm." A buildup in housing inventory means that responsible buyers will be able to purchase homes at more affordable prices, he said

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/feds-fisher-subprime-woes-obscure/story.aspx?guid=%7B7F3F87AD%2D0232%2D4E72%2D8C86%2D8EA93BF0FDEE%7D

Bakersfield Bubble said...

"because 40% of homebuyers last year were nonprime, either subprime or Alt-A loans. "

Kiss my ass!

Bakersfield Bubble said...

"A buildup in housing inventory means that responsible buyers will be able to purchase homes at more affordable prices, he said"

Let me intrepet for the idiots in Bakersfield - this means lower prices!

bruce said...

I was looking for a company to deal with my contract bonds as the people I used in the past stopped offering bonds to meet my needs. I managed to get a free bond quote but is there anywhere else I could try? I did a quick search on google but nothing much came up offering instant quotes like they had on the site I used.