Herald-Tribune: Debaten sobre posible comienzo de una recesión

Whether incomes are dipping is at core of recession debate

Published: Sunday, November 11, 2007 at 3:01 a.m.

Last Modified: Sunday, November 11, 2007 at 4:18 a.m.

Herald-Tribune.com

Hank Fishkind's Orlando-based economic research firm predicted in October 2006 that personal incomes in Charlotte, Sarasota and Manatee counties would drop 17 percent in 2007 and would not climb back to 2006 levels until well past 2010.

When called by the Herald-Tribune, one of Fishkind's associates said the numbers, which had been available on the firm's Web site for a year, were wrong and fresh statistics would be out shortly.

Despite the fact that the economy has taken a turn for the worse, Fishkind & Associates came back with numbers that show personal income rising 2.5 percent to $32.6 billion in 2007, and continuing to rise at an accelerated pace through the end of the decade.

Fishkind defended the new figures last week, saying that tourism and other sectors of the economy are making up for the declines in anything related to home building.

"We still have positive job growth," Fishkind said.

Continuar leyendo aquí:
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20071111/REALESTATE/711110353?p=all&tc=pgall&tc=ar

Herald-Tribune: La palabra que empieza con "R"

The "R" word

Published: Sunday, November 11, 2007 at 3:04 a.m.

Last Modified: Sunday, November 11, 2007 at 7:59 a.m.

Herald-Tribune.com

The "R" word is coming up more in conversations across Southwest Florida.

If you are a beach bistro selling margaritas to tourists, you might not notice. But on the mainland, it feels and looks like a recession.

The end of the real estate boom has sent ripples through the economy. Cash register receipts are slumping. Many workers -- either laid off or marginalized by cutbacks in hours -- are leaving town or taking lower-paying jobs. Food banks are dishing out free food as fast as they can find it.

Consider these factors:

Taxable sales in the region have declined this year, the first time that has happened since 9/11 and the most serious decline in 20 years. In July, sales were down 10 percent.

Bank deposits dropped 8.5 percent in the region during the year ended June 30.

Housing permits in the region are down more than 70 percent from 2005's peak. Many builders have laid off three-quarters of their work force as a like amount of business has vanished.

Unemployment in the region has surpassed the state average for the first time that anyone can remember, rising to nearly 6 percent in Charlotte County. Builders estimate that 70 percent of their work force is undocumented workers, so the unemployment figures likely underestimate the true joblessness.

Continuar leyendo aquí:
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20071111/REALESTATE/711110404?p=all&tc=pgall

Para Su Difusión: 11 de septiembre de 2007

La FTC Advierte a Anunciantes de Hipotecas y a Medios de Comunicación que sus Anuncios Podrían Ser Engañosos

Resultados de una exploración realizada para identificar publicidades engañosas de hipotecas

La Comisión Federal de Comercio (Federal Trade Commission, FTC) ha enviado cartas a más de 200 anunciantes y a varios medios de comunicación advirtiéndoles que sus anuncios de hipotecas para viviendas son posiblemente engañosos o que se encuentran en violación de lo dispuesto por la ley Truth in Lending Act. Los anuncios fueron identificados durante un proyecto orientado a recolectar y analizar los anuncios publicitarios de hipotecas para detectar anuncios con declaraciones cuestionables. El proyecto se inició con una exploración de los anuncios de periódicos, revistas, correo directo e Internet e incluyó anuncios difundidos en todo el país en inglés y en español durante el mes de junio.

La Directora del Buró de Protección del Consumidor de la FTC Lydia Parnes dijo al respecto: “Varios anunciantes de hipotecas están haciendo declaraciones publicitarias posiblemente engañosas sobre tasas y cuotas de pago increíblemente bajas sin contarle la historia completa a los consumidores – por ejemplo, omiten informar que esas tasas y cuotas bajas solamente son aplicables por un corto período y que pueden aumentar considerablemente al terminar el período inicial del préstamo. El ‘sueño americano’ es el sueño de la casa propia, pero puede convertirse en una pesadilla para aquellos consumidores que obtengan un préstamo hipotecario sin comprender sus términos. 

Comprender todos los términos y condiciones de un préstamo, incluso de qué forma pueden aumentar las cuotas en los años futuros, es esencial para todos los consumidores, pero lo es particularmente para los consumidores que estén considerando tomar un préstamo hipotecario ‘no-tradicional’”.

GreenPoint Mortgage cierra

Mortgage Companies Going Belly-Up

by M. Anthony Carr

GreenPoint Mortgage Funding is the latest mortgage company to shut its doors this year. Credit card giant CapitalOne, headquartered in the shadow of Washington, D.C., announced the immediate shutdown of GreenPoint, its loan origination subsidiary. Talk about a good idea gone bad -- CapitalOne just bought the company December of last year.

I like the way the CapitalOne press guys write this one up -- that the current market creates "significant near-term profitability challenges." I guess that means, we ain't makin' no money right now.

Note to shareholders: Oops.

One of the latest twists in an already topsy-turvy real estate market for agents and buyers is this -- if a mortgage company owns a lot of property from foreclosures, then where or to whom does a buyer make an offer to purchase such property since the holder of the house no longer exists -- at least in a healthy state.

The short-sale market (better known as pre-foreclosure) is alive and well around the country. But now we have the next challenge on these properties -- buyers in the midst of a transaction with an entity whose status is questionable at best, and totally phased out at worst.

Capital One cierra subsidiario GreenPoint Mortgage

Capital One Shuts Down GreenPoint Mortgage Unit

Mortgage meltdown claims another victim

08/21/2007 | Martin H.Bosworth | ConsumerAffairs.com

The mortgage meltdown has claimed yet another casualty, as Capital One announced it is shuttering its GreenPoint Mortgage wholesale lending unit. GreenPoint will close all 31 of its branches in 19 states, and its headquarters in California, Capital One said.

The McLean, Virginia-based lender also announced it was cutting 1,900 jobs across the board in an effort to cut costs. Capital One had already announced its plans to cut 2,000 jobs earlier in the year.

Capital One bought GreenPoint Mortgage for $13.2 billion in 2006, at the tail end of a five-year housing boom that saw record home prices and loans across the country. The closing of the unit will cost Capital One $860 million after taxes, according to the company.

Although Wall Street was expecting better trading today due to positive reports from retailers, the financial markets still showed nervousness in the face of another example of the mortgage meltdown's ripple effect across the global economy.

Lenders who specialized in "creative" and "nonconforming" loans with higher interest rates and steep payment increases have been downsizing or declaring bankruptcy in droves, leading to a global "credit crunch" as the markets pull back from lending and consumers stop borrowing.

Bloguero culpa a HGTV por la burbuja inmobiliaria

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

I Blame HGTV

I've just finished doing the research and substantive edit of a book designed to help newlyweds through the process of buying a home. The author, a fan of sub-prime mortgages in SOME cases, does ask readers to do some major work before jumping in: make a budget and then stick to it for a few months, instead of just assuming that you will; don't have a mortgage bigger than what you are already paying in rent (providing you're meeting your rent payments without a problem); remember that happiness is not dependent on glass-tiled bathrooms withsoaker tubs, etc. Basically, reminding people to stay sane.


Sanity has been hard to come by in real estate for the last few years. The early adapters to bubble housing prices and the rise of HGTV made a fortune. Soon, everyone felt that they should be in on it. If you weren't buying, upgrading, or flipping you were an idiot, doomed to a life as a wage slave. Turn on any one of half a dozen TV channels and you could watch 22 year old waiters and 40 something housewives leverage the finances to buy a wreck and then, a few setbacks and many visits to Home Depot later, reveal the newly gleaming home and their expected profit margin--usually about as much as most people make in a year or two.


Continua aquí: http://awedacity.blogspot.com/2007/08/i-blame-hgtv.html

Cierra GreenPoint Mortgage, compañia de préstamos hipotecarios

Greenpoint Mortgage Closed

Colin Robertson August 20, 2007 Comments Off

Greenpoint Mortgage was shut down today by parent Capital One Financial Corp., who said weak demand for residential home loans forced the company to shut the ailing mortgage lender. Capital One announced that it would cease loan origination operations at Greenpoint Mortgage immediately, and according to initial reports, cut roughly 1,900 jobs.

Loans that are already in the pipeline and locked will continue to be processed and should ultimately fund as scheduled.

The news followed similar statements made by the VP of investor relations for Capital One last week, who sparked employee concerns that the company was gearing up to close Greenpoint Mortgage. Greenpoint Mortgage headquarters in Novato, California will be closed, along with 31 other branches in 19 states throughout the United States.

Greenpoint Mortgage specialized in Alt-A loans, offering programs for borrowers with credit scores down to 620, as well as option-arms, second mortgages, jumbo loans, and other high-risk products. But earlier this year Greenpoint narrowed their product offerings significantly, effectively sinking loan volume and forcing the closure of 13 branches and 440 layoffs.

Capital One Closes GreenPoint Mortgage, Idling 1,900

By Joseph N. DiStefano - August 20, 2007 20:22 EDT

Aug. 20 (Bloomberg) -- Capital One Financial Corp. shut its GreenPoint Mortgage unit, eliminating 1,900 jobs, and lowered its earnings forecast as the worst U.S. housing slump in 16 years erodes demand for home loans.

Capital One bought GreenPoint less than a year ago in a $13.2 billion deal that was the biggest acquisition to date for Chief Executive Officer Richard Fairbank. Today, the McLean, Virginia-based bank cut its 2007 earnings forecast to $5 a share from $7.15, triggering charges of about $860 million, or $2.15 per share, mostly during this year.

"They said, 'Let's just cut our losses now and get out," said Thomas Brown, chief executive officer at Second Curve Capital LLC in New York, which owned 1 million shares of Capital One on June 30. "The company had been getting a lot of questions about that business."

Capital One acquired GreenPoint's parent, North Fork Bancorp, at the tail end of a five-year boom in home sales. The real estate market nationwide has contracted and investors have shunned mortgage-backed securities since defaults on loans to home buyers with poor credit rose to a record earlier this year. More than 90 mortgage companies have closed operations or sought buyers since the start of 2006, according to Bloomberg data.

Premier Mortgage Funding declara bancarrota

Premier Mortgage Funding files BANKRUPTCY

Notice of Bankruptcy Case Filing

A bankruptcy case concerning the debtor(s) listed below was filed under Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code, entered on 07/03/2007 at 08:56 AM and filed on 07/03/2007 at 08:56 AM. 

Premier Mortgage Funding, Inc.
3001 Executive Dr., Ste. 330
Clearwater, FL 33762
Tax id: 30-0030026 

The case was filed by the debtor's attorney:
Buddy D. Ford
115 N. MacDill Avenue
Tampa, FL 33609
813-877-4669

The case was assigned case number 8:07-bk-05713-CPM to Judge Catherine Peek McEwen. 

by anonamust July 10, 2007 12:00 AM

NYT: Juego Limpio: Préstamos Hipotecarios, una pesadilla que crece

April 8, 2007

FAIR GAME; Home Loans: A Nightmare Grows Darker

By GRETCHEN MORGENSON

SNAZZY and newfangled mortgage loans, like those with low initial rates of interest or extended terms of 40 or 50 years, helped to drive homeownership rates in the United States from around 64 percent two decades ago to a peak of almost 70 percent in recent years. Called ''affordability loans,'' these new kinds of mortgages have gone mostly to first-time home buyers and borrowers with tarnished credit or spotty employment histories.

Now, however, with home foreclosures and mortgage delinquencies soaring, it is becoming clear that the innovative loans that lenders championed -- in what the industry called the ''democratization of credit'' -- are turning the American dream of homeownership into a nightmare for many borrowers.
Even though these subprime mortgages account for only one-eighth of total mortgages outstanding, they represent 60 percent of foreclosures, according to the Center for Responsible Lending, a nonprofit and nonpartisan research organization in Durham, N.C. This is not surprising, since the features common to subprime mortgages actually increase the risk of foreclosure, mortgage experts say.

''The subprime market should be an additional and welcome opening of the credit markets for borrowers who have previously been shut out,'' said Michael D. Calhoun, president of the center. ''But it has been allowed and even encouraged to develop in a way that we think will result in a net loss of homeownership.''

For years, the homeownership rate in the United States ranged from 60 to 65 percent of the total population. But in 1995, President Bill Clinton directed Henry G. Cisneros, then the secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, to work with the housing industry, nonprofit groups and other government officials to develop the National Homeownership Strategy, ''an unprecedented public-private partnership to increase homeownership to a record-high level over the next six years,'' as described in an Urban Policy Brief in August of that year.

BusinessWeek: Tiburones en la piscina del mercado inmobiliario

SEPTEMBER 5, 2005NEWS: ANALYSIS & COMMENTARY 

Sharks In The Housing Pool

Deed thieves, property flippers, equity strippers -- these con artists are duping banks and homeowners

By most measures, Matthew B. Cox would appear to be a mortgage lender's dream customer. The 36-year-old former Tampa resident had once worked in the mortgage business, so he understood intimately what it took to qualify for a loan. And Cox threw plenty of business at mortgage lenders in Florida, and then Georgia: An aspiring real estate investor, Cox took out $3.7 million in mortgages to finance his apparently ever-growing stable of houses.

But in reality, Cox was the industry's worst nightmare. Federal law enforcement officials say that Cox -- a.k.a. Michael Shanahan, David Freeman, and Gerald Cugno -- along with his girlfriend, Rebecca M. Hauck, masterminded a massive mortgage fraud that ensnared at least 10 different lenders, including Bank of America Corp. and SunTrust Banks Inc.


Using nearly a dozen stolen identities, the pair forged "deeds of satisfaction" to convince banks that they had paid off loans for -- and thus owned -- homes that, in fact, they were renting from the true owners.

With these fake documents, Cox then persuaded banks to lend him millions beginning in 2002 and into 2004 -- millions he and his girlfriend subsequently absconded with. So brazen was Cox that he left some of the mortgage brokers who closed his loans in Florida a copy of his novel-in-progress, titled The Associates -- little more than a barely fictionalized account of his escapades. Cox and his girlfriend are now on the lam, their faces plastered on wanted posters distributed to bankers, mortgage brokers, and real estate agents. "We want to catch him so we can put him on trial," says David E. Nahmius, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia.

Compañía de préstamos sospecha de fraude departe de agentes hipotecarios

Mortgage company suspects fraud by Tampa brokers

While workers say they haven't been paid, the Clearwater company's CEO says some loans show signs of fraud.

By MIKE BRASSFIELD, St. Petersburg Times Staff Writer
Published August 5, 2005

---

A group of Tampa workers twice recently have picketed outside the headquarters of a Clearwater mortgage financing company, saying they haven't been paid for about two months of work. But the company says its reputation is being unfairly smeared.

"We have done nothing wrong," said Jerry Cugno, CEO of Premier Mortgage Funding.

The Clearwater company and a Tampa mortgage broker are trading accusations of fraud. State regulators say they will investigate.

Tampa mortgage broker Victor Perry says he signed a contract on May 13 to become a branch of Premier, which has about 600 branches nationwide. Perry says he and a dozen employees have been signing customers up for mortgages in 36 states using the Premier name.

When banks or title companies sent the Tampa employees their commissions from the approved loans, the office sent the checks to Premier headquarters. Perry says that Premier was then supposed to pay his employees their commissions, but that the company hasn't been doing that. This prompted the picketing last week.

However, Cugno says he is happy to pay the workers what they are owed. The problem, he says, is that some of the loans show signs of fraud.

Cugno said he has begun paying commissions for some loans, but cannot pay for loans he suspects are fraudulent. "We have to separate the good loans from the bad," he said.

Businessweek: Cuando los pobres con casa propia son un problema

BUSINESSWEEK

NOVEMBER 1, 2004 

ECONOMICS/Commentary

When Home Buying By The Poor Backfires

By: Peter Coy

For many families, a house can be a bad investment

Mildred Wilkins calls it "falling out the back door." It's what happens when low-income families who have bought their first houses are forced out because they can't keep up the mortgage payments. Says Wilkins, an Indianapolis consumer advocate who once worked for Fannie Mae (FNM ) selling foreclosed properties: "I don't care if you put five families in the front door if three families fall out the back door. It breaks my heart to see it. It absolutely breaks my heart

In Washington, making it easier for the poor to buy homes is as uncontroversial as Mom's apple pie. Measures to increase the rate of low-income homeownership have historically been strongly supported by both Democrats and Republicans, as well as homebuilders and banks. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (FRE ), the giant mortgage-finance institutions, have justified their existence by their promotion of homeownership among the poor. More recently, boosting low-income home buying has been an important part of what President George W. Bush calls the "ownership society."

Unlike many government initiatives, the homeownership campaign is succeeding: The nation's homeownership rate reached a record 69.2% in the second quarter, up from 67.2% four years earlier. Among families in the bottom half of incomes, the rate rose to 53.1% from 50.8% over the same stretch. Advocates say ownership builds wealth while promoting responsibility.

Forbes: posiciona a Countrywide entre las 25 grandes compañias de USA de mayor crecimiento en el 2004

Fastest-Growing Big Companies
 
Countrywide Branches Out Beyond Mortgages 

Ari Weinberg, 04.16.04, 3:00 PM ET 

NEW YORK - The company is no longer known as Countrywide Credit Industries but the mortgage company founded in 1969 by Angelo Mozilo and the late David Loeb has been pumping out home loans with factory-like efficiency over the past few years.


On the back of historically low interest rates, the company now known as Countrywide Financial churned out $434 billion in new loans in 2003, compared with $252 billion in 2002, making it the largest independent mortgage lender, slightly ahead of $384 billion in home lending for Washington Mutual and just behind the $470 billion of production by Wells Fargo. 

But Calabasas, Calif.-based Countrywide earned its place on our list of America's 25 Fastest-Growing Big Companies for its 33% annual revenue growth over the last five years as the fastest-growing company among U.S. financial services firms on the Global 2000. Countrywide's earnings per share--at $8.31 per share in 2003 versus $3.25 per share in 2002--and stock price, up nearly 180% since the end of 2001 to just under $56, have shown that the company has been able to translate that revenue surge into earnings. 

At an investor meeting in late March, Chairman and Chief Executive Mozilo rolled out a five-year strategic plan for Countrywide to augment its position in the mortgage banking sector and reduce its sensitivity to interest rate changes. The company plans to grow out capital markets, banking and insurance such that those divisions contribute 50% of earnings by 2008. Additionally, the company is aiming for a more sustainable 15% cumulative annual earnings growth over that period in what it calls a "normal" market.