Mortgage - Home Loan, Commercial Loan

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Wauwatosa residents will have the chance to voice their opinions about loan stores popping up in their neighborhoods Tuesday night.

Wauwatosa already has an ordinance restricting cash advance stores from certain parts of the city because they worry those stores attract crime.

Now some loan stores are reclassifying themselves to get around the ordinance and those businesses are ready to move in. EZCorp Inc. owns EZPay loan and pawn shop stores across the country. They offer small and short-term loans to customers fo a fee, and they want to set up shop along North Avenue in Wauwatosa.

Tuesday night, Wauwatosa residents are invited to a public hearing that will discuss strengthening it’s ban on loan stores within city limits. The proposed language would prevent all loan businesses, including H&R Block from opening up.

The hearing is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall.

After the public hearing, the matter will go back to committee and eventually before the city council for a vote.

In the meantime, EZCorp Lawyers are suing the city for the right to open its business, saying the ordinance took effect after the company applied for its occupancy permit and therefore doesn’t apply.

Countrywide Financial Corp. reported an increase in mortgage loan fundings and commercial real estate funding for the month of June, the company said Monday.

Mortgage loan fundings totaled $45 billion in the month of June, up 4 percent from the year-ago period. Average daily mortgage loan application activity for June was $3.1 billion, up 15 percent from the year-ago period.

Commercial real estate funding for the month of June was $814 million, up 75 percent from June 2006.

Countrywide said its mortgage loan servicing portfolio reached $1.4 trillion at the end of June, refecting an 18 percent increase from June 30, 2006.

Calabasas-based Countrywide (NYSE: CFC - News) is a financial services provider.

Published July 16, 2007 by Los Angeles Business from bizjournals

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Soaring prices in shops mean rates are certain to hit 6% soon
Millions of homeowners are facing further mortgage misery.

Economists said today another increase in the cost of borrowing is almost certain and could come next month.

It would be the sixth since last August and take the Bank of England’s base rate from its present 5.75 per cent to six per cent, the highest level since February 2001.

But the prospect of higher interest rates is good news for British tourists going to the US. The pound jumped to a 26-year high of almost $2.05 as a result.

Fears of an interest rate rise increased when figures were released today showing that prices are rising too quickly.

The hardest hit will be two million homeowners who are on fixed rate mortgages due to end in the second half of the year. They could face increases from 4.5 per cent to six per cent when they come to lock into a new fixed rate.

On a typical £200,000 London repayment home loan that would add around £179 a month to the mortgage payments. On top of that they will have to pay “arrangementî fees of up to £2,000. For a family with a £300,000 mortgage having to move to a higher fixed rate, the increase will be £270 a month.

If rates do go up next month, borrowers with a £200,000 loan still exposed to a lender’s standard variable rate will have seen monthly repayments increase by £187.69 from £1,242.48 to £1,430.17 in a year.

Today’s figures from the Office of National Statistics show that inflation is only very slowly responding to the interest rate “medicine” being dispensed by the Bank. It will be alarming news for Gordon Brown’s new government and raises the risk of a house price crash.

The headline rate of inflation dropped slightly from 2.5 per cent to 2.4 per cent today, still well above the Government’s target of two per cent. More worryingly, the broader measure of the cost of living, the all items Retail Prices Index, rose slightly from 4.3 per cent to 4.4 per cent.

A third measure of inflation, which strips out volatile items such as food and energy, also increased - to two per cent - its highest rate in a decade.

The Bank and the Government hopes that higher interest rates will dampen down economic growth and consumer spending, leading to shops having to drop their prices.

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Announced and reported layoffs in the Orange County mortgage industry:

Acoustic Home Loans, Orange. Closed in April 2006. Laid off 203 people.

ACC Capital Holdings, Orange. Laid off an estimated 3,000 of the 6,000 employees at its Ameriquest Mortgage Co., Argent Mortgage Co. and AMC Mortgage Serviceson March 15. Reported 1,267 layoffs in Orange County effective May 25 to the EDD. Last year, the companies laid off more than 4,000 people.

Countrywide Home Loans, Anaheim. Reported 59 layoffs in January to the EDD.

Dana Capital Group, Irvine. The lender reportedly shut closed the first week of May. Layoffs unknown.

ECC Capital, Irvine. Sold its mortgage operation to Bear Stearns in February but said it would keep its 350 local workers. The company laid off about 600 people nationwide last year.

Express Capital Lending, Newport Beach. Reported 36 layoffs on March 30 to the EDD.

First NLC Financial Services LLC, Orange. Reported 113 layoffs in March to the EDD.

Fremont Investment & Loan, Brea. The company announced March 2 that it was exiting the subprime business after federal regulators issued a proposed cease and desist order. Reported 62 initial layoffs in Anaheim March 5 to the EDD. Said “many” of its 2,400 employees would be on paid leave until May, after which their jobs would be terminated.

Homeview Lending Inc., Lake Forest. Reported 21 layoffs in March to the EDD.

Impac Mortgage Holdings Inc., Irvine. Announced May 9 that it laid off about 100 people out of about 800 in its workforce nationwide.

Lending Tree, Irvine. Announced May 11 it is laying off 20 percent of its 2,200 workers nationwide, including an estimated 147 in Irvine.

Master Financial Inc., Orange. Stopped lending March 14. Reported 50 Orange County layoffs to the EDD.

New Century Financial Corp., Irvine. Filed for bankruptcy April 2. An initial 2,000 workers were laid off including nearly 500 in OrangeCounty. On May 4, the company announced it would lay off 2,000 additional workers, 500 in OrangeCounty.

Novastar Mortgage Inc., Lake Forest. Reported 56 layoffs March 16 to the EDD.

Option One, Irvine. Parent company H&R Block said in November that it would sell Option One and close 12 branches, none in Orange County. On May 16, it announced 615 layoffs nationwide, including 133 in Orange County.

People’s Choice Home Loan, Irvine. Filed bankruptcy March 20. Web site listed 1,150 workers nationwide. Layoffs unknown.

ResMae Mortgage Corp., Brea. Filed bankruptcy Feb. 12, saying it would keep 800 out of 1,037 jobs. Reported 185 layoffs effective May 19 to the EDD.

WMD-GEMB Mortgage Corp., Costa Mesa. Reported 29 layoffs May 7 to the EDD.

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Alliance Bancorp Inc. has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection and will liquidate, becoming the latest residential mortgage lender to collapse in the U.S. housing downturn.

The company, which has offices in Brisbane, California, and Oak Brook, Illinois, listed more than $100 million each of assets and liabilities in its bankruptcy petition, filed on Friday with the U.S. bankruptcy court in Wilmington, Delaware. Alliance said it ceased operations the same day.

Once known as United Financial Mortgage Corp., Alliance joined at least a half dozen other U.S. mortgage lenders to seek bankruptcy protection since December. The sector has struggled with rising borrowing costs, stagnating home prices, and soaring delinquencies and defaults.

Alliance differed from most struggling lenders in that it specialized in “Alt-A” home loans, rather than “subprime” loans that have caused the greatest problems.

Alt-A loans, short for “Alternative-A,” often go to borrowers who cannot provide full documentation of income or assets. They are considered to fall between prime and subprime in quality.

In a letter posted on Alliance’s Web site, Chief Executive Lisa Duehring said “the latest market was more than we were able to overcome. We have exhausted our resources.”

Other mortgage lenders to seek bankruptcy protection include New Century Financial Corp. (NEWCQ.PK), Mortgage Lenders Network USA Inc., Ownit Mortgage Solutions LLC, People’s Choice Financial Corp., ResMae Mortgage Corp. and SouthStar Funding LLC.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel)

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