href='mailto:Headlines@abiworld.org?subject=Subscribe me to the ABI
Headlines Direct'>
src='/AM/Images/headlines/headline.gif' />
October
24, 2007
Mortgage
Lending
name='1'>Mortgage Reform Bill to Face Stiff
Opposition
A recently introduced
bill aimed at reforming the mortgage industry and is the subject of a
House Financial Services Committee hearing today will likely face stiff
opposition from mortgage lenders, Wall Street firms and other interest
groups, Bankruptcy
Law360 reported yesterday. H.R. 3915, the
“Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act of 2007,”
was introduced by House Financial Services Committee Chair Barney Frank
(D-Mass.) in an effort to repair the faltering mortgage industry in the
wake of the recent mortgage market downturn. The bill would
significantly change the way mortgage originators do business by
requiring them to be licensed and enacting a minimum standard for
consumers to meet before they can be issued loans. Lenders will also be
prohibited from pushing consumers toward mortgages that are not in their
href='http://bankruptcy.law360.com/Secure/ViewArticle.aspx?id=38166'>Read
more. (Registration required.)
href='http://www.house.gov/apps/list/hearing/financialsvcs_dem/ht0718073.shtml'>Click
here to view the witness list for today’s hearing.
In related news, H.R. 3609, a
bill that would allow bankruptcy judges to modify home mortgages for
chapter 13 debtors, has been pulled from consideration from
today's House Judiciary Committee mark-up hearing to allow for
further negotiations between stakeholders.
name='2'>More of Countrywide’s Prime Mortgages Becoming
Delinquent
Subprime mortgages aren't
the only challenge facing Countrywide Financial Corp. as some loans
classified as prime when they were originated are now going bad at a
rapid pace, the Wall
Street Journal reported today. These loans are
known as option adjustable-rate mortgages, or option ARMs. In 2009-2011,
monthly payments on $229 billion of option ARMs will readjust. An
analysis prepared for the Wall Street
Journal by UBS AG shows that 3.55
percent of option ARMs originated by Countrywide in 2006 and
packaged into securities sold to investors are at least 60 days past
due. That compares with an average option-ARM delinquency rate of 2.56
percent for the industry as a whole and is the highest of six companies
analyzed by UBS.
href='http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119318489086669202.html?mod=hpp_us_whats_news'>Read
more. (Registration required.)
name='3'>Ross Wins Approval to Purchase American Home Service
Unit
Wilbur L. Ross Jr., who
became a billionaire by investing in failed steel and textile companies,
won approval to buy the loan-servicing unit of bankrupt American Home
Mortgage Investment Corp. for as much as $500 million, Bloomberg News
reported yesterday. Bankruptcy Judge
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Chris
size='3'>topher Sontchi approved Ross'
purchase of the unit yesterday after the Melville, N.Y.-based lender
last week resolved objections from dozens of companies, including units
of Bear Stearns Cos., GMAC Mortgage and Citigroup Inc. Judge Sontchi
rejected the remaining objections, which included questions about
whether Ross was financially committed to the sale. Ross is buying the
right to service about $45.3 billion worth of loans that American Home
originated.
href='http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aySH6leK40Xs'>Read
more.
In related news, three
affiliates of bankrupt American Home Mortgage Holdings Inc. have accused
Bank of America NA of reneging on swap agreements in which they are
entitled to more than $25 million,
size='3'>Bankruptcy Law360 reported yesterday.
Broadhollow Funding LLC, Melville Funding LLC and a unit of American
Home filed an adversary suit on Monday in a
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Delaware
size='3'>bankruptcy court which seeks to hold BofA accountable for a
shortfall in their sale of American Home loans.
href='http://bankruptcy.law360.com/Secure/ViewArticle.aspx?id=38200'>Read
more. (Registration required.)
name='4'>Consumer Filings Increase in
w:st='on'>
York City
size='3'>
The number of personal
bankruptcy filings in
w:st='on'>New York
City
percent in the past year,
size='3'>Crain’s New York Business
size='3'>reported yesterday. Chapter 7 and chapter 13 filings in the
city increased to 10,541 over the past 12 months, marking a 69 percent
increase. The largest increase, 83 percent, was recorded in chapter 7
filings in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Brooklyn, which includes
filings for that borough as well as Queens and
w:st='on'>Staten
Island
the numbers are high because they are being compared to the drop-off in
bankruptcies in 2006. Attorneys also said that bankruptcy filings are
going up because New Yorkers are tracking with the rest of the nation in
suffering increased pressure from rising debt and the slowing housing
market.
href='http://www.newyorkbusiness.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071023/FREE/71023010/1097'>Read
more.
name='5'>Commentary: SIV Worries Continue on Wall
Street
Concern over the effort
of three of the world's biggest banks try to finalize a rescue plan for
some structured investment vehicles (SIV’s) persists on Wall
Street as the funds themselves face mounting problems, the
Wall Street Journal
reported today. The outlines of a new superfund -- an
effort led by Citigroup Inc., Bank of America Corp. and J.P. Morgan
Chase & Co. that may include at least seven other banks -- are still
being negotiated as the three banks could present a formal structure to
potential bank partners and funds as soon as next week. Meanwhile, the
SIVs at the heart of the situation need to find investors for $100
billion in debt coming due in the next six to nine months, even as
ratings firms continue to come out with reports that lower the ratings
of securities in moves that could further depress the value of SIV
holdings. SIVs have had trouble in recent months selling debt, and some
of their roughly $350 billion in assets are backed by
w:st='on'>
size='3'>U.S.
size='3'>mortgages. Typically, money-market funds, municipalities and
other risk-averse investors buy SIV debt.
href='http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119318876666569316.html?mod=hpp_us_whats_news'>Read
more. (Registration required.)
Bank
Crackdown Bill Clears House Subcommittee
The House Energy and
Commerce Commerce, Trade and Consumer Protection Subcommittee approved
legislation that would give the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and the
Office of the Comptroller of the Currency broad power to stop banks from
engaging in unfair and deceptive practices,
size='3'>CongressDaily reported today. The
FDIC, which guarantees checking and savings accounts in commercial
banks, and the OCC, which oversees national banks, have authority to
crack down on mortgage and credit fraud only at banks under their
jurisdiction. The bill, sponsored by House Financial Services Chairman
Barney Frank (D-Mass.), would direct the two
agencies to develop comprehensive rules against unfair and deceptive
banking jointly with other regulators, or individually. Currently, the
only agency with power to issue across-the-board bans on fraud and
deception is the Federal Reserve, which Frank and others say has not
done enough to protect consumers.
Autos
name='7'>Court Approves Dana's Disclosure
Statement
Dana Corp.'s disclosure
statement and a proposal for a backstop agreement received court
approval yesterday,
size='3'>Bankruptcy Law360 reported yesterday.
The company said that the court found that Dana's disclosure statement
contained adequate information and scheduled a confirmation hearing on
Dana's restructuring plan for Dec. 10. Dana will also begin sending out
plan solicitation materials in about a week. The company filed its
second amended reorganization plan and disclosure statement on Monday,
adding some new language that described a compromise aimed at mollifying
creditors that were not able to pick up new Dana stock in an equity
rights offering with a cash settlement pool of up to $40
million.
href='http://bankruptcy.law360.com/Secure/ViewArticle.aspx?id=38224'>Read
more. (Registration required.)
name='8'>More UAW Locals Reject Chrysler Deal
Members of the United
Auto Workers at four Chrysler LLC plants in
w:st='on'>
size='3'>Indiana
late last night to reject a tentative labor contract with the auto
maker, delivering a significant blow to the union leadership's bid to
win approval for the deal from the rank and file, the
face='Times New Roman' size='3'>Wall Street Journal
size='3'>reported today. A majority of the 45,000 UAW members who work
at Chrysler facilities must ratify the contract. If it is rejected, the
union could try a second vote or may have to re-open negotiations with
Chrysler. The last time a national contract was rejected was in 1982,
also by workers at Chrysler.
href='http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119318844423969335.html?mod=us_business_whats_news'>Read
more. (Registration required.)
name='9'>Calpine Seeks Approval to Sell Solutia Claim
Calpine Corp. wants to
auction a $140 million unsecured claim against chemical company Solutia
Inc. in the hopes of garnering more from the sale than it would recover
under Solutia's reorganization plan, the Associated Press reported
yesterday. In papers filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in
size='3'>Manhattan
the power company said that claims in
Solutia's chapter 11 case have been trading at levels higher than what
unsecured creditors are expected to recover under the company's plan.
Calpine said that it has been contacted by more than a dozen
potential buyers interested in purchasing the claim, which stems from a
dispute over Solutia's decision to stop buying power from Calpine three
years ago. Solutia's chapter 11 plan calls for unsecured creditors to
recover as much as 83 cents for every dollar they are owed, making
Calpine's claim worth about $116 million.
href='http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/5239074.html'>Read
more.
href='http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/fn/5239074.html'>