Comments on: Mortgage Bankers Association “Walks Away” from HQ

By: FT Alphaville » Further reading

FT Alphaville » Further reading — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 08:02:06 +0000

[...] – Ironic headline of the day. [...]

By: wunsacon

wunsacon — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 19:11:33 +0000

molten_tofu, unfortunately, none of these scum *individually* get to see their credit trashed by this particular default.

By: molten_tofu

molten_tofu — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 16:07:06 +0000

This article is wierdly comforting for me. Now we know they were at least drinking the same cool-aid they were selling. Or something.

By: How the Common Man Sees It

How the Common Man Sees It — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 15:36:08 +0000

It’s a great time to buy OR sell CRE

By: tonyarko

tonyarko — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 15:02:04 +0000

And to think, just 30 days ago John Courson was berating homeowners from doing exactly what his association did. It is remarkable the arrogance and hypocrisy that these bankers have running through their ego driven heads. http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/10/magazine/10FOB-wwln-t.html

Walk Away From Your Mortgage

John Courson, president and C.E.O. of the Mortgage Bankers Association, recently told The Wall Street Journal that homeowners who default on their mortgages should think about the “message” they will send to “their family and their kids and their friends.” Courson was implying that homeowners — record numbers of whom continue to default — have a responsibility to make good. He wasn’t referring to the people who have no choice, who can’t afford their payments. He was speaking about the rising number of folks who are voluntarily choosing not to pay.

By: torrie-amos

torrie-amos — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 14:17:02 +0000

there fee’s must be down, so cut salaries ot chuck something over da boats side, the insanity continues

fwiw, costar very interesting company, the lead number cruncher on all cre in america, diversifying? obviously they’re not interested in cap ex on the business, must be something persnickety like lower sales

By: JAMES HAGERTY

JAMES HAGERTY — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 13:41:45 +0000

Like millions of American households, the Mortgage Bankers Association found itself stuck with real estate whose market value has plunged far below the amount it owed its lenders.

But the trade group for mortgage lenders is refusing to say exactly how it extracted itself from that predicament.

On Friday, CoStar Group Inc., a provider of commercial real estate data, announced that it had agreed to buy the MBA’s 10-story headquarters building in Washington, D.C., for $41.3 million. The price is far below the $79 million the trade group says it paid for the glass-walled building in 2007, while it was still under construction. The price also is far below the $75 million financing that the MBA received from a group of banks led by PNC Financial Services Group Inc. to finance the purchase.

John Courson, chief executive officer of the trade group, declined in an interview Saturday to say whether the MBA would pay off the full loan amount. “We’re not going to discuss the financing,” he said. A spokeswoman for the MBA added that the MBA has reached “an agreement with all relevant parties” regarding the outstanding amount on that loan but declined to provide any details.

A spokesman for PNC, a banking company based in Pittsburgh, declined to comment.

Holliday Fenoglio Fowler LP, a real estate advisory firm, announced in June 2008 that it had arranged the $75 million financing for the MBA. At that time, HFF said the acquisition loan took the form of a variable-rate, 30-year taxable bond transaction backed by a letter of credit from PNC. HFF said such bonds are typically sold to money market funds.