National City Corp. (Wholesale) - Wholesale, HELOC's, Correspondent

Update - 2008-06-09: Reuters reported Friday, 2008-06-06, that "National City Corp. has entered into a memorandum of understanding with federal regulators, effectively putting the bank on probation."

"Terms of the confidential agreement with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency are not known," the article goes on to say. Memoranda of Underststanding, or MOA's, are explained:"

"Memoranda of understanding allow banks to work with federal regulators to address financial problems, without necessarily triggering alarm among depositors."

One poster on our Discussion Forum had this comment:

"An institution operating under a MOU with regulators can indeed be a serious situation. It is the contents of the MOU that are of importance, as many have operated under MOU's for various periods of time."

Shares have plummeted below $4.50 and the stock is now trading at 52-week lows.

Update - 2007-12-31: In a conference call today National City has announced the closure of it's Wholesale Lending Division. We understand their retail channel is "open and retooling for the future" according to an Area Manager.

In a quote from housingwire.com,

"The Ohio-based bank has been under earnings pressure from its former First Franklin Mortgage and Home Equity lending segments. National City sold First Franklin, a subprime lending operation, to Merrill Lynch in January in a deal valued at $1.3 billion; in August, the company said it would merge its Home Equity lending business with National City Mortgage, the bank's wholesale lending arm."

Click here to read their Letter to Brokers (.doc).

According to CNBC: "National City, one of the 10 largest U.S. banks, said Wednesday it will eliminate 900 jobs as it stops offering mortgages through brokers." More information will be provided as it becomes available.

From an email 207-12-31:

"Effective today all wholesale operations are done. Close and out of the wholesale business."

Thousands of people have read the Forum Topic on this company.

Update - 2007-10-23: Implosion of National City Correspondent Lending:

Many have written in to inform us that National City has decided to shutter its Correspondent Lending division. The announcement was made internally this morning via a conference call. It has since been made public both via emails to former Correspondent customers as well as a formal announcement on the National City Correspondent website (ncmexpress.com). The announcement reads:

As you know, rapidly changing conditions in mortgage markets have resulted in significant challenges in the industry. Like many mortgage lenders, we have taken a number of actions regarding mortgage product offerings to ensure that originations are appropriately in line with existing and anticipated market conditions. However, unprecedented volatility in the mortgage markets, coupled with a forecasted continued cyclical downturn in origination activity, requires that we take additional action.

We have made the decision to exit the correspondent lending business as of 5:00 PM Eastern Time on Tuesday, October 23, 2007. We will stand behind our commitments and will honor previously granted approvals in the pipeline as well as continue to have support staff to complete the processing of your pending registrations and locked pipeline. While this difficult decision was not taken lightly, this business line no longer fits with National City's future mortgage business strategy.

We thank you for the loyal relationship we have experienced with your company. National City will continue to offer a comprehensive suite of mortgage products that will satisfy most consumers' needs through our Retail and Wholesale lending channels.

For those customers who have other relationships with National City, we greatly appreciate the business that you entrust to us and we remain focused on providing our customers with the superior products and services that you deserve and expect. Thank you for your business and interest in National City.

If you have further details regarding the closure of NCC Correspondent, please let us know.

Original Implosion of National City Home Equity from 2007-08-16:

Many have written in today to notify us that National City Home Equity is no more. Per an article on Reuters regarding the closure of National City Home Equity:

... One of the largest U.S. regional banks, on Thursday said it would fold its home equity business into National City Mortgage Co., a move designed to cut costs and respond to deteriorating mortgage markets.

Cleveland-based National City said some National Home Equity staff will join National City Mortgage's wholesale division, but many sales and support jobs will be eliminated.

"We are continuing to closely monitor the market and will continue to take steps to ensure originations are appropriately in line with market conditions," National City Chief Financial Officer Jeffrey Kelly said in a statement.

The move comes 10 days after National Home Equity, which originates loans and credit lines through mortgage brokers, suspended approvals as demand dried up in secondary mortgage markets.

...

"We believe that the reduction in marketability of many mortgage products will continue for some time," Kelly said.

National City spokeswoman Kristen Baird Adams had no comment about the number of job cuts or the estimated financial impact of the move.

The following email from an ex-Account Executive of National City Home Equity was forwarded on to us today:

It is with sadness that I have to type this email. National City Home Equity has joined the long list of banks that is no more. We all met with HR and our last day is tomorrow. ...

We are unsure at this time how many are affected by this closure/merging. One has estimated that "hundreds laid off on the home eq side".

Original post to Ailing/Watch list from 2007-08-06:

As many have written in to note, National City Home Equity has stopped accepting applications for HELOCs. Marketwatch reports:

National City Corp. said on Monday that its National City Home Equity unit has suspended approvals of addition loans or lines of credit in response to market conditions. "This is one of a number of steps National City has taken in recent weeks to help ensure that originations are in line with existing and anticipated market conditions," the bank said in a statement that was e-mailed to MarketWatch. "We are continuing to closely monitor the market and take the appropriate steps to best navigate market conditions."

We are keeping a close eye on National City; if you hear anything regarding their operations, please let us know.