Lead Gen Site Evaluates Consumers

By Brad Finkelstein

FERNDALE, NY - Syphr LLC, a technology provider here, has a new product in the online loan generation space called SaveOnYourLoans.com. The consumer-facing site eliminated the burden for potential borrowers of gathering their billing statements and comparison shopping for reduced loan payments.

"It occurred to us that consumers wanted information that was local and actionable," says Chris Langley, president of Syphr LLC. "We wanted to create a site that evaluated their existing loans in real time and let them know if they could save money through refinancing based on their credit score and current market rates at a local, community-based bank or credit union."

Instead, the burden for searching for a mortgage loan (among other types of loans) will be on the retail financial institution. Syphr claims competing consumer-facing sites cut out small banks and credit unions.

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What We're Hearing

By Paul Muolo

Irony: Stan Kurland's vulture fund Penny Mac is trying to make a tidy little profit by purchasing all those toxic mortgages that are dragging down our nation's financial institutions. Of course, $100 billion of those crummy loans were created by Mr. Kurland's old employer Countrywide Financial. Penny Mac, which went public this summer, just posted its first earnings report - a loss of less than $1 million. Its biggest problem? Answer: It appears that all those damn banks, Wall Street firms and thrifts aren't willing to sell their toxic subprime, alt-A loans, ABS and so on at a price where Mr. Kurland's firm can make a killing. Instead of buying assets at what Penny Mac believes are inflated prices, the firm is just saying no. But he isn't the only one who is displeased by the "bid/ask" out there. There are plenty of others. For the full story on why toxic loans sales haven't taken off - and likely won't - see the Monday paper edition of National Mortgage News. We're also publishing a selected list of lenders and their nonperforming assets most of which includes residential and commercial mortgages. Don't subscribe? Call 800-221-1809. If you have any thoughts about the state of the toxic asset market drop me an e-mail at Paul.Muolo@SourceMedia.com or post a comment at the end of this column...