Renters Warehouse has agreed to acquire OwnAmerica, a single-family rental investment marketplace. OwnAmerica’s marketplace technology will allow real estate investors to buy and sell single-family rental properties with confidence. The transaction is scheduled to officially close Jan. 1, 2019.

“As we strive to offer our clients better access to information, data and resources to make investing easier, OwnAmerica’s portfolio visualizer tools and market research capabilities stood out as industry leading and a great addition to our suite of services,” said Kevin Ortner, CEO at Renters Warehouse.  “This technology, coupled with our full-service property management solution, will make Renters Warehouse America’s largest full-service real estate investment company.”

OwnAmerica’s technology was developed over the last seven years for investors and provides access to data on market fundamentals, population trends, employment stats and price performance. The data can be loaded into interactive calculators, so the properties can be underwritten.

The new Renters Warehouse marketplace will allow investors to buy, manage and sell all in one place, and have access to stock-like analytics and day-to-day property management.

“As new institutional investors continue to enter the single family rental space, the need for a holistic solution from sourcing to leasing and managing and eventually monetizing through a single-service provider has become vitally important,” shared Anthony Cazazian, Renters Warehouse’s CIO and president of portfolio services.“

At the time of acquisition, OwnAmerica had over $21 billion in total assets on their platform, with over $200 million in assets for sale. Renters Warehouse’s 14,000 clients across the country will now have access to these assets and can expand their portfolio. Selling commissions are about half what you’d pay with a traditional real estate agent.

“Investors in the housing market are independent, patriotic people who use real estate investing to create long-term financial security for the people they care about,” said Greg Rand, CEO of OwnAmerica.

Rand will join the Renters Warehouse executive team as chief strategy officer and will be guiding the continued development of the marketplace platform, as well as building out and leading a team of local real estate investment agents in all Renters Warehouse markets to assist investors with their buying and selling decisions.

Renters Warehouse is the only property management company focused on single-family rentals to be rated by Morningstar Credit Ratings, a nationally recognized statistical rating organization. The company manages more than $3 billion in residential real estate, services over 14,000 investors across more than 22,000 residences in 42 markets and 25 states.

The number of non-performing loans fell in the first of half of 2018, compared with the same period a year earlier, according to semiannual report from the Federal Housing Finance Agency. In the first half of 2018, 7,140 non-performing loans were sold, compared to 18,419 in 2017. Non-performing loans sold through the first half of 2018 had an average delinquency of 3.1 years and an average current loan-to-value ratio of 95 percent.

Just three states, however, New Jersey, New York, and Florida accounted for 46 percent of non-performing loans that were sold.  They accounted for 47 percent of the Enterprises' loans that were one year or more delinquent as of Dec. 31, 2014, which was prior to the start of non-performing loans sales in 2015. From Dec. 31, 2015 to June 30, 2018 the number of loans one or more years delinquent held in the Enterprises' portfolio decreased by 61 percent.

The following provides more on the borrower outcomes in the report:

• As of June 30, 2018, 62 percent of these non-performing loans had been resolved.
• Compared to a benchmark of similarly-delinquent Enterprise non-performing loans that were not sold, foreclosures avoided because non-performing loans were sold were higher than the benchmark.
• Non-performing loans on homes occupied by borrowers had the highest rate of foreclosure avoidance outcomes, 28.2 percent foreclosure avoided compared with 12.7 percent for vacant properties.
• Non-performing loans on vacant homes had a much higher rate of foreclosure, more than double the foreclosure rate of borrower-occupied properties, 65.9 percent foreclosure versus 28.6 percent for borrower occupied properties.  Foreclosures on vacant homes typically improve neighborhood stability and reduce blight as the homes are sold or rented to new occupants.
• Twenty percent of the permanent modifications of non-performing loans incorporated arrearage or principal forgiveness.  The average forgiveness earned per loan to date was $55,280, with the potential to earn an average forgiveness of $77,491.

Flagstar Completes Acquisition

Flagstar Bank  has acquired 52 branches of Wells Fargo Bank in four Midwest states, including approximately $2 billion in deposits, along with certain related assets. The acquisition of these branches had been already been announced.

"We are excited to welcome the customers and employees of the 52 Wells Fargo Bank branches who joined the Flagstar family over the weekend," said Alessandro DiNello, president and chief executive officer of Flagstar Bancorp. "We are eager to bring Flagstar's brand of custom-crafted banking solutions to our new customers—all delivered by our new team of talented bankers. They share our tradition of superior customer service and commitment to the community."

Chub Reports $225M Loss Due to California Fires

Chubb Ltd. has reported preliminary net loss estimates in the fourth quarter of 2018 attributable to the California wildfires of approximately $225 million pre-tax, or $195 million after tax. These estimates do not include losses from Hurricane Michael or other weather events occurring across the globe in the quarter.

Chubb believes its estimated losses from Hurricane Michael are at the upper end of the range of $150 million to $250 million pre-tax that was previously disclosed. These estimates are net of reinsurance, include reinstatement premiums and comprise losses generated from the company's commercial and personal property and casualty insurance businesses as well as its reinsurance operations.

Beall to Retire

Patrick Beall, group president of Stewart Information Services Corp., will retire from the company on Dec. 31, 2018.  He has served in a variety of leadership roles over a career that spanned over 33 years with Stewart Title. Tara Smith, executive vice president and agency services senior director, will be promoted and named group president for agency services. Smith has been with Stewart since 2013 as a senior member of the executive team. She will take the helm in January.