Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

REAL ESTATE RELATED LOANS, RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE LOANS, SUBPRIME MORTGAGE LOANS AND SERVICING RIGHTS

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REAL ESTATE RELATED LOANS, RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE LOANS, SUBPRIME MORTGAGE LOANS AND SERVICING RIGHTS
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2011
Notes to Financial Statements  
REAL ESTATE RELATED LOANS, RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE LOANS, SUBPRIME MORTGAGE LOANS AND SERVICING RIGHTS

4. REAL ESTATE RELATED LOANS, RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE LOANS, SUBPRIME MORTGAGE LOANS AND SERVICING RIGHTS

The following is a summary of real estate related loans, residential mortgage loans and subprime mortgage loans at September 30, 2011. The loans contain various terms, including fixed and floating rates, self-amortizing and interest only. They are generally subject to prepayment.

 

                                                                 
Loan Type    Outstanding
Face Amount
     Carrying
Value (A)
     Loan
Count
     Wtd. Avg.
Yield
    Weighted
Average
Coupon
    Weighted
Average
Maturity
(Years) (B)
     Floating Rate
Loans as a %
of Face
Amount
    Delinquent Face
Amount (C)
 
Mezzanine Loans    $ 560,563       $ 443,361         16         11.13     7.01     2.3         72.8   $ 63,615   
Corporate Bank Loans      277,541         159,878         6         20.76     9.11     3.0         52.8     —     
B-Notes      255,085         187,865         9         15.35     4.46     1.8         76.4     45,091   
Whole Loans      30,670         30,670         3         4.34     3.90     2.1         94.9     —     
                                                                      
Total Real Estate Related Loans Held-for-Sale, Net    $ 1,123,859       $ 821,774         34         13.71     6.87     2.4         69.3   $ 108,706   
                                                                      
Non-Securitized Manufactured Housing Loan Portfolio I    $ 775       $ 200         22         47.86     8.32     0.7         0.0   $ 78   
Non-Securitized Manufactured Housing Loan Portfolio II      5,407         2,831         171         15.59     10.19     5.0         8.1     1,826   
                                                                      
Total Residential Mortgage Loans Held-for-Sale, Net    $ 6,182       $ 3,031         193         17.72     9.96     4.5         7.1   $ 1,904   
                                                                      
Securitized Manufactured Housing Loan Portfolio I    $ 139,116       $ 115,357         3,640         9.53     8.69     7.5         1.0   $ 1,628   
Securitized Manufactured Housing Loan Portfolio II      184,615         180,926         6,289         7.56     9.66     6.0         17.4     2,035   
Residential Loans      61,391         44,206         218         6.67     2.34     7.2         100.0     7,135   
                                                                      
Total Residential Mortgage Loans Held-for-Investment, Net (D)    $ 385,122       $ 340,489         10,147         8.11     8.14     6.7         24.6   $ 10,798   
                                                                      
Subprime Mortgage Loans Subject to Call Option    $ 406,217       $ 404,476                                                      
                                                                      

 

(A) Carrying value includes interest receivable of $0.1 million for the residential housing loans and principal and interest receivable of $5.4 million for the manufactured housing loans.
(B) The weighted average maturity is based on the timing of expected principal reduction on the assets.
(C) Includes loans that are 60 or more days past due, in foreclosure, under bankruptcy, or considered real estate owned. As of September 30, 2011, $134.6 million face amount of real estate related loans was on non-accrual status.
(D) The following is an aging analysis of past due residential loans held-for-investment as of September 30, 2011:

 

                                                         
    30-59 Days
Past Due
    60-89 Days
Past Due
    Over 90 Days
Past Due
    Repossessed     Total Past
Due
    Current     Total Outstanding
Face Amount
 
Securitized Manufactured Housing Loan Portoflio I   $ 1,465      $ 243      $ 705      $ 680      $ 3,093      $ 136,023      $ 139,116   
Securitized Manufactured Housing Loan Portoflio II   $ 1,635      $ 487      $ 770      $ 778      $ 3,670      $ 180,945      $ 184,615   
Residential Loans   $ 438      $ —        $ 7,135      $ —        $ 7,573      $ 53,818      $ 61,391   

Newcastle’s management monitors the credit qualities of the Manufactured Housing Loan Portfolios I and II primarily by using aging analyses, current trends in delinquencies and actual loss incurrence rates.

Newcastle’s investments in real estate related loans and non-securitized manufactured housing loans were classified as held-for-sale as of September 30, 2011 and December 31, 2010. Loans held-for-sale are marked to the lower of carrying value or fair value.

Newcastle’s investment in the securitized manufactured housing loan portfolio I was classified as held-for-investment as of September 30, 2011 and December 31, 2010. Newcastle’s investment in the manufactured housing loan portfolio II was classified as held-for-sale as of December 31, 2010. However, subsequent to the refinancing of a portion of the manufactured housing loan portfolio II in May 2011, Newcastle reclassified the securitized portion of the related pool of loans from held-for-sale to held-for-investment since the longer term financing provided it the ability to hold these loans for the foreseeable future. In connection with the securitizations of the manufactured housing loan portfolios, Newcastle gave representations and warranties with respect to the manufactured housing loans sold to the securitization trusts. To the extent a breach of any such representations and warranties materially and adversely affects the value or enforceability of the related loans, Newcastle will be required to repurchase such loans from the respective securitization trusts.

Newcastle’s investment in the residential loans was classified as held-for-sale as of December 31, 2010. In the third quarter of 2011, in light of its current capital and liquidity positions, Newcastle re-evaluated its intent and ability to hold its investment in residential loans and determined that it has the intent and ability to hold this investment to maturity and reclassified this investment as held-for-investment as of September 30, 2011.

The following is a summary of real estate related loans by maturities at September 30, 2011:

 

                         
Year of Maturity (1)    Outstanding
Face Amount
     Carrying
Value
     Number of
Loans
 
Delinquent (2)    $ 108,706       $ 45,516         5   
Period from October 1, 2011 to December 31, 2011      80,178         68,984         2   
2012      123,073         57,403         4   
2013      29,354         19,063         3   
2014      295,273         207,338         8   
2015      215,475         173,450         6   
2016      254,512         234,805         5   
Thereafter      17,288         15,215         1   
                            
Total    $ 1,123,859       $ 821,774         34   
                            

 

(1) Based on the final extended maturity date of each loan investment as of September 30, 2011.
(2) Includes loans that are non-performing, in foreclosure, or under bankruptcy.

Activities relating to the carrying value of our real estate loans and residential mortgage loans are as follows:

 

                         
     Held-for-Sale     Held-for-Investment  
     Real Estate Related
Loans
    Residential Mortgage
Loans
    Residential Mortgage
Loans
 
December 31, 2010    $ 782,605      $ 253,213      $ 124,974   
Purchases / additional fundings      339,850        —          —     
Interest accrued to principal balance      14,303        —          —     
Principal paydowns      (234,418     (8,563     (21,128
Sales      (125,141     —          —     
Transfer to held-for-investment      —          (238,721     238,721   
Valuation (allowance) reversal on loans      43,697        (2,900     (2,579
Accretion of loan discount and other amortization      —          —          1,223   
Other      878        2        (722
                          
September 30, 2011    $ 821,774      $ 3,031      $ 340,489   
                          

The following is a rollforward of the related loss allowance.

 

                         
     Held-For-Sale     Held-For-Investment  
     Real Estate
Related Loans
    Residential Mortgage
Loans
    Residential Mortgage
Loans (B)
 
Balance at December 31, 2010    $ (321,591   $ (25,193   $ (21,350
Transfer to held-for-investment      —          21,364        (21,364
Charge-offs (A)      26,853        3,553        4,035   
Valuation (allowance) reversal on loans      43,697        (2,900     (2,579
                          
Balance at September 30, 2011    $ (251,041   $ (3,176   $ (41,258
                          

 

(A) The charge-offs for real estate related loans represent three loans which were written off or sold during the period.
(B) The allowance for credit losses was determined based on the guidance for loans acquired with deteriorated credit quality.

Securitization of Subprime Mortgage Loans

The following table presents information on the retained interests in Newcastle’s securitizations of subprime mortgage loans at September 30, 2011:

 

                         
     Subprime Portfolio         
     I      II      Total  
Total securitized loans (unpaid principal balance) (A)    $ 488,009       $ 637,069       $ 1,125,078   
Loans subject to call option (carrying value)    $ 299,176       $ 105,300       $ 404,476   
Retained interests (fair value) (B)    $ 1,194       $ —         $ 1,194   

(A) Average loan seasoning of 74 months and 56 months for Subprime Portfolios I and II, respectively, at September 30, 2011.
(B) The retained interests include retained bonds of the securitizations. Their fair value is estimated based on pricing models. Newcastle’s residual interests were written off in the first quarter of 2010. The weighted average yield of the retained bonds was 9.3% as of September 30, 2011.

Newcastle has no obligation to repurchase any loans from either of its subprime securitizations. Therefore, it is expected that its exposure to loss is limited to the carrying amount of its retained interests in the securitization entities, as described above. A subsidiary of Newcastle gave limited representations and warranties with respect to Subprime Portfolio II and is required to pay the difference, if any, between the repurchase price of any loan in such portfolio and the price required to be paid by a third party originator for such loan. Such subsidiary, however, has no assets and does not have recourse to the general credit of Newcastle.

The following table summarizes certain characteristics of the underlying subprime mortgage loans, and related financing, in the securitizations as of September 30, 2011:

 

                 
     Subprime Portfolio  
     I     II  
Loan unpaid principal balance (UPB)    $ 488,009      $ 637,069   
Weighted average coupon rate of loans      5.47     4.91
Delinquencies of 60 or more days (UPB) (A)    $ 109,669      $ 176,129   
Net credit losses for the nine months ended September 30, 2011    $ 23,440      $ 42,723   
Cumulative net credit losses    $ 186,849      $ 210,359   
Cumulative net credit losses as a % of original UPB      12.4     19.3
Percentage of ARM loans (B)      52.6     65.3
Percentage of loans with original loan-to-value ratio >90%      10.7     17.2
Percentage of interest-only loans      22.4     4.2
Face amount of debt (C)    $ 484,009      $ 637,069   
Weighted average funding cost of debt (D)      1.27     1.36

 

(A) Delinquencies include loans 60 or more days past due, in foreclosure, under bankruptcy filing or real estate owned.
(B) ARM loans are adjustable-rate mortgage loans. An option ARM is an adjustable-rate mortgage that provides the borrower with an option to choose from several payment amounts each month for a specified period of the loan term. None of the loans in the subprime portfolios are option ARMs.
(C) Excludes face amount of $4.0 million of retained notes for Subprime Portfolio I at September 30, 2011.
(D) Includes the effect of applicable hedges.

Newcastle received negligible cash inflows from the retained interests of Subprime Portfolios I and II during the nine months ended September 30, 2011 and $0.3 million and $0.5 million from Subprime Portfolios I and II, respectively, during the nine months ended September 30, 2010.

The loans subject to call option and the corresponding financing recognize interest income and expense based on the expected weighted average coupons of the loans subject to call option at the call date of 9.24% and 8.68% for Subprime Portfolio’s I and II, respectively.

Servicing Rights

In February 2011, Newcastle, through one of its subsidiaries, purchased the management rights with respect to certain CBASS Investment Management LLC (“C-BASS”) CDOs pursuant to a bankruptcy proceeding for $2.2 million. Newcastle initially recorded the cost of acquiring the collateral management rights as a servicing asset and subsequently amortizes this asset in proportion to, and over the period of, estimated net servicing income. Servicing assets are assessed for impairment on a quarterly basis, with impairment recognized as a valuation allowance. Key economic assumptions used in measuring any potential impairment of the servicing assets include the prepayment speeds of the underlying loans, default rates, loss severities and discount rates. During the nine months ended September 30, 2011, Newcastle recorded $0.2 million of servicing rights amortization and no servicing rights impairment. As of September 30, 2011, Newcastle’s servicing asset had a carrying value of $2.2 million recorded in Receivables and Other Assets.