Independent, The (London), Oct 22, 2000 by Clare Francis

E-loan is an online broker for mortgages and car loans from about 50 different providers.

What's the address?

www.e-loan.com. E-loan has sites in different countries so when you get to the homepage, ensure you click on the UK icon.

What's available?

Mortgages and car loans.

User friendliness

The site is clearly laid out and easy to get around.

Positive aspects On the mortgage side there are calculators for you to work out monthly repayments, how much you can borrow and the effects of being able to make extra payments. There is also a guide to help you find the type of mortgage that best suits your circumstances. "Application results" give lots of information about the different products, such as monthly repayments, interest rates, fees and redemption penalties. The "car finance" section gives information on the different options available, such as per- sonal loans, hire purchase, contract purchase and deferred loans. There are calculators to help you and tips to bear in mind when buying a car. There is also a facility which helps find the best deal on the type of car you are trying to buy. As well as giving a price, it rates the model on aspects such as repair costs, reliability and what it's like to drive. The application forms are straightforward to complete and results are calculated quickly.

Negative aspects

I didn't really have any problems with this site. The only thing to watch is that E-loan compares quotes from a wide section of the market but is not comprehensive, so you may not be getting the best deal.

Overall impression

This is a good site. Despite being execution-only and not giving advice, a lot of detail is provided to help you make an informed decision on what type of loan to choose.

MORTGAGE LENDERS were urged not to pass on yesterday's interest rate rise to homeowners as estate agents condemned the move as "totally unnecessary" and debt experts warned of a growing crisis.

New research published yesterday, which may revive allegations of profiteering, showed mortgage rates will be a quarter-point higher than the last time base rates hit 4.75 per cent three years ago.

Savills Private Finance said a survey of the top 15 lenders found a quarter- point rise would push the average mortgage rate to 6.55 compared with 6.28 three years ago. One lender would open up a 0.6 percentage point gap. "Perhaps lenders should consider foregoing this quarter-point rise to bring themselves back into line with previous levels," its director Simon Jones said.

But there was little sign of restraint as Abbey became the first bank to raise its standard variable rate by a quarter-point to 6.75 per cent.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders said typical buyers with pounds 100,000 interest- only mortgage would see their bills go up by pounds 250 a year - although the cumulative rise since last November is pounds 1,250.

Estate agents said there was clear evidence that prices were already falling. Russell Jervis, the managing director of haart estate agents, said: "If this rate rise was supposed to cool the housing market, it has been totally unnecessary. Sellers are being forced to offer discounts to achieve a sale." The latest rise has fuelled concern that Britain's heavily debt- burdened households are facing a credit crisis. Vince Cable, the Liberal Democrats' Treasury spokesman, said: "If rates continue to rise to 5.25 or 5.5 per cent, or house prices fall, many may find themselves in serious difficulty."

The Consumer Credit Coun- selling Services said it had taken its 100,000th call for help this year earlier this week.

In a case of first impression, Judge Gerard L. Goettel, of the United States District Court, Southern District of New York, issued a sixteen-page opinion, dated Dec. 28,1992, in the case of Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. vs. Dutch Lane Associates, et al., in which he vacated a foreclosure sale held pursuant to a judgment obtained by the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation ("Freddie Mac") because of Freddie Mac's failure to have served a notice of the sale upon the attorney for the mortgagor who had appeared in the action.Freddie Mac contended that it was sufficient to have published a notice of sale in the New York Law Journal once a week for four weeks, pursuant to applicable Federal statutes, and that the New York case law which requires that such notice be personally served upon parties who have appeared in the foreclosure proceeding, has no application to mortgage foreclosure actions brought in federal courts by Freddie Mac on federally insured loans. The court disagreed with Freddie Mac, holding that the Federal statutory requirement of notice by publication was not intended to preempt or displace New York's requirement that personal service be made upon parties with substantial interests in the real property who have appeared in the foreclosure action and have not expressly waived notice of sale. The court stated that applying New York's personal notice requirement causes no interference with the federal notice scheme and comports with fundamental constitutional notions of due process by insuring that persons with property interests receive notice of the date, time and place of the sale of their property. The court further stated that the New York personal notice requirement, rather than posing an obstacle to accomplishing federal objectives, enhances and helps implement the federal goal of ensuring that parties with significant interests in property are informed when their property will be sold. It has become a common practice for owners of distressed properties to file petitions pursuant to Chapter 11 of the Bankruptcy Code just prior to the holding of foreclosure sales. Such filings have the effect of staying the sales and enable debtors to present plans to reorganize or restructure their debt. Had the court adopted the position urged by Freddie Mac, this practice of last minute filings would no longer be available with respect to mortgages which become the subject of federal court foreclosure actions.

In the Dutch Lane case, the owners of the mortgaged property had intended to file a bankruptcy petition prior to the foreclosure sale, and expected to receive notice of when the sale was to take place. They argued that Freddie Mac's attorney intentionally refrained from sending them a notice of the sale so as to unfairly deprive them of the right to file a bankruptcy petition prior to the sale, and that it was unseemly for Freddie Mac's attorney to cause a foreclosure sale to occur behind their backs, particularly after the owners had vigorously defended the foreclosure proceeding. The court concluded that "Given that he has presumably served every other paper on defendants' counsel, we can see no reason why plaintiffs counsel should have chosen not to serve defendants' counsel with a notice of sale, even if only as a matter of courtesy."

Judge Goettel, however, did not deal with the question of how much notice must be given. As the court pointed out, both New York state and federal statutory law contain only notice by publication requirements. While the New York state courts have held that even in the absence of any specific statutory requirement, personal notice must be given, the New York courts have not said how much notice need be given. Likewise, while Judge Goettel, in Dutch Lane, has held that personal notice of the foreclosure sale must be given by Freddie Mac to mortgagors, he, too, did not specify how much notice would be sufficient.

Unless both the New York State legislature and the U.S. Congress focus on the notice issue, owners of properties, which are the subject of foreclosure actions, will be left uncertain as to how much notice they will get of the date, time and place of foreclosure sales. They should therefore be prepared, on short notice, to either exercise their right of redemption, to file a bankruptcy proceeding, or to take other steps to protect their interests.

NEW YORK -- IndyMac ABS, Inc. home equity mortgage loan asset-backed trust, series INABS 2005-B certificates are rated as follows by Fitch:

-- $686 million classes A-I-1, A-II-1, A-II-2, and A-II-3 'AAA';

-- $26.78 million class M-1 'AA+';

-- $40.4 million classes M-2 and M-3 'AA';

-- $12.75 million class M-4 'AA-';

-- $11.9 million class M-5 'A+';

-- $12.75 million class M-6 'A';

-- $11.5 million class M-7 'BBB+';

-- $8.9 million class M-8 'BBB';

-- $8.9 million class M-9 'BBB-';

-- $8.5 million class M-11 certificates, 144A, 'BB' The 'AAA' rating on the senior certificates reflects the 19.30% total credit enhancement (CE) provided by the 3.15% class M-1, the 2.85% class M-2, the 1.90% class M-3, the 1.50% class M-4, the 1.40% class M-5, the 1.50% class M-6, the 1.35% class M-7, the 1.05% class M-8, the 1.05% class M-9, the 0.75% class M-10, the 1.00% 144A class M-11, and the 1.80% initial overcollateralization (OC). All certificates have the benefit of monthly excess cash flow to absorb losses. In addition, the ratings reflect the integrity of the transaction's legal structure as well as the capabilities of IndyMac Bank, F.S.B. as Master Servicer. Deutsche Bank National Trust Company will act as Trustee.

On the closing date, the depositor will place approximately $75,411,989 which will be held by the trustee in a pre-funding account relating to mortgage loans in group I and approximately $74,588,011 relating to the mortgage loans in group II. The amount on deposit in each account will be used to purchase subsequent mortgage loans during the period from the closing date up to and including July 17, 2005. The certificates are supported by two groups of mortgage loans. The Group 1 mortgage pool consists of first lien fixed-rate and adjustable-rate mortgage loans with a statistical date pool balance of $319,136,182. Approximately 20.98% of the Group 1 mortgage loans are fixed-rate and approximately 79.02% of the Group 1 mortgage loans are adjustable-rate. The weighted average loan rate is approximately 7.292%. The weighted average remaining term to maturity is 357 months. The average principal balance of the loans is approximately $164,418. The weighted average original loan-to-value (OLTV) ratio is 77.33% and the weighted average FICO score is 629. The properties are primarily located in New York (18.39%), California (10.75%), and New Jersey (10.02%).

The Group 2 mortgage pool consists of first lien fixed-rate and adjustable-rate mortgage loans with a statistical date pool balance of $315,649,187. Approximately 19.18% of the Group 2 mortgage loans are fixed-rate and approximately 80.82% of the Group 2 mortgage loans are adjustable-rate. The weighted average loan rate is approximately 7.037%. The weighted average remaining term to maturity is 357 months. The average principal balance of the loans is approximately $274,956. The weighted average OLTV is 77.15% and the weighted average FICO is 637. The properties are primarily located in California (22.76%), New York (20.02%) and New Jersey (11.30%).

IndyMac ABS, Inc., the depositor, purchased the mortgage loans from IndyMac Bank, F.S.B., the mortgage loan seller, and caused the mortgage loans to be assigned to the trustee for the benefit of holders of the certificates. For federal income tax purposes, an election will be made to treat the trust fund as multiple real estate mortgage investment conduits (REMICs).

Fitch's rating definitions are available on the agency's public web site, www.fitchratings.com. Published ratings, criteria and methodologies and relevant policies and procedures are also available from this site, at all times. This document will remain on the public site for seven days.