New Vista Asset Management — Investing In Minority Homeownership

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Brian Hurley to Depart New Vista Asset Management

SAN DIEGO, CA — March 22, 2013 — New Vista Asset Management, a San Diego-based provider of nationwide REO asset management services, today announced that Brian Hurley, the company's president and chief operating officer, will be leaving the firm to pursue new opportunities. Hurley's announced departure follows the completion of a multi-month update of the firm's strategic plan amidst ongoing declines in default-market inventory and new designs for New Vista's multicultural real estate networks.

"I am exceptionally proud of what we have accomplished at New Vista," Hurley said in a recent interview. "While successfully managing the transaction mechanics of a housing recovery, our team has elevated the national housing dialogue to include an abiding focus on owner-occupancy and diversity. By illustrating the strategic connections between the pace and pattern of recovery and the housing markets ahead, our accomplishments far exceeded successful REO dispositions."

Hurley's role will be assumed by company co-founders Gary Acosta and Jim Park, who will focus on the execution of the firm's new business strategies. "Brian's imprint on the default industry will be felt for years," said Gary Acosta. "We are grateful for his contributions to our organization and wish him great success in his future endeavors."

Hurley will remain with the firm through mid-April to support business and management transitions.

Contact: Leah Nolan
Leah.nolan@nvam.net
Phone: 858-432-5280

Fed Designates Jim Park as Chairman of Consumer Council

Click read the full article on the Bloomberg website

January 10, 2011 — The Federal Reserve said Jim Park, chief executive officer of New Vista Asset Management in San Diego, was designated chairman of the central bank's consumer advisory council for 2011.

The Fed also named 10 new members to the group, which advises the Fed's Board of Governors on the exercise of its duties under consumer-credit legislation, according to a statement from the central bank in Washington. The group will be dissolved once certain consumer-protection functions are transferred from the Fed to the bureau created by last year's Dodd-Frank Act, the Fed said.

That law authorizes creation of a Consumer Advisory Board to advise and consult with the bureau, the Fed said. Read Article on Bloomberg...

Park Named Real Estate Person of Year

Click read the full article on the Asian Week website
LOS ANGELES — Jim J. Park, current president of the Asian Real Estate Association of America (AREAA), has recently been named AREAA's 2010 Real Estate Person of the Year at the 5th Annual Asian American Real Estate Convention & Gala.

Over the past 20 years, Park has held housing-related positions in the public and private sectors, including the Federal Housing Administration and Freddie Mac. He has worked on behalf of community development agencies around the country to advance sustainable homeownership and community revitalization efforts. He is an appointed member of the Federal Reserve's Consumer Advisory Council, chairman of the Asian Pacific American Institute for Congressional Studies and is the co-founder of New Vista Asset Management and Community Asset Solutions, creating homeownership solutions for multicultural professionals and homebuyers. Read More...

New Vista President Brian Hurley appears on NAHREP Talk Radio

Click here to listen to the program on the NAHREP Talk Radio website
Cash investors are scooping up discounted REO properties, rehabbing them and renting them back to locals. Cash investors offer banks and brokers fast, easy transactions. However, this trend creates renter communities. Industry executives discuss the significance of this trend, the ramifications it spells for the minority community, and the need for more solutions that move foreclosed homes back into the hands of owner occupants. Special guests include: Craig Nickerson, National Community Stabilization Trust; Brian Hurley, New Vista Asset Management and Inside Mortgage Finance Publisher Guy Cecala.

No Minor Obstacle
Why the real estate industry can't afford to discriminate

Click here to read the full article (PDF will open in new window)
Ray Carlisle's family has been in real estate since 1939. Back then they had their own way to get their black clients into predominately white neighborhoods. His uncle was white, and when he would take clients to open houses, he would make his clients drive. The clients weren't allowed in by the listing agent, so Carlisle's uncle would go up to the house, look around and tell his clients about it. If they bought the home, he would sit on the porch as they watered the yard and got to know the neighbors. Read more...

Breaking Into REO: Is It Too Late?

Click here to listen to the program on the NAHREP Talk Radio website
Foreclosures are up. Foreclosures are down. What's the real story? Is the REO market winding down? And is it too late to get into the market, if you're not already getting listings? Get the straight facts from leading REO experts, asset managers and brokers on this show. Michael Krein, the president of the National REO Brokers Association and one of the nation's leading REO brokers; Gary Acosta, Chairman of New Vista Asset Management; Juan Martinez, a leading REO listing broker in Las Vegas and REO trainer Bubba Mills, will offer their insights on the market and what opportunities exist today for brokers.

Latinos Hit by Foreclosure Crisis (KCRW/Which Way LA)

Click here to listen to the program on the KCRW website
Between 2004 and 2008, Latinos received 30% of all California's home mortgages, but were subject to 48% of foreclosures. That's according to a report <http://www.responsiblelending.org/california/ca-mortgage/research-analysis/california-foreclosure-crisis.html> by a national consumer-advocate group, the Center for Responsible Lending. Gary Acosta, NAHREP co-founder and chairman of New Vista Asset Management, offers comment on the report along with Paul Leonard from the Center of Responsible Lending.

Financial overhaul bill packs a hidden punch at a glass ceiling, is it out of line?
New Vista Asset Management's Executive Chairman Gary Acosta appears as a guest on Patt Morrison's radio program to discuss this topic

Click here to listen to the program on the KPCC website
Should the federal government lend women and minorities some muscle to break Wall Street's glass ceiling? That's what a section of last week's financial overhaul bill aims to do, by granting the federal government authority to end contracts with financial firms that fail to ensure "fair inclusion" of women and minorities. Opponents say the provision's vague language make it tantamount to quotas, while proponents see it as an overdue wake-up call to a heavily white and male industry with a reputation for elitism. The section sets not quotas, or even goals, but it does establish at least 20 new Offices of Minority and Women Inclusion across the Treasury Department, which already has three such offices. Advocates of the provision say the current offices have no teeth and that minority and women-owned businesses didn't receive an adequate share of the contracts awarded through the $700 billion bank bailout, while the collapse of the sub prime mortgage market disproportionately hit African-American and Latino homeowners. Should the federal government take means to correct for this and if so, does this measure go far enough?

Are Minorities To Blame For The Housing Crisis?

Click here to listen to the program on the NAHREP Talk Radio website
Critics have blamed minority-targeted government programs for the mortgage crisis, saying too much pressure was put on the banking industry to lend to minorities. Easy loans given to too many people who were unable to handle the responsibilities of homeownership, they say, is what led to this mess. NAHREP Chair Alex Chaparro and Vice Chair Carmen Mercado will host Assistant Fair Housing Secretary John Trasvina and minority real estate leaders Gary Acosta (NAHREP co-founder) and John Fukuda (AREAA chair), for this important discussion. Former housing fellow and author Alejandro Becerra will also join the broadcast.

NAHREP Then & Now: Why Hispanics Need Their Own Real Estate Trade Association

Click here to listen to the program on the NAHREP Talk Radio website
The inaugural show of The Voice of Hispanic Real Estate will feature NAHREP co-founders Gary Acosta and Ernie Reyes, who will discuss the market forces that led them to create the first ever Hispanic real estate trade group in 1999. A 10-year retrospective that contrasts the real estate business then and now, the show will also delve into the cultural connection that has fueled the growth of the Latino group from zero to 18,000 members and 62 affiliate chapters nationwide and inspired its impassioned mission to increase sustainable homeownership among Latinos. Founding members will share their memories through live call ins.

CONTACT

Leah Cody
New Vista Asset Management
(858) 432-5200

Brian Hurley
New Vista Asset Management
(858) 432-5200

REO SALES DRIVE DOWN OWNER OCCUPANCY RATES IN KEY US MARKETS

Ongoing declines in the percentage of foreclosed homes acquired by owner occupant buyers confirmed by newly published Index

December 1, 2011 — San Diego, CA — New Vista Asset Management, a San Diego-based provider of real estate services for banks and other sellers of foreclosed residential homes, has published the results of a three-year study examining buyer types in 18 US counties hit hardest by America's mortgage crisis. The study uses data extracted from local recorder, courthouse and tax assessment records to determine whether the purchasers buying foreclosed houses from banks, HUD, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, are owner-occupants or absentee owners using single family homes as rental or vacation properties.

New Vista's data indicates that the percentage of REO homes sold to owner occupant buyers has decreased in almost every market analyzed by the company in a study that began tracking real estate sale transactions closed in the first quarter of 2009 and includes consecutive quarterly data through the third quarter of 2011.

"Although, quarter-by-quarter, we have observed some market-specific increases, over the entire period, owner occupancy rates for REO sales have broadly weakened," said Brian Hurley, New Vista's president and chief operating officer. "With eleven consecutive quarters of data, we can look beyond both seasonality and the temporary impact of demand stimuli such as the homebuyer tax credit, and observe a clear pattern of decline."

Hurley added that the pace and scale of decline vary widely across markets. In Los Angeles County, California, for example, the New Vista data shows 79.36% of single-family REO houses were purchased by owner occupants in 2009, compared with only 60.32% in the third quarter of 2011. Most counties covered by the study saw declines of more than five percentage points during the same period, with a few dropping more modestly.

"We are troubled by the significant drop in owner occupant purchases of REO properties in these hard hit markets, which is no doubt compounded by decreased access to credit and a failure to repair foreclosed properties to move-in condition," said Kevin Stein of California Reinvestment Coalition. "The increased investor acquisition of REOs is reversing the years of community development progress that nonprofits have facilitated throughout California. We need to ensure that lenders, nonprofits and government agencies are working together to give qualified homebuyers a fair chance to purchase REO properties and help stabilize residential neighborhoods," Stein added.

According to the New Vista study, only one county included in the Index (Wayne County, Michigan) had an owner occupancy rate for single-family REO sales below 50% in 2009. By the third quarter of 2011, owner occupancy rates for REO sales in an additional four of the studied counties had fallen below 50%, including Maricopa County, Arizona; Osceola County, Florida; Miami-Dade County, Florida; and Clark County, Nevada.

"The decline in owner occupant sales in Maricopa County over the past two years has altered the fabric of our neighborhoods," said Patricia Garcia Duarte, president of Neighborhood Housing Services of Phoenix and Chair of the Arizona Foreclosure Prevention Task Force. "We need to look carefully at this trend and refocus on giving homebuyers a chance to own a piece of the American Dream."

While New Vista has been tracking the study's findings since the first quarter of 2009, company management elected to formally publish the index in response to a growing focus on investor-driven solutions to the nation's residential real estate crisis. "Several initiatives now under consideration promise to channel more houses to investors rather than to owner-occupant purchasers," Hurley observed. "We timed the first release of our study to raise awareness of the community impacts that current REO disposition practices are already having. Bulk sales, drop-bid foreclosure auctions and the proposals under review by FHFA promise to move more REOs out of local real estate markets — out of the hands of owner occupants, out of the reach of local real estate professionals, and out of the capital base of these communities themselves. Before the market adopts new strategies to address an expected surge in foreclosure volumes, we wanted the owner-occupancy impact of current approaches to be well understood."

New Vista's "Index of the Percentage of Single Family REO Properties Sold to Owner-Occupant Buyers" will now be published quarterly. The company plans to increase coverage to include additional markets in 2012. Versions of the study that track owner occupancy sale percentages by individual REO seller are made available privately to the company's clients. The Index can be viewed by clicking here.

About New Vista
Founded in 2007 by multicultural real estate leaders Gary Acosta and Jim Park, New Vista Asset Management is a San Diego-based national REO management and marketing company that provides innovative and community-based outsourcing solutions for mortgage bankers, mortgage investors and regulated financial institutions. With the largest national network of multicultural real estate brokers, New Vista matches performance with creative REO marketing strategies that use foreclosure inventory to create affordable housing solutions and sustain homeownership rates in underserved communities. For more information about the company, go to www.newvistareo.com.

New Vista Asset Management Announces Office Relocation

Move to new San Diego offices accommodates planned company expansion and growth

SAN DIEGO, CA (August 15, 2011)—New Vista Asset Management, a nationwide provider of outsourced REO asset management services, has announced the opening of its new San Diego office location. Earlier this year, New Vista acquired the REO asset management business unit of REDC Default Solutions based in Irvine, CA, and has been operating its combined business units from locations in Irvine and San Diego.

"This has been a year of tremendous growth for New Vista," said Gary Acosta, the company's Founder and Co-CEO. "We are very excited to bring all of our operations together under one roof in a new home."

The relocation combines the company's administrative, headquarters and operations offices into a single facility from which all business units will now operate.

"While foreclosure and REO volumes remain far below industry forecasts, New Vista is building to accommodate our clients' long-term needs and to provide capacity for new lines of business," added Brian Hurley, President and Chief Operating Officer of New Vista. "Our new facility has been configured to support our continuing growth, and our move includes deployment of new technologies and tools to further enhance efficiency, communication and connectivity for our employees and clients."

New Vista is now located at 15010 Avenue of Science, Suite 200, San Diego, CA 92128. The company can be reached by phone at 858-432-5200 or on the web at www.newvistareo.com.

New Vista Asset Management Receives 2011 Pinnacle Award

Company Named Most Professional Provider of Outsourced REO Services

SAN DIEGO, CA (June 20, 2011)—New Vista Asset Management, a San Diego-based REO asset management firm, has been named the Most Professional Provider of Outsourced REO Services. The distinction, bestowed as a Pinnacle Award, was announced during the 2011 REO Expo on Monday, June 13, 2011, in Fort Worth, Texas. More than 60 firms were nominated to receive Pinnacle Awards which are based on a comprehensive survey of more than 60,000 nationwide real estate professionals with results certified by market research leader M/A/R/C Research, a division of Omnicom Group. In addition to receiving the Pinnacle Award for Most Professional Outsourcer, New Vista was the runner-up award winner for Best Overall REO Outsourcer. "This has been a year of new beginnings for New Vista," said Gary Acosta, the company's Co-Founder and Co-CEO. "We built our company on the belief that outsourcers can achieve solid REO performance while stabilizing the communities and neighborhoods most adversely affected by our nation's foreclosure crisis. Early this year, we made some major company changes to reaffirm that belief, and this Pinnacle Award suggests that our redoubled efforts and new operations team are really getting the job done." Joining Acosta at the 2011 Pinnacle Awards Gala was company Co-Founder and Co-CEO Jim Park, who added, "Outsourcers face multiple demands in connection with each REO assignment, and every decision needs to be made with a view toward its multiple impacts. We are grateful to our clients and to the entire real estate community for partnering with us to create the best possible outcomes from distressed housing situations and for the recognition that these Pinnacle Awards bestow."

About New Vista

Founded in 2007 by multicultural real estate leaders Gary Acosta and Jim Park, New Vista Asset Management is a San Diego-based national REO management and marketing company that provides innovative and community-based outsourcing solutions for mortgage bankers, mortgage investors and regulated financial institutions. With the largest national network of multicultural real estate brokers, New Vista matches performance with creative REO marketing strategies that use foreclosure inventory to create affordable housing solutions and sustain homeownership rates in underserved communities. For more information about the company, go to www.newvistareo.com.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: New Vista Asset Management
Telephone: (858) 794-8300

New Vista Asset Management Acquires the Asset Management Business Unit of REDC Default Solutions

Acquisition to Establish New Vista's Direct Operations Platform in Southern California

SAN DIEGO, CA (March 1, 2011)—New Vista Asset Management, a San Diego-based REO asset management firm, has acquired the REO asset management business unit of REDC Default Solutions, LLC (REDC). Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The asset management unit previously operated within REDC, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Irvine, California-based Auction.com, LLC (formerly Real Estate Disposition, LLC), and offers industry-leading outsourced residential asset management services for banks and other financial institutions. Widely recognized for consistently outstanding client results and nationwide real estate market expertise, the unit expands New Vista's strong client portfolio and deepens the company's commitment to providing solutions that propel America's housing recovery.

REDC's asset management unit's managers, employees, technology and client engagements transferred to New Vista as a result of the transaction, and become part of the Southern California company's first full-scale, self-operated platform.

"New Vista has always stood for the proposition that outstanding REO asset management performance can be achieved through strategies that also sustain communities, support homeownership, and provide access and opportunity for minority homebuyers and real estate professionals," said Brian Hurley, president of New Vista. "Through our results-driven platform, we will broaden our market impact to achieve even better results for clients and communities alike."

"Our team is excited to join New Vista," said Donita Thompson, former Senior Vice President of REDC, who became Senior Vice President of REO Operations for New Vista at the closing of the transaction. "We believe strongly in the company's mission and are eager to focus our energies on driving the company's REO performance and growth."

About New Vista

Founded in 2007 by multicultural real estate leaders Gary Acosta and Jim Park, New Vista Asset Management is a San Diego-based national REO management and marketing company that provides innovative and community-based outsourcing solutions for mortgage bankers, mortgage investors and regulated financial institutions. With the largest national network of multicultural real estate brokers, New Vista matches performance with creative REO marketing strategies that use foreclosure inventory to create affordable housing solutions and sustain homeownership rates in underserved communities. For more information about the company, go to www.newvistareo.com.

About Auction.com

Established in 1990, Auction.com and its predecessor entities pioneered the model for modern real estate auctions and has transformed into a comprehensive real estate services company. The company has established a dominant position in its industry by selling more than $8 billion in real estate assets at auction since 2007. Additional services include residential loss mitigation and title agency and escrow/closing services. Primary clients are residential and commercial mortgage lenders, servicers and home builders. Auction.com's success is based on the aggregation of real estate assets that are marketed and sold in large format auctions across the country and online. Auction.com is headquartered in Irvine, California and has offices in Dallas and New York. For information about Auction.com, visit www.Auction.com.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Leah Cody/New Vista Asset Management
Office: 858-794-8300
Email:lcody@nvam.net

New Vista Asset Management to support RiskSpan's HUD M&M-III Oversight Contract

Washington DC/San Diego (February 7, 2011)—New Vista has been approved by HUD to serve as a subcontractor to RiskSpan's oversight and review of the HUD Homes disposition program. RiskSpan selected New Vista to augment its team to support the HUD oversight contract activities, including review of the structure and content for key performance and process reports used to determine the effectiveness of M&M III contractors. Additionally, New Vista will provide RiskSpan with guidance and industry insights on alternative disposition strategies for HUD-owned properties.

"I am excited to have New Vista join our team to assess and measure M&M-III contractor performance. New Vista's strong reputation in the REO asset management arena will provide RiskSpan and HUD with important industry knowledge and on-the-ground expertise to improve HUD's disposition and community stabilization efforts," said Bernadette Kogler, President, RiskSpan, Inc.

"New Vista is honored to have been selected and approved to support RiskSpan with the HUD oversight contract. Through timely information and diligent oversight, RiskSpan and New Vista will ensure that HUD has the information and tools it needs to effectively monitor the performances of its contractors and local listing brokers," said Gary Acosta, Founder and Co-CEO of New Vista Asset Management.

About New Vista Asset Management
New Vista Asset Management is a San Diego-based national REO management and marketing company that provides innovative and community-based outsourcing solutions for mortgage bankers, mortgage investors and regulated financial institutions. The company's integrated minority homeownership strategy is to use foreclosure inventory to create affordable housing solutions for minority and first-time homebuyers and increase homeownership rates in underserved communities. For more information about the company, go to www.newvistareo.com.

About RiskSpan, Inc. Founded in 2001, and based in Washington, DC and Stamford, CT, RiskSpan (www.riskspan.com) provides fully integrated solutions that combine powerful analytics, data and expert advisory services. Our risk management solutions and techniques are designed to meet a diverse range of needs encompassing Modeling, Pricing & Valuation, Analytics, Compliance (including fraud and risk management), Regulatory and Operations. RiskSpan serves a myriad of clients including Diversified Financial institutions, MBS/ABS Investors, Banks & Credit Unions, Hedge Funds, Pension Funds, Mortgage Banks, REITs, Financial Guarantors and the Federal Government.