June 20, 2005 — Lately the trend in reports to Household – HSBC Watch has been “HSBC NV is on my credit report.” People are asking “What is this company and why are they checking my credit?” We can tell them the history of Household’s acquisition by HSBC, but we can’t tell why HSBC NV is checking their credit.
In just the last two days, reports identified HSBC NV located in Beaverton, Oregon. We searched and found that a processing and collection center and an HFC branch for HSBC in Beaverton has job openings.
GMAC Bank is located there also. In our search we found an article in which GMAC Mortgage is considering a sale of assets. Here is the link:
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,9067-1628107,00.html
In light of GMAC’s recent downgrading and poor car sales, perhaps HSBC is researching the value of the mortgage portfolio in preparation for acquisition. If HSBC is doing the research now, obviously they learned a valuable lesson regarding due diligence following the legal problems exposed after their commitment to acquire Household International in 2002. The $484M settlement was nearly 4% of the total purchase price of Household International.
GMAC has had financial relationships with the former Household and now HSBC through the GM credit card and sub-prime automobile financing. At this time HSBC would appear to be an obvious choice to purchase GMAC Mortgage and additional GMAC Acceptance products. It is, however, every homeowner’s worst fear if a troubled, predatory, or questionable company buys their mortgage.
This is speculation at this time, as no announcements have been made public. If this is the case, GMAC will be getting another nail in their coffin.
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