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Reinsurance, Commitments and Contingencies
3 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2011
Commitment and Contingencies  
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Text Block]
13)           Reinsurance, Commitments and Contingencies


Reinsurance with North America Life Insurance Company


On March 30, 2011, the Company, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Security National Life, completed a Coinsurance Agreement with North America Life Insurance Company (“North America Life”), a Texas domiciled insurance company. Under the terms of the Coinsurance Agreement, Security National Life agreed to reinsure certain insurance policies of North America Life in exchange for the settlement amount of $15,703,641. Effective as of December 1, 2010, North America Life ceded or transferred to Security National Life, and Security National Life accepted and coinsured all of North America Life’s contractual liabilities under the coinsured policies by means of indemnity reinsurance. The Coinsurance Agreement was approved by the Texas Department of Insurance.


The Coinsurance Agreement also provides that on and after the effective date of December 1, 2010, Security National Life is entitled to exercise all contractual rights of North America Life under the coinsured policies in accordance with the terms and provisions of such policies. Moreover, after the closing date of March 30, 2011,
 
pursuant to the terms of the Coinsurance Agreement, Security National Life paid a ceding commission to North America Life in the amount of $3,525,875. In addition, North America Life transferred $15,703,641 in assets and $19,229,516 in statutory reserves, or liabilities net of due and deferred premiums, to Security National Life. The $15,703,641 in assets included $12,990,444 in cash, $8,997 in policy loans, and $2,704,200 in promissory notes secured by real estate properties located in Bexar, Liberty, Travis and Wilson Counties in the State of Texas. The promissory notes are also guaranteed by business entities and an individual.


Reinsurance with American Life and Security Corporation


On May 24, 2010, the Company completed a stock purchase transaction with American Life and Security Corporation (“American Life”) a Nebraska domiciled insurance company, to sell all the outstanding shares of common stock of Capital Reserve to American Life and its shareholders. Under the terms of the Stock Purchase Agreement among the Company, American Life, and the shareholders of the Company, American Life paid the Company at closing purchase consideration equal to the capital and surplus of Capital Reserve as of May 24, 2010 in the amount of $1,692,576, plus additional consideration in the amount of $105,000 for a total of $1,797,576. This sale is in accordance with the Agreement and Plan of Complete Liquidation to liquidate Capital Reserve into the Company in the same manner as the liquidation described in Private Letter Ruling 9847027 in order to achieve the same tax treatment and consequences under Section 332 of the Internal Revenue code of 1986, as amended, and other applicable provisions described in such Letter Ruling.  American Life obtained approvals from the Nebraska and Missouri insurance departments in order to complete this transaction.


On June 4, 2010, the Company entered into an Indemnity Coinsurance Reinsurance Agreement with American Life effective January 1, 2010.  Under the terms of the agreement, the Company ceded to American Life a block of deferred annuities in the amount of $2,678,931 and a block of whole life policies in the amount of $1,048,134, together with net due and deferred premiums in the amount of $12,305, advance premiums in the amount of $353, claims liability in the amount of $14,486, and net policy loans in the amount of $128,487. The total initial consideration of $3,601,112 in cash was transferred to Wells Fargo as custodian of the assets. American Life has control of the assets subject to the terms of a custodial agreement. American Life agreed to pay the Company an initial ceding commission of $375,000 and a management fee of $3,500 per quarter to administer the policies.  American Life agreed to indemnify the Company for these contracts and risks. The initial term on this agreement will be for a period of one year. After the initial one year term, this agreement will be automatically renewed unless American Life notifies the Company in writing of its intention not to renew, no less than 180 days prior to the expiration of the then current agreement. Each automatic renewal period of this agreement will be for a term of one year. The accounting and settlement of this agreement will be on a quarterly basis and calculated pursuant to the terms thereof.


Settlement with Wells Fargo


On April 7, 2011, SecurityNational Mortgage, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, entered into a settlement agreement with Wells Fargo Funding, Inc. (“Wells Fargo”).  The settlement agreement provides that it is intended to be a pragmatic commercial accommodation between SecurityNational Mortgage and Wells Fargo and is not to be construed as an admission of responsibility, liability or fault for either party’s claims. Under the terms of the settlement agreement, SecurityNational Mortgage is required to pay an initial settlement amount to Wells Fargo in the amount of $4,300,000, of which $1,000,000 had already been paid to Wells Fargo in January 2011, leaving a balance of $3,300,000.  The $3,300,000 balance was paid shortly after the parties executed the settlement agreement.


In addition, under the terms of the settlement agreement, Wells Fargo will deduct 10 basis points (.0010) from the purchase proceeds of each loan that SecurityNational Mortgage sells to Wells Fargo during the period from April 8, 2011 to March 31, 2017.  SecurityNational Mortgage is also required to set aside 10 basis points (.0010) during the period from April 8, 2011 to March 31, 2017 from the purchase proceeds of any loans that it sells to any mortgage loan purchaser other than Wells Fargo.  These funds are to be deposited into an account and then paid to Wells Fargo within ten calendar days of the end of each month.  Finally, SecurityNational Mortgage is required to set aside 50% from the net proceeds that it receives from any sale, liquidation or other transfer of certain real estate properties that it owns, after subtracting taxes, commissions, recording fees and other transaction costs.  These funds are also to be deposited into an account and then paid to Wells Fargo within ten calendar days of the end of each month.  These real estate properties consist of 28 real estate properties with a total book value of $5,597,900 as of June 30, 2011.
 
In consideration for SecurityNational Mortgage making the initial settlement payment to Wells Fargo, Wells Fargo and related parties, including Wells Fargo Bank, agree to release SecurityNational Mortgage and related parties, including the Company and Security National Life Insurance Company, from any claims, demands, damages, obligations, liabilities, or causes of action relating to residential mortgage loans that Wells Fargo purchased from SecurityNational Mortgage prior to December 31, 2009.  Similarly, SecurityNational Mortgage agrees to release Wells Fargo and its related parties from any claims, demands, damages, obligations, liabilities, or causes of actions relating to residential mortgage loans that Wells Fargo purchased from SecurityNational Mortgage prior to December 31, 2009.  SecurityNational Mortgage is not aware of any repurchase or indemnification demands by Wells Fargo for residential mortgage loans with a closing date after December 31, 2009.


As of June 30, 2011, the Company reserved and accrued $2,817,000 to settle investor related claims against SecurityNational Mortgage for the allegedly defective mortgage loans that SecurityNational Mortgage sold to Wells Fargo and other mortgage loan purchasers.  Of the $6,220,435 reserved for mortgage loan losses as of December 31, 2010, $4,300,000 was reserved for the $3,300,000 settlement payment that SecurityNational Mortgage made to Wells Fargo shortly after the settlement agreement was executed on April 7, 2011 and for the $1,000,000 in settlement payments that SecurityNational Mortgage made to Wells Fargo in January 2011.


Third Party Investors


There have been assertions in third party investor correspondence that SecurityNational Mortgage sold mortgage loans that allegedly contained misrepresentations or experienced early payment defaults, or that were otherwise allegedly  defective or not in compliance with agreements between SecurityNational Mortgage and the third party investors.  As a result of these claims, third party investors have made demands that SecurityNational Mortgage repurchase certain alleged defective mortgage loans that were sold to such investors or indemnify them against any losses related to such loans.


As of June 30, 2011, third party investors have asserted total estimated potential claims of $24,000,000 relating to loan repurchases, loan indemnifications and other loan issues.  The Company has estimated the probable potential losses for the asserted claims by these third party investors to be less. The Company has reserved and accrued $2,817,000 as of June 30, 2011 to settle all such investor related claims. The Company believes this amount is adequate to resolve these claims and the amount represents the Company’s estimate of possible losses relating to any outstanding claims by these investors.


These claims are greater than the net asset value of SecurityNational Mortgage, which was $15,876,000 on June 30, 2011, and its reserve for mortgage loan loss, which was $2,817,000 on June 30, 2011.  The Company disagrees with the claims asserted by third party investors against SecurityNational Mortgage and believes it has significant defenses to these claims. Any additional loss in excess of the current loan loss reserve cannot be estimated as negotiations are still in progress.  It is possible that future negotiations could result in a change in the estimate of the loan loss reserve.


If SecurityNational Mortgage is unable to negotiate acceptable terms with the third party investors, legal action may ensue in an effort to obtain amounts that the third party investors claim are allegedly due.  In the event of legal action, if SecurityNational Mortgage is not successful in its defenses against claims asserted by these third party investors to the extent that a substantial judgment was entered against SecurityNational Mortgage that which is beyond its capacity to pay, SecurityNational Mortgage may be required to curtail or cease operations.


Termination of Business Relationship with Third Party Investor


During settlement discussions with one of the third party investors during the second and third quarters of 2010, the investor made a settlement proposal to SecurityNational Mortgage.  When SecurityNational Mortgage declined to accept the settlement proposal, which it regarded as unreasonable and onerous, the investor notified SecurityNational Mortgage by letter dated October 20, 2010, of its decision to terminate its business relationship with SecurityNational Mortgage.  In particular, the letter provided notice of termination of a loan purchase agreement with the investor.  As a result, the investor is no longer accepting any new commitments for mortgage loans from SecurityNational Mortgage.  However, the investor completed the purchase of mortgage loans from SecurityNational Mortgage involving mortgage loan commitments that had been made before October 20, 2010.
 
The investor also stated in the October 20, 2010 letter that termination of its business relationship with SecurityNational Mortgage would not affect the obligations, representations, warranties or indemnifications by SecurityNational Mortgage under mortgage loans previously sold to the investor under a loan purchase agreement.  Accompanying the termination letter to SecurityNational Mortgage was a notice letter from the investor, also dated October 20, 2010.  In the notice letter the investor stated that it was withdrawing all prior and pending settlement proposals involving SecurityNational Mortgage and the Company.  The investor further stated that it intended to exercise certain rights under a loan purchase agreement by debiting $5,970,941 from amounts in an over/under account that it had been holding for the benefit of SecurityNational Mortgage. The investor also maintained it had the right to debit additional amounts credited to the over/under account for payment of additional obligations that SecurityNational Mortgage allegedly owed to the investor.


The Company believes the investor wrongfully applied the $5,970,941 from the over/under account toward payment of outstanding obligations that SecurityNational Mortgage allegedly owed to the investor.  In a letter dated October 22, 2010 to the investor, SecurityNational Mortgage stated, without waiving any of its rights against the investor, that it objected to the investor debiting $5,970,941 from the over/under account, as well as any amount attempted to be debited thereafter without specific written approval of SecurityNational Mortgage. SecurityNational Mortgage had sent letters to the investor requesting a withdrawal of funds from the over/under account before the investor had debited the $5,970,941 from the account.  SecurityNational Mortgage recognized this withdrawal of funds by the investor by reducing the balance of SecurityNational Mortgage’s accrued losses on loans sold (a liability account) and its restricted cash held by the investor.


SecurityNational Mortgage is currently determining what action to take against the investor for wrongfully debiting the funds from the over/under account.  As a result of the termination of the business relationship with the investor, SecurityNational Mortgage will have less flexibility on pricing when selling mortgage loans to third party investors.


Lehman Brothers Bank - Aurora Loan Services Litigation


On April 15, 2005, SecurityNational Mortgage entered into a loan purchase agreement with Lehman Brothers Bank, FSB (“Lehman Bank”). Under the terms of the loan purchase agreement, Lehman Bank agreed to purchase mortgage loans from time to time from SecurityNational Mortgage. During 2007, Lehman Bank and its wholly owned subsidiary, Aurora Loan Services LLC (“Aurora Loan Services”), purchased a total of 1,490 mortgage loans in the aggregate amount of $352,774,000 from SecurityNational Mortgage. Lehman Bank asserted that certain of the mortgage loans that it purchased from SecurityNational Mortgage during 2007 contained alleged misrepresentations and early payment defaults. As a result of these alleged breaches in the mortgage loans, Lehman Bank contended it had the right to require SecurityNational Mortgage to repurchase certain loans under the loan purchase agreement. SecurityNational Mortgage disagrees with these claims.


On December 17, 2007, SecurityNational Mortgage entered into an Indemnification Agreement with Lehman Bank and Aurora Loan Services. Under the terms of the Indemnification Agreement, SecurityNational Mortgage agreed to indemnify Lehman Bank and Aurora Loan Services for 75% of all losses that Lehman Bank and Aurora Loan Services may incur as a result of any defaults by mortgagors on 54 mortgage loans that were purchased from SecurityNational Mortgage. SecurityNational Mortgage was released from any obligation to pay the remaining 25% of such losses. The Indemnification Agreement also required SecurityNational Mortgage to indemnify Lehman Bank and Aurora Loan Services for 100% of any future losses incurred on mortgage loans with breaches that were not among the 54 mortgage loans.


Upon execution of the Indemnification Agreement, SecurityNational Mortgage paid $395,000 to Aurora Loan Services as a deposit into a reserve account, to secure any obligations of SecurityNational Mortgage under the Indemnification Agreement. This deposit was in addition to a $250,000 deposit that SecurityNational Mortgage previously made into the reserve account for a total of $645,000. Losses from mortgage loans with alleged breaches were payable from the reserve account. However, Lehman Bank and Aurora Loan Services were not to apply any funds from the reserve account to a particular mortgage loan until an actual loss had occurred. Under the Indemnification Agreement SecurityNational Mortgage was to pay to Aurora Loan Services the difference between the reserve account balance and $645,000, but in no event would SecurityNational Mortgage be required to make payments into the reserve account in excess of $125,000 for any calendar month.
 
Since the reserve account was established in 2007, funds had been paid from the account to indemnify $4,269,000 in losses from 31 mortgage loans that were among the 54 mortgage loans with alleged breaches that were covered by the Indemnification Agreement and ten other mortgage loans with alleged breaches. In Lehman Holding’s last monthly billing statement dated April 24, 2011, to SecurityNational Mortgage, Lehman Holdings claimed that SecurityNational Mortgage owed approximately $3,745,000 for mortgage loan losses under the indemnification agreement.


During 2008, 2009 and 2010, the Company recognized alleged losses of $1,636,000, $1,032,000 and $1,289,000, respectively. However, management cannot fully determine the total losses because there may be potential claims for losses that have not yet been determined.  As of June 30, 2011, the Company had not accrued for any losses under the Indemnification Agreement. SecurityNational Mortgage was involved in discussions with Lehman Bank and Lehman Brothers Holdings, Inc. (“Lehman Holdings”) concerning issues under the Indemnification Agreement. During the discussion period, monthly payments for December 2010 and January, February, March and April of 2011 totaling $625,000 were abated or deferred.


On May 11, 2011, SecurityNational Mortgage filed a complaint against Lehman Bank, now known as Aurora Bank FSB (hereinafter “Lehman Bank”), and Aurora Loan Services in the United States District Court for the District of Utah because it had been unable to resolve certain issues under the Indemnification Agreement. The complaint alleges, among other things, material breach of the Indemnification Agreement, including a claim that neither Lehman Bank nor Aurora Loan Services owned mortgage loans sold by SecurityNational  to justify the amount of payments demanded from, and made by SecurityNational Mortgage. As a result, SecurityNational Mortgage alleges it is entitled to judgment in excess of $4,000,000 against Lehman Bank, as well as Aurora Loan Services to the extent of its involvement and complicity with Lehman Bank.  The complaint also alleges a second claim for material breach of a section of the Indemnification Agreement that contains an alleged “sunset” provision and that the amount of the requested payments made was not justified under the “sunset” provision.


On June 8, 2011, Lehman Holdings, which had filed for bankruptcy, filed a complaint against SecurityNational Mortgage in the United States District Court for the District of Utah.  A Lehman Holdings’ subsidiary owns Lehman Bank.  The complaint alleges that loans were sold by SecurityNational Mortgage to Lehman Bank which were then sold to Lehman Holdings.  The complaint additionally alleges that Lehman Bank and Aurora Loan Services assigned their rights and remedies under the Indemnification Agreement to Lehman Holdings, which assignment purportedly took place on March 28, 2011.  Lehman Holdings declared in a letter dated June 2, 2011 that the Indemnification Agreement was null and void, which is disputed by SecurityNational Mortgage.  Lehman Holdings’ alleged claims are for damages for breach of contract and breach of warranty pursuant to a loan purchase agreement and Seller’s Guide. Prior to declaring the Indemnification Agreement null and void, Lehman Holdings claimed in a then recent billing statement that SecurityNational Mortgage owed approximately $3,745,000 for mortgage loan losses under the Indemnification Agreement. SecurityNational Mortgage strongly disagrees with the position of Lehman Holdings and, as set forth in its May 11, 2011 complaint, seeks affirmative relief in excess of $4,000,000 from Lehman Bank and Aurora Loan Services, which are related to Lehman Holdings.


Other Contingencies and Commitments


The Company has entered into commitments to fund new residential construction loans. As of June 30, 2011, the Company’s commitments were $24,578,702 for these loans of which $19,072,454 had been funded. The Company will advance funds once the work has been completed and an independent inspection is made. The maximum loan commitment ranges between 50% to 80% of appraised value. The Company receives fees from the borrowers and the interest rate is generally 2% to 6.75% over the bank prime rate (3.25% as of June 30, 2011). Maturities range between six and twelve months.


The Company is not a party to any other material legal proceedings outside the ordinary course of business or to any other legal proceedings, which, if adversely determined, would have a material adverse effect on its financial condition or results of operations.