Mon, Jun 20 2016, 10:40 AM
To start off the week, besides the first full moon on a summer solstice since 1967, here’s an interesting Bloomberg chart about the Federal governme...
Wed, Jun 15 2016, 9:58 AM
The Fed’s latest report on household debt and credit finds US households owed $12.25 trillion at the end of the first quarter, up 1.1% from the end of...
Thu, Jun 9 2016, 10:15 AM
Today I am in Albany for the NY MBA conference , but yesterday I was in Las Vegas with its hordes of retirees. People who say they want to live to be...
Fri, Jun 3 2016, 9:41 AM
“Rob, do you know of any banks looking to buy pools of home equity lines of credit?” Ah, the Holy Grail for plenty of non-bank lenders. You can check ...
Fri, May 27 2016, 10:01 AM
Do you think your company’s computer system is immune from hacking? It’s not a matter of “if” but “when” – just ask Equifax about its data breaches...
Mon, May 2 2016, 10:21 AM
Do mortgage loan originators think that they can’t go to prison for something they did ten years ago? They'd better think again . And let's not f...
Fri, Apr 29 2016, 11:26 AM
The Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPB) just opened the door to possible changes and refinements in its Know Before You Owe rule. The agenc...
Fri, Apr 29 2016, 10:37 AM
“They” say plenty of things about time flying as you grow older. (“Life is like a toilet paper role – the closer you get to the end the faster it goes...
Thu, Apr 14 2016, 9:23 AM
I found this article particularly enticing considering the change in banking/regulatory models over the last few years, and the downside risk for an...
Wed, Apr 13 2016, 10:44 AM
There is a lot of news today, ranging from political maneuvering through Chase’s earnings and on to the PHH/CFPB court case. But how about this one: ...
Tue, Mar 29 2016, 11:41 AM
Sweden, with its population of about 9.6 million about the same as Michigan, just adopted a law limiting mortgage loans to 105 years. Our 30-year fixe...
Wed, Mar 9 2016, 9:08 AM
Regulators don't like the unregulated, and in what some would term, "the CFPB inviting more into its boat to be bashed with oars," it announced it is ...
Fri, Feb 26 2016, 2:42 PM
In a speech this week to its Consumer Advisory Board the director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) laid out nine goals for the Bur...
Fri, Feb 19 2016, 10:36 AM
"A man goes to his nearest zoo. He walks around the entire place and the only animal there is a dog. It was a shih tzu." In a similar vein, I guess, b...
Wed, Feb 3 2016, 9:08 AM
I
spent some time at the Texas Mortgage Banker's event earlier this week
in Houston, and some of the discussion revolved around another refi
bo...
Mon, Jan 25 2016, 10:58 AM
Rumors are swirling that AIG has decided to pursue a partial spin-off of its mortgage insurance business,
United Guaranty (UG). Stay tuned for t...
Thu, Jan 14 2016, 5:26 PM
Our old standby for information on all-things-CFPB has
slammed a new "fact sheet" issued by the agency regarding the treatment of construction-to-per...
Wed, Jan 13 2016, 9:55 AM
Dodd-Frank
rules require public companies to provide their shareholders with an
advisory vote (non-binding) on the compensation of the most highly...
Wed, Dec 30 2015, 10:39 AM
Death
is rarely funny, and the aftermath can be even worse. But here's an
interesting twist on things. Even in our digital world where e-mortgages...
Fri, Dec 11 2015, 10:56 AM
Women who own small businesses in the United
States are overall more satisfied than their male counterparts with
their banking experience, accordi...
Wed, Dec 2 2015, 10:53 AM
"I
spent half my money on gambling, women, and booze. The other half I
wasted." Not that politicians would ever waste money - after all, they
ca...
Mon, Nov 30 2015, 9:30 AM
Hiring
can be tough during the holidays for a variety of reasons. Plenty of
people don't want to make a move, have full pipelines destined to clo...
Wed, Nov 18 2015, 10:58 AM
Where
the heck did 40 years go? Call any person who underwrites loans or
draws docs and ask if they'd like to do that for 40 straight years. The
...
Tue, Nov 10 2015, 10:11 AM
Title companies , as well as real estate agents , find themselves in the middle of the MSA discussion.
Marketing and Services Agreements (MSAs) whe...
Tue, Oct 20 2015, 11:49 AM
In what seemed to us to be a very long speech for him, Richard Cordray,
Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau spoke of three major
ch...
Thu, Oct 8 2015, 1:57 PM
Saying it was "deeply concerned" about how marketing
services agreements are undermining consumer safeguards against kickbacks, the
Consumer Finan...
Fri, Sep 25 2015, 10:35 AM
"Rob,
do you think that the CFPB is involved in monitoring price gouging by
companies of any sort? For example, I read about a drug company that...
Wed, Sep 23 2015, 10:54 AM
The Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau (CFPB) said this week that debt collection generated the most
complaints about financial products or serv...
Mon, Aug 31 2015, 9:20 AM
Darned
if I know how we're at the end of August already, with kids are heading
back to school and the NFL all over sports programs. One thing that...
Fri, Aug 21 2015, 10:58 AM
The eyes of Texas are upon the Consumer Financial Protection
Bureau - and not in a kindly way. Two
different actions out of Texas are challenging ...
Mon, Aug 17 2015, 9:58 AM
Thank you to Mark Baker with Cardinal Financial sent over a story about dear people who live in fancy tiny houses . An appraiser's nightmare or a Mil...
Fri, Aug 14 2015, 10:19 AM
The
fact that outstanding auto loans have passed the $1 trillion mark is
garnering headlines, as well as Ohio's vote on legalizing marijuana and...
Fri, Aug 7 2015, 3:21 PM
Over a year ago consumers pointed out, in a report from the
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) the "pain points" they encountered in
the mo...
Wed, Aug 5 2015, 4:50 PM
Saying that consumers should not be billed unnecessarily for
private mortgage insurance (PMI) the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has
issued ...
Mon, Aug 3 2015, 10:17 AM
A
big topic at last week's MBA Hawaii annual conference was change in
the industry. As if residential lending doesn't have enough changes all
th...
Fri, Jul 31 2015, 10:20 AM
A
rare blue moon (two full moons appearing in the same calendar month)
will be visible in the sky today for the first time in three years. We
wo...
Fri, Jul 31 2015, 1:06 PM
A Texas
mortgage servicer has run badly afoul of the Consumer Financial Protection
Bureau (CFPB) for repeated violations of servicing rules . Resi...
Thu, Jul 30 2015, 10:09 AM
Fun with government numbers: approximately
52.2 million people in the U.S. participated in major means-tested
government assistance programs eac...
Tue, Jul 28 2015, 10:29 AM
Federal
agencies have issued the final standards in regards to Section 342 of
the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 201...
Wed, Jul 15 2015, 10:16 AM
Yes, IT systems have sailed through things like Y2K (remember that?) and the leap second on June 30 th . But there are bigger challenges. The Federal ...
Mon, Jun 29 2015, 11:19 AM
I
doubt the average U.S. household is sitting around worrying about
interest rates. It's probably more like earthquake preparedness than
anythin...
Mon, Jun 8 2015, 10:25 AM
According
to the U.S. Census Bureau, 21.3 percent of the American population
(52.2 million people) participated in government assistance programs ...
Fri, Jun 5 2015, 10:28 AM
Huh? National Donut Day? Most donut shops have a few employees, but in 2013 our Census Bureau tells us there were 23 million businesses without paid ...
Fri, Jun 5 2015, 7:42 PM
For the second time this week the
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has filed in federal court against
a lender for unfair compensation p...
Thu, Jun 4 2015, 5:08 PM
Older Americans are being warned that ads
touting reverse mortgages "that seem too good to be true" might be just that. Rather slyly using a tag lin...
Thu, Jun 4 2015, 2:37 PM
Enforcement of compliance with the new RESPA/TILA disclosure
forms has been postponed . As appeared
inevitable after almost unanimous testimony ...
Wed, Jun 3 2015, 2:54 PM
I am here in Denver and had the opportunity this morning to hear MBA
President Dave Stevens, under the direction of CFPB Director Richard
Cordray,...
Mon, Jun 1 2015, 10:14 AM
When I grow up I want to be wealthy. And thanks to this list of the wealthiest zip codes in America ,
I know just where to move. (Interesting to co...
Fri, May 29 2015, 1:57 PM
A Florida law firm and its several affiliates which had
already been shuttered by the State of Florida and the Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau ...
Thu, May 21 2015, 10:41 AM
Hundreds
of capital markets folks have returned, bleary-eyed, to their roosts
around the country. Unfortunately, as Cantor Fitzgerald's Dave Gottf...
