Fri, Sep 9 2016, 10:14 AM
I own a shovel. Actually I own a couple of them. So do my neighbors. Do we use them all the time? No. Plenty of time elapses between shovel use. The s...
Thu, Sep 8 2016, 9:58 AM
50 years since Star Trek debuted on TV? Holy smokes. Salaries were lower back then. How much do NFL referees earn in a year? The average NFL referee s...
Wed, Sep 7 2016, 9:38 AM
While the industry waits for the ruling on the CFPB versus PHH case to give more clarity on the MSA question for lenders , the Colorado Division of In...
Tue, Sep 6 2016, 9:46 AM
It is hard to believe that Halloween is fewer days away than the 4th of July from a few months ago. It is also hard to believe this story/photo of a t...
Fri, Sep 2 2016, 10:37 AM
Among the lengthy list of state and federal regulators, legislative bodies, and agencies that oversee residential lenders, one can’t forget the FTC (F...
Thu, Sep 1 2016, 9:46 AM
For me last month’s domestic travels included Texas, Montana, Colorado, Kansas, and California. The mood among residential lenders is very good . Yet ...
Wed, Aug 31 2016, 10:23 AM
What does $24 million buy you in Oregon ? Just find 24 people to pony up a million each. Some economists love to look at the FHFA's housing statistics...
Tue, Aug 30 2016, 9:57 AM
I asked my cat Myrtle for her comments on the proposed TRID changes. (Blank stare.“Myrtle, make up your mind – in or out!”) I did, however, receive th...
Mon, Aug 29 2016, 9:54 AM
It is hard to argue with nationwide demographic trends , especially when it comes to Hispanic borrowers & first time home buyers in some parts of the ...
Fri, Aug 26 2016, 9:05 AM
“Rob, have you seen any place where I can see individual lender stats for VA loans?” Sure. Here it is . Knock yourself out. For you CFPB watchers, it ...
Thu, Aug 25 2016, 9:08 AM
How’d you like to work for a company that was in the press nearly every day – rarely in a good way? How’d you like to work for a company whose future ...
Wed, Aug 24 2016, 10:41 AM
It is hard to find a mortgage banker that isn’t hell-bent on expanding – sometimes just for the sake of expanding. But many companies soon find out ho...
Tue, Aug 23 2016, 9:58 AM
The whole residential lending industry is abuzz about the article on housing in the Economist . "A decade on, the presumption is that the mortgage-deb...
Mon, Aug 22 2016, 9:29 AM
Plenty of celebrities lose all their money, and then some, in various schemes. But here’s one Brady Bunch member that did pretty well in California re...
Fri, Aug 19 2016, 11:08 AM
In case it comes up at Happy Hour tonight, how are things working out in Japan? “The Bank of Japan, already a top-five owner of 81 companies in Japan’...
Thu, Aug 18 2016, 9:26 AM
There are two and a half weeks before Labor Day, the traditional end of summer. For those out and about, and who like ice cream, MM sent along a list ...
Wed, Aug 17 2016, 11:38 AM
Want to comment on TRID & Reg. Z? Click on the " How to Comment " button. Better to do it now, good or bad, than to complain about it after the commen...
Tue, Aug 16 2016, 9:35 AM
Only two weeks until Labor Day? How did that happen? Will AIG and Arch MI figure out which reps have which territories after the purchase of UG goes t...
Mon, Aug 15 2016, 10:31 AM
“Rob, are we heading back to loans with LTVs greater than 100%?” I doubt it, but certainly there are some high LTV programs out there, over and above ...
Fri, Aug 12 2016, 9:56 AM
Loan officers are very interested in guidance on things like Disparate Treatment and Disparate Impact. What would happen if an originator offered a di...
Thu, Aug 11 2016, 9:49 AM
As the productivity of the male part of our industry grinds to a screeching halt due to looking up “Beach volleyball cheerleaders” on Google Images, I...
Wed, Aug 10 2016, 9:41 AM
It would be interesting to find out the last time some political candidate wasn't on the front page of all the major newspapers. What did we talk abou...
Tue, Aug 9 2016, 9:16 AM
Let’s hope this is not a “here we go again” situation. RealtyTrac reports home flipping (defined as a
property that is bought and resold within 1-y...
Mon, Aug 8 2016, 10:08 AM
There’s no question that rent levels in many urban areas are helping lenders. Research by ApartmentList.com finds the most expensive cities, in order ...
Fri, Aug 5 2016, 10:49 AM
“Q: How do you transfer funds even faster than electronic banking? A: By getting married!” That’s my attempt to ease into the news that the IRS increa...
Thu, Aug 4 2016, 9:17 AM
Here’s an interesting number: $765,000. The Transportation Security Administration announced in May that it had collected that amount in loose change ...
Wed, Aug 3 2016, 9:27 AM
Huh? There is now a
robot that can build a house in two days ?
Sounds pretty good to me... It is certainly a step toward lessening the labor
const...
Tue, Aug 2 2016, 9:54 AM
Gotta hand it to Vancouver.
The city has gained a reputation as a place for foreign buyers - primarily
Chinese - to buy housing and park their money...
Mon, Aug 1 2016, 9:14 AM
Have you ever heard of the AARMR? I know – as if this industry needs yet another acronym. Pronounced by those “in the know” as “armor,” it is the Amer...
Fri, Jul 29 2016, 10:28 AM
"Buy land - they're not
making any more of it." And the reverse is happening in Louisiana. Say what you
want about global warming, or inappropriate ...
Thu, Jul 28 2016, 9:44 AM
I don’t know how it is that we only have two business days left in July – time flies. For me this month has included Honolulu, Denver, Sacramento, San...
Wed, Jul 27 2016, 8:51 AM
One of the biggest challenges faced by business owners today is attracting and retaining great people. Millennials and those with diverse ethnic backg...
Tue, Jul 26 2016, 9:13 AM
The capital markets are always changing, and the latest news to turn some heads is that JPMorgan Chase is streamlining its operations and will no lon...
Mon, Jul 25 2016, 9:47 AM
Every day we have news coming out of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Some of the news is attempts at changing the structure of the two – being under gover...
Fri, Jul 22 2016, 11:03 AM
All the housing statistics this week made my head spin. How good would you be at building your own house? Here’s a short 10 question quiz that will ...
Thu, Jul 21 2016, 10:39 AM
Happy 6th year-old-birthday to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Or is it the CFPB’s 5th “birthday”? For those new to the...
Wed, Jul 20 2016, 10:22 AM
Remember when someone was "fired" instead of "managed out?" Then there's a good old-fashioned purge like what Turkish President Erdogan did yesterday ...
Tue, Jul 19 2016, 9:22 AM
Summer time… barbecues, time in the sun, fun on the water – unless you’re in Michigan and you believe that rivers flow in circles and one spends thr...
Mon, Jul 18 2016, 10:45 AM
Rates have crept back up to pre-Brexit levels. Will the rates borrowers locked in during the last week of June be the stuff of cocktail party bragging...
Fri, Jul 15 2016, 12:00 PM
During Happy Hour tonight you can work this one into the conversation: Minnesota has 90,000 miles of shoreline. Is that a lot? It is more than Califor...
Fri, Jul 15 2016, 12:00 PM
Who is Gary Johnson? He’s the Libertarian candidate for president this year. And given the “unusual” presidential situation this year, and the current...
Wed, Jul 13 2016, 10:28 AM
“Cuz they ain’t makin’ any more of it” is the traditional response to the question about why should anyone buy real estate. But builders, straining to...
Tue, Jul 12 2016, 11:54 AM
Lou Holtz observed, "Never tell your problems to anyone....80% don't care and the other 20% are glad you have them." People who don’t understand econo...
Mon, Jul 11 2016, 9:35 AM
I certainly see “out of office” replies increase during the summer. But some people seem to take as little vacation as possible, sometimes making thos...
Fri, Jul 8 2016, 11:51 AM
The nation’s thoughts and prayers go out to the families of the five Dallas police officers who were killed and six others wounded after snipers fired...
Thu, Jul 7 2016, 10:20 AM
Doug T. writes, “There's a strange new trend in the office: people are putting names on food in the company fridge to keep them cold. Today I had a sa...
Wed, Jul 6 2016, 11:06 AM
Huh? Uber has a new update that allows users to file a lawsuit against the company directly in the app? What will they think of next? In a more seri...
Tue, Jul 5 2016, 10:13 AM
Last week we noticed that Ginnie Mae volumes had passed Freddie Mac , so the absence of big banks doing that business was certainly taken up by non...
Fri, Jul 1 2016, 11:24 AM
The Fourth of July is Monday...the date of the Declaration of Independence (quibble all you want about late signers); the next commentary will be Tues...
Thu, Jun 30 2016, 10:34 AM
The last day of June, and 2016 half over? How did that happen? (Regarding time flying Linda B. writes, “Thank the Good Lord, I am Benjamin Button.”) J...
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