Mon, Apr 18 2016, 10:42 AM
“Control the rules, control the outcome.” This old saying will be of particular interest in upcoming political events… or mortgage company lawsuits & ...
Fri, Apr 15 2016, 10:32 AM
Yes, every week it seems like the airwaves are filled with news from the government-sponsored enterprise landscape. This week was no exception. The FH...
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, Apr 12 2016, 10:33 AM
Every CPA out there knows that in the District of Columbia, this Friday, April 15th, is Emancipation Day . Therefore, taxes aren't due until Monday t...
Mon, Apr 11 2016, 9:54 AM
Last week I was in Coeur d’Alene (for Banner Bank’s sales staff celebrating a great 2015) and I was reminded that tomorrow is “Free Cone Day” at Ben &...
Fri, Apr 8 2016, 10:58 AM
The post office lowering postage rates this weekend is good. Student loan performance is not: more than 40% of student loan borrowers are either not...
Thu, Apr 7 2016, 10:19 AM
It is wrong to say that all Millennials are living with their parents watching reruns of “The Wild Thornberrys.” Many are out there accumulating wealt...
Wed, Apr 6 2016, 10:20 AM
What does $1.45 million get you in Nashville? Well, if you don't mind buying a house from Kesha, this is what you'd have .
The S&P/Case-Shiller 20...
Tue, Apr 5 2016, 10:42 AM
We’re off to a running start on a new quarter, with many mortgage bankers reporting great March’s and ample pipelines ready for funding in April. But ...
Mon, Apr 4 2016, 10:49 AM
Yesterday at a job interview I filled my glass of water until it overflowed a little. "Nervous?" asked the interviewer. I replied, "No, I always give ...
Thu, Mar 31 2016, 10:07 AM
“If you work hard and go the extra mile to provide for your family…I will take that extra income and give it to those who refuse to do the same!” Was ...
Wed, Mar 30 2016, 1:44 PM
Lenders across the nation are switching to potlucks at the end of the month instead of catered lunches. Why? A new survey of mortgage lenders by the M...
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...
Mon, Mar 28 2016, 12:18 PM
Banks and non-bank mortgage companies aren’t enemies, but plenty of non-bank lenders are envious of the ability of banks to offer HELOCs and other p...
Thu, Mar 24 2016, 9:31 AM
Home Value Forecast recently analyzed the impact these foreclosure laws are having on the U.S. Housing Market-particularly in the communities of Ph...
Wed, Mar 23 2016, 11:30 AM
Everyone knows Pre-Fund and Post Close QC audits are essential and mandatory . But, with the ever changing agency requirements, many lenders find it ...
Tue, Mar 22 2016, 10:05 AM
A major conversation topic is how lenders must adhere to a new certification when making a Federal Housing Administration-backed mortgage. The FHA u...
Mon, Mar 21 2016, 11:29 AM
Research by RealtyTrac finds the percentage of homes that were bought and sold within 12 months (i.e. flipped) soared to 5.5% of all homes, reaching a...
Fri, Mar 18 2016, 10:15 AM
Tomorrow's commentary has some notes about W.J. Bradley and also a stinging rebuttal to Richard Cordray's continued reliance on enforcement actions, b...
Thu, Mar 17 2016, 10:22 AM
A North Carolina builder knows how to give Millennials want they want. Garman Homes, based out of Cary, NC has created Fresh Paint, a brand catered t...
Wed, Mar 16 2016, 10:04 AM
Does anyone really know for sure what happens in China? With that many billion people there are a lot of moving parts. For example, the PBOC is easin...
Tue, Mar 15 2016, 9:59 AM
Tiny homes are all the rage and a leading lumber company is capitalizing on this new trend, 84 Lumber has introduced its Tiny Living collection , m...
Mon, Mar 14 2016, 9:43 AM
Americans have regained most of the wealth lost when the real estate bubble burst. Homeowners' equity has more or less doubled since the lows of 20...
Fri, Mar 11 2016, 9:48 AM
Regarding the darned time change Sunday, from Georgia Jim Bedsole writes, “Which is why I continue to advocate that, if we are going to be forced to ‘...
Thu, Mar 10 2016, 10:51 AM
Settlement is the name of the game for lenders, investors...and the rating agencies. Moody's Investors Service Inc. a greed to pay $130 million ...
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 ...
Tue, Mar 8 2016, 10:50 AM
Overheard the other day: a young person telling a friend, "Why should I get a loan now? I am going to wait for negative rates here in the U.S. so bank...
Mon, Mar 7 2016, 10:33 AM
Well it's that time of year again, yup, election season. As you may or may not know with all the fireworks going on, a fellow mortgage industry member...
Fri, Mar 4 2016, 9:23 AM
This is the only day of the year that sounds like a military command: "March Forth"! That is certainly not as interesting as the SAT eliminating "tri...
Thu, Mar 3 2016, 9:52 AM
Household debt increased 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the NY Fed . Student loan and auto loan financing are growing the most, while mort...
Wed, Mar 2 2016, 10:55 AM
March... St. Patrick's Day, the religious holiday to honor St. Patrick who introduced Christianity to Ireland in the fifth century. Fortunately there ...
Tue, Mar 1 2016, 10:57 AM
I head to Atlanta today for a conference on preventing fraud, and decided to see what its housing market has been up to recently. It turns out that At...
Mon, Feb 29 2016, 10:31 AM
Lenders everywhere are looking forward to a great March given their swollen locked pipelines . As thousands of operations folks descend on Ellie's co...
Fri, Feb 26 2016, 10:58 AM
I continue to see lenders and vendors who are trying to help their clients in the best ways they know how in spite of the labyrinth of weighty, and o...
Thu, Feb 25 2016, 11:11 AM
How much do small firms spend on examiners and auditors camping out in their shops? And w hat about legal bills? I am sure it is a tiny fraction of w...
Wed, Feb 24 2016, 10:44 AM
Here's your IT lesson for the day. The NSA's Skynet program utilizes metadata to identify suspected terrorists. The system uses mass surveillance of...
Tue, Feb 23 2016, 10:26 AM
Actuaries, statisticians, the press, and the mortgage industry love acronyms and abbreviations, any list of which would take up this entire commentary...
Mon, Feb 22 2016, 10:12 AM
In the last 50+ years Detroit has lost nearly two thirds of its population. (Yes, 2/3.) And now the City of Detroit is offering up a mortgage pair...
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 17 2016, 11:02 AM
To put some perspective on things, a trillion seconds is roughly 31,710 years. The Fed indicates that household housing debt is about $8.8 trillion ...
Tue, Feb 16 2016, 10:52 AM
The mortgage industry has certainly taken its lumps in the last eight years. Things are turning around, and Jason Frazier from California's Mason McDu...
Fri, Feb 12 2016, 11:30 AM
(Note: Monday is a federal holiday , and there will be no commentary.) Here's a note I received from the owner of an independent mortgage bank with a...
Thu, Feb 11 2016, 9:39 AM
What's this? Fifty five thousand residents in one mile-high building? Doesn't Tokyo have earthquakes? Let's hope not everyone wants hot water at the...
Tue, Feb 9 2016, 10:44 AM
"Have you heard the latest statistics joke? Probably." CNN reports the latest data from the IRS finds the top 10% of Americans make $128,000 in min...
Mon, Feb 8 2016, 10:42 AM
I asked my cat Myrtle (is she my mews?) if she knew anything about cybersecurity. She gave me a look that told me she spends as much time worrying abo...
Fri, Feb 5 2016, 1:32 PM
"How much does it cost to buy sixty female pigs and forty male deer? One hundred sows and bucks!" Money? I continue to be amazed at this stat: last y...
Thu, Feb 4 2016, 10:02 AM
Lenders
should know that the FDIC indicates it expects banks to evaluate and
manage cyber risk as it does any other business risk and to do so a...
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...
Tue, Feb 2 2016, 9:14 AM
Where
does the penalty money that the CFPB collects go? And is it correctly
disbursed? The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has some thought...