Fri, Aug 29 2014, 10:11 AM
Cleverness
is alive and well in lending, and the "free Russian cat with your loan
funding" story yesterday brought a few e-mails. Chris L. contrib...
Wed, Aug 27 2014, 12:12 PM
The
month-end funding push is in full swing. There are plenty of jumbo
loans on the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts (providing fodder for the
smat...
Tue, Aug 26 2014, 10:04 AM
Counterparty
risk continues to be a BIG DEAL, and word broke yesterday of a huge
title agency defalcation in Georgia. (Defalcation: an amount of f...
Mon, Aug 25 2014, 11:32 AM
All
this hope (hype?) that the mortgage industry is placing on the
Millennials to bolster volume makes my head spin. (Scholars can't even
agree ...
Fri, Aug 22 2014, 11:33 AM
The race to the bottom, in terms of guidelines or razor-thin pricing margins , prompted on industry vet to send me, "There's a lot of space in the mo...
Thu, Aug 21 2014, 11:28 AM
A credit report is enough to completely steal a person's identity . It is? Does it take a few weeks? No - it takes 3 minutes .
And we wonder why...
Wed, Aug 20 2014, 10:19 AM
The CFPB released a bulletin outlining expectations for mortgage servicers that transfer loans;
bulletin includes information on how mortgage se...
Tue, Aug 19 2014, 10:42 AM
It
is fun to see that U.S. homebuilder confidence rose to a seven-month
high, primarily driven by lower mortgage rates and an improving jobs
mar...
Mon, Aug 18 2014, 10:59 AM
Say
what you will about Zillow (and people do), the firm does not fall
short as a driver of information. As many in the industry are preparing
t...
Fri, Aug 15 2014, 11:32 AM
Guess
what opened up on this date 100 years ago? No, it wasn't the first
Starbucks. The Panama Canal opened. Do you think the mortgage industry
...
Thu, Aug 14 2014, 9:47 AM
Here's
a story for the guys in IT. In "the old days" hotel rooms actually had
keys, and hotels didn't have computers. But now most hotels are reli...
Wed, Aug 13 2014, 10:47 AM
"The Bureau found that Amerisave lured consumers
by advertising misleading interest rates, locked them in with costly
up-front fees, failed to h...
Tue, Aug 12 2014, 10:47 AM
Under
the "misery loves company" category for those in the residential
lending business, it is interesting to watch the media focus shift onto
t...
Mon, Aug 11 2014, 10:40 AM
Most
professional baseball teams still have 30+ games left in their season
(out of 162), and there is plenty of jockeying in the media regarding
...
Fri, Aug 8 2014, 10:45 AM
Mergers continue - and every one of them hopes it works out (and not like the cover of The Economist
titled "The Trouble with Mergers"). New York ...
Thu, Aug 7 2014, 11:18 AM
Ah
yes, it's almost that time of year again when the first "Back to School
Sale" signs start going up; children everywhere get that 'time is
run...
Wed, Aug 6 2014, 10:56 AM
HUD recently took took action against
a California lender for "denying or delaying mortgage loans to women
because they were on maternity leav...
Tue, Aug 5 2014, 10:59 AM
The homeownership rate in
the US fell again last quarter, to 64.7%, the lowest rate in almost 20
years . Separately, the rental vacancy rate fe...
Mon, Aug 4 2014, 10:44 AM
Are you an appraiser ? Maybe you should be honored: there are fewer and fewer of you every year, and your ranks are down to 80,500 nationwide . Ther...
Fri, Aug 1 2014, 11:28 AM
People
need to use their heads once in a while. Circulating in the e-mail
world is a claim: "This is the only time in your life you will see this ...
Thu, Jul 31 2014, 12:10 PM
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency tells us that 13 out of every 14 mortgages (93.1%) in the United States were "current and performing"
...
Wed, Jul 30 2014, 10:18 AM
There
are plenty of ways to divvy up people (those who like soggy cereal,
those that don't, those that can form their tongue into an "o", and
th...
Tue, Jul 29 2014, 11:19 AM
My
plan has always been pretty simple with my children: feed and clothe
them in a loving home, make sure they get a college education followed
b...
Mon, Jul 28 2014, 10:36 AM
How
is it that this is the last week of July already? Lots of lenders seem
to have seen decent Julys - but perhaps not as strong as some of their ...
Fri, Jul 25 2014, 11:09 AM
"Rob, you have mentioned before that you are beginning to see some companies' volumes slowing down, and maybe even some lay-offs .
Is that still ha...
Thu, Jul 24 2014, 9:53 AM
For LOs who feel "enough is
enough" with regard to the proposed Pre-Licensure Education Expiration Policy on education, timelines, and requirement...
Wed, Jul 23 2014, 10:49 AM
Captain
Obvious likes to say, "Home prices don't always go up." It's probably a
cliché at this point, but it's better than the, "Buy as much home ...
Tue, Jul 22 2014, 9:50 AM
What, if anything, is putting a crimp in expected loan
production? Perhaps the CFPB's QM rules are indeed restricting
residential lending. In one...
Mon, Jul 21 2014, 9:47 AM
What
can you buy on minimum wage? Well, I guess that's a relative question;
relative to a number of factors such as where you live, your current
...
Fri, Jul 18 2014, 10:14 AM
Do
you have a plan in case you go bankrupt? The "big boys" do! The
Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act requires that bank
...
Thu, Jul 17 2014, 10:37 AM
Non-QM loans, investor interest in those higher
yielding pools, potential disparate impact as a result of QM rules,
eMortgages (or the lack thereo...
Wed, Jul 16 2014, 10:52 AM
Brokers, and lenders who cater to those brokers in terms of wholesale or mini-correspondent relationships , are still ruminating on the impact of las...
Tue, Jul 15 2014, 10:18 AM
Some
of the big topics here at the CMBA Western Secondary conference are
margins, compensation, and compliance. Reports show that bank tellers ea...
Mon, Jul 14 2014, 10:28 AM
Sometimes it is hard to tell if things are legit or not, especially
when it comes to legislation. In 2014 Congress has reminded us of how it
is ne...
Fri, Jul 11 2014, 11:33 AM
The Senate voted overwhelmingly to confirm Julian Castro as the new secretary of Housing and Urban Development
on Wednesday, elevating Mr. Castro ...
Thu, Jul 10 2014, 11:21 AM
Will a new HARP ride in and save the refinance business?
Probably not, as borrowers seem kind of "tapped out" on the program,
but the public rel...
Wed, Jul 9 2014, 11:32 AM
Banks
have plenty to think about and drink about: "Write-downs", "cutbacks",
"plummeting profits"...you'd think we were talking about a bank here ...
Tue, Jul 8 2014, 10:23 AM
What
has the CFPB been up to lately? For starters, remember that the
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's funding comes not from Congress
but ...
Mon, Jul 7 2014, 10:28 AM
Here's a survey for LOs - maybe it will have an impact on being able to contribute closing costs to borrowers.
"Last year, the Government Affair...
Thu, Jul 3 2014, 10:46 AM
Remember RMIC ?
"On June 27, 2014 the North Carolina Department of Insurance issued a
Final Order ("Order") Approving the Amended and Restated Co...
Wed, Jul 2 2014, 10:10 AM
In
July 1776, the estimated number of people living in the newly
independent nation was 2.5 million. (Nowadays, this is approximately the
number...
Tue, Jul 1 2014, 10:47 AM
Yes, smaller lenders sue each other. The latest verdict announced was a decision between Stearns and Prospect Mortgage . And we have the latest set...
Mon, Jun 30 2014, 10:02 AM
Suddenly
the entire industry seems interested in three things: using the Federal
Home Loan Banks as a pseudo-warehouse line, jumbo deals, and
fo...
Fri, Jun 27 2014, 10:09 AM
This
week I have been fortunate to spend some time with members of the
Mortgage Bankers of Hawaii. Honolulu, like so many other areas, has its
s...
Thu, Jun 26 2014, 11:15 AM
The ABA
reports community banks now spend about 15% of revenue
on compliance to meet regulatory requirements. True, the cost of doing
busine...
Wed, Jun 25 2014, 12:04 PM
I
was recently walking in a large city, on my way to do a warehouse field
exam, when a young man on a skateboard passed me going the other
direc...
Tue, Jun 24 2014, 11:01 AM
There are 2 million "missing households" in
the US - which represents pent up demand for new residences in the US.
These are Millennials who are...
Mon, Jun 23 2014, 9:41 AM
"On
Thursday, June 19, issues of latency and connectivity were reported by
the public across multiple Internet Service Providers. The public can
...
Fri, Jun 20 2014, 9:45 AM
"Affordability remains a hotly debated topic, especially when
considering both rent affordability and mortgage affordability," or
so says Zillow. ...
Thu, Jun 19 2014, 10:26 AM
"My
friend has a lifesaving tool in her car which is designed to cut
through a seat belt if she gets trapped. She keeps it in the car trunk."
So...