Archive for the ‘Industry Articles’ Category

On Dec. 16, 2009, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) published Mortgagee Letter 09-52, which issued guides for mortgage originators in circumstances where borrowers receive a short payoff from their current lender on either a sale or a refinance. Here is a summary of the five things you need to know about these changes:

1. Changes are effective as of Dec. 16, 2009.Read more

Recently I participated in a Murder Mystery weekend at a bed and breakfast lodge. Every guest was a given a role to play. There were eight suspects; each of whom had one or more of the following: Means, Opportunity and Motive. Having the Means and Opportunity was very important, but having the right Motivation was the key to solving the puzzle. We interviewed the suspects, collected clues, then presented who we thought was the killer and why. It was great fun, but I failed to figure out who done it. I was very logical and surmised that a suspect with a monetary motive was the one.Read more

During the last two weeks of 2009, rates made a pretty significant move upward. We have been warning about potential regarding volatility with regard to the bond market. The past few months before the end of the year were void of this volatility. Despite this, the markets moving significantly should not have caught us by surprise. Many will say that there was very light volume in the markets during these two weeks. Certainly light volume can exacerbate tendencies toward volatility in the short run. However, even if rates move back down, we believe there is a lesson to be learned here.Read more

I’m sure you’ve heard that incredulous gasp or moment of silence on the other end of the phone when you tell someone that they might benefit by considering an interest-only adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM). It’s as if the very mention of an interest-only ARM places you in a category of being, “One of THOSE”—a big bad mortgage broker who singlehandedly caused the whole housing, financial and economic crisis.

So, I have two questions for you:Read more

On Dec. 22, 2009, more than six years since President George W. Bush signed into law the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (FACTA), the Federal Reserve Board (FRB) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced the final rules that require creditors to provide consumers with a notice when they have been charged more for credit based on their credit score. The final rules implemented in FACTA amends the Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA), the primary federal law that governs the use of credit reports.Read more

Today’s issue is fraud. Fraud affects the secondary markets in two very important ways: The existence of fraud is a valid reason to require a seller to repurchase a mortgage. This is commonly known as a “buyback.” The higher the prevalence of fraud within mortgages originated, the higher the risk of default of these mortgages, and thus, the lower the value of the commodities created and sold in the secondary markets. In other words, the more fraud in our industry, the higher rates will go.Read more

Never has it been more important for underwriters and brokers to assess and understand the reliability of the loan data they rely upon. Such a large portion of underwriting is essentially about turning provided data into decisionable loan information. “Bad” or more likely “fuzzy” data going into underwriting increases the risk of generating poor loan information and funding riskier loans.Read more

► On Feb. 3rd the Mortgage News Daily posted a blog by "The Voice of Housing: Reverse Mortgages: Friend or Foe? Definitely Friend" … to get those of you who dismiss the reverse mortgage program as too risky for the FHA and taking advantage of the elderly, to get a grip and look at this wonderful program as a means to provide our growing (aging) population a better quality of life while maintaining our independence and self respect.Read more

I have thought about the many seminars and classes we take from people who have information and advice for our careers and lives. After thinking about the many directions I could take, I have decided that I want to be a part of the “Be” group. I have listed a few key concepts we are all familiar with and may even already follow. But, I know I need to review them frequently and thought a support group of “BE”lievers could help us all connect.

The following is my initial “BE” list”Read more

December has been a very busy month with the legislative and regulatory issues that we had to address. We had to comment on the Federal Reserve Bank proposed change, the Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA’s) proposed change to allow mortgage brokers to originate loans when sponsored by an approved FHA mortgagee, the increase in net worth requirements for FHA mortgagees and the change for ordering FHA appraisals. On the legislative front, both the House and the Senate introduced their proposed legislation regarding Consumer Finance Protection Act (CFPA).Read more