Tue, Feb 9 2021, 9:13 AM
Yesterday I flubbed up by discussing the Administration’s proposal to eliminate credit unions and have the CFPB control the credit process . The artic...
Mon, Feb 8 2021, 9:27 AM
A Pennsylvania man is suing Smart Water for not making him smart, and here, in this Commentary, I’d like to formally announce my lawsuit against Thin ...
Fri, Feb 5 2021, 5:30 PM
Guys around the nation have nine days to forget that nine days from now is Valentine’s Day, and florists everywhere have already ordered roses (in the...
Thu, Feb 4 2021, 10:45 AM
Making headlines is United Wholesale averaging $15 billion a month in production and earning total net income of $3.4 billion for 2020 , quite a chang...
Wed, Feb 3 2021, 9:31 AM
Companies and organizations around the nation are wondering about when in-person conferences will become the norm again. While they’re wondering about...
Tue, Feb 2 2021, 10:49 AM
Okay boys and girls, besides it being a snow day in the Northeast, and Groundhog Day and Punxsutawney Phil's 135th prognostication, here is today’s sh...
Mon, Feb 1 2021, 11:01 AM
January’s already in the rearview mirror and our industry is keeping an eye on all kinds of things. Like silent movies moving into “the Talkies” in 19...
Fri, Jan 29 2021, 10:20 AM
One should never stop learning. For example, I just began reading a great book: “How to Cook Crack and Clean a Crab.” Step One: Use commas. I learned ...
Thu, Jan 28 2021, 10:33 AM
The stock price of American Airlines back to February 2020 levels. Investors seem to be “buying hope.” In Mortgage Land, though I am beginning to hear...
Wed, Jan 27 2021, 9:18 AM
Just a couple more weeks until my uncle sends me a text asking if I’ve seen these funny photos of Bernie Sanders , of which there are no shortage. The...
Tue, Jan 26 2021, 9:55 AM
While the Biden Administration waits for the Trump staff to tell them the Wi-Fi password in the White House, the government continues to occupy our th...
Mon, Jan 25 2021, 10:35 AM
There’s always “stuff” going on in residential lending, right? Capital markets folks have noticed that the big banks are re-entering buying jumbo loan...
Fri, Jan 22 2021, 9:59 AM
This week Joe Exotic did not receive a presidential pardon, nor did mortgage rates move much versus last week, but there are still over 16 million ref...
Wed, Jan 20 2021, 9:49 AM
In his Saturday Morning Cup of Joe , Jeremy Potter quipped, “The word ‘homeowners’ has the word ‘meow’ in it. Good luck unseeing that from now on.” Pl...
Tue, Jan 19 2021, 11:03 AM
Sometimes running a mortgage compliance department can seem like this short clip Indiana’s Carol K. sent along. Yet there is value in compliance, and ...
Fri, Jan 15 2021, 10:02 AM
As Flagstar’s Marcus L. points out, “1999 doesn't sound like that long ago until you realize that people with a birth year starting with ‘2’ are start...
Thu, Jan 14 2021, 9:20 AM
With the money I’m saving on “Dry January,” I was able to buy some great edibles at the dispensary yesterday. “Come on, come on, listen to the money t...
Wed, Jan 13 2021, 11:17 AM
There are plenty of MLOs (mortgage loan originators) out there very pleased with their earnings for 2020. In a non-random sample, several CEOs with wh...
Tue, Jan 12 2021, 9:53 AM
Nearly two weeks into 2021 already? I was just getting used to saying “2020.” Now I have to add a syllable every time. “One.” There’s continued talk o...
Mon, Jan 11 2021, 10:10 AM
Of course some found humor in last week’s riot in Washington DC. (“In light of recent events, Mexico has decided that it will pay for the wall after a...
Fri, Jan 8 2021, 10:31 AM
While the industry watches the personnel changes at Arch and National MI, I received several texts and emails pleading, “I’d like to cancel my subscri...
Thu, Jan 7 2021, 11:05 AM
Some will say that the world’s most anticipated palindrome is “1-20-21”. Others will say that Inauguration Day spells the end of personal freedom in t...
Wed, Jan 6 2021, 10:58 AM
Would you rather loan $200,000 to a Danish buntmager (furrier) or the United States Government? Well, while the industry is digesting the news that Gu...
Tue, Jan 5 2021, 10:54 AM
2021: Fifty years since the release of Led Zeppelin 4 (think Stairway to Heaven). In 1971 there were 208 million people living in the United States. N...
Mon, Jan 4 2021, 11:08 AM
Here we are on the first business day of 2021, the year of the movie Mad Max 2. (It is so much easier saying “2020” than “2021,” right?) Last year, as...
Thu, Dec 31 2020, 11:03 AM
I still don’t know what I’m wearing to the living room on New Year’s Eve. Heck, I may not even go. Wouldn’t it be nice to be on a cruise? Ever heard o...
Wed, Dec 30 2020, 10:35 AM
Loan originators in our business see potential borrowers whose monthly mortgage payments would be less than their rent payments but don’t qualify for ...
Tue, Dec 29 2020, 10:12 AM
With the passing of Pierre Cardin this morning, does it mean that bottle of cologne (circa 1978) I have in the attic became a collector’s item? The ph...
Mon, Dec 28 2020, 11:12 AM
Congress and the press have been talking about a second stimulus plan since the summer. The bill signed by President Trump last night keeps the U.S. G...
Thu, Dec 24 2020, 8:51 AM
New Homes Sales tumbled over 11 percent in November. Does that mean no one wants new homes, they’re over-priced, or there aren’t any to buy? One has t...
Wed, Dec 23 2020, 10:17 AM
My cat Myrtle (Myrtlus Domesticus) doesn’t have much in the way of material possessions. Need to get rid of unwanted junk during the holidays? Put it ...
Tue, Dec 22 2020, 10:06 AM
I hope that everyone had a happy solstice yesterday, with a few folks writing to suggest that “It is the shortest day, of the longest year, of our liv...
Mon, Dec 21 2020, 9:27 AM
As we watch the second largest stimulus bill in history move toward passage, greetings from the Winter Solstice, the official start of winter and the ...
Fri, Dec 18 2020, 10:39 AM
I don’t know what’s longer, a “regular” minute, “microwave” minute, or a “treadmill” minute. Speaking of time, if someone sends you an email saying, “...
Thu, Dec 17 2020, 10:07 AM
Who would’ve thought that one day we’d be smoking weed at a family gathering, but the illegal part would be the family gathering? For most of us, fami...
Tue, Dec 15 2020, 10:12 AM
“We were so poor when I was a kid that we couldn’t afford tinsel. We had to wait for Grandpa to sneeze.” At the opposite end of the economic spectrum,...
Thu, Dec 10 2020, 9:59 AM
“My ability to remember song lyrics from the 80s far exceeds my ability to remember why I walked into the kitchen.” The Baby Boomers are certainly rid...
Wed, Dec 9 2020, 9:58 AM
I’m gonna ask my Mom if that offer to “slap me into next year” is still on the table. It’s great to be a lender in 2020, and should be into 2021, but ...
Tue, Dec 8 2020, 10:41 AM
Huh? Talk of a government shut down? Again? Are you the typical lender off to a record December, after setting records in November, October, September...
Mon, Dec 7 2020, 8:54 AM
Large-scale mortgage in-person conference activity, and official mortgage business travel, appears to be shut down until at least the summer of 2021. ...
Fri, Dec 4 2020, 10:23 AM
Have you ever wondered why so many lottery winners go broke? If they had any financial sense, they wouldn’t have bought a lottery ticket in the first ...
Thu, Dec 3 2020, 10:09 AM
With the COVID pandemic, it doesn’t quite seem like we’re in the middle of pro football season, although apparently the folks in Jacksonville will do ...
Wed, Dec 2 2020, 11:17 AM
Fun with numbers for Hump Day! Numbers were behind HP’s decision to leave California for Houston. Thank you to Len T. who sent a great chart of the na...
Tue, Dec 1 2020, 10:08 AM
In equity news, despite some predictions to the contrary , the market had its best month since 1987. This, in the face of renewed layoffs and economic...
Mon, Nov 30 2020, 9:51 AM
Thank you to Tracy C. sent, “An unemployed court jester is nobody’s fool.” There are millions of unemployed U.S. citizens, and the CFPB, HUD, and othe...
Fri, Nov 27 2020, 9:17 AM
Left over pumpkin pie for breakfast today? Have you begun your company’s Holiday Cookbook yet? (Help corporate culture by sending an email, ad a recip...
Wed, Nov 25 2020, 9:36 AM
Second only to the excitement of the new phone book coming, the new conforming loan limit is $548,250 for 2021 , up from $510,400 in 2020, and some in...
Tue, Nov 24 2020, 10:59 AM
Remember when you drove to work every day? For non-mortgage kicks, here’s a site where you can take a virtual drive through dozens of cities around th...
Mon, Nov 23 2020, 10:02 AM
Sunday morning I was trying to explain to my cat Myrtle how the total cost of rescuing a stranded Matt Damon in all of his films (think Saving Private...
Fri, Nov 20 2020, 10:10 AM
Many years ago I was hanging out with George Clooney and made the mistake of telling him, “Look, you’ll never amount to much as an actor. You’d be muc...
