Wed, Apr 5 2017, 9:05 AM
U.S. auto loan debt hit a record $1.16 trillion in the fourth quarter of 2016. That averages out to $6,100 in car payments per licensed driver. In fac...
Tue, Apr 4 2017, 9:11 AM
How much free time do you have? Not much? You’re not alone, as this story points out, "The rich were meant to have the most leisure time. The working ...
Mon, Apr 3 2017, 9:33 AM
Welcome to Q2! I am attending the NYMBA conference for a few days, but 1,300 miles south, in Florida (aka "God's waiting room"), folks are talking "re...
Fri, Mar 31 2017, 9:47 AM
Let’s end the week with a non-mortgage question, but one that you mathaletes will enjoy. What would happen if you were hit by a penny falling from a s...
Thu, Mar 30 2017, 9:48 AM
On this date in 1867, 150 years ago, a few years before I started trading MBS, Seward’s Folly was created. Put another way, on this date a treaty was ...
Wed, Mar 29 2017, 9:39 AM
The average residential loan file has 367,000 documents - and each one must be verified by the underwriter. Okay, just kidding. But every Boeing 737 (...
Tue, Mar 28 2017, 9:39 AM
As an industry, we continue to be reminded of a small minority’s wrongdoings. The latest example comes from New York where a Copiague man was sentence...
Mon, Mar 27 2017, 1:58 PM
Housing remains in high demand in most of the nation, but the housing recovery looks increasingly uneven, depending on location. Whether buyers are sh...
Mon, Mar 27 2017, 11:06 AM
This week involves a fair amount of cross-country travel for me (California, Washington DC, Florida, and Utah), and as it turns out Wells Fargo is the...
Fri, Mar 24 2017, 10:22 AM
In legal news, Experian , one of the nation's three major credit reporting bureaus, misled consumers by telling them that the credit scores they purch...
Thu, Mar 23 2017, 9:10 AM
Have you been asked to join the Trump Administration’ new group focusing on mortgage finance policy? No? My cat Myrtle hasn't gotten the nod (yet) eit...
Wed, Mar 22 2017, 5:36 PM
“Dance like no one is watching. E-mail like one day it may be read aloud in a deposition.” Here's some pithier legal news. The Department of Justice i...
Tue, Mar 21 2017, 10:16 AM
Who can you trust? Digital Journal reports new malware targets Google Chrome users with a pop up that indicates a new font needs to be installed for w...
Mon, Mar 20 2017, 10:58 AM
Say it ain’t so! Fannie is being bought by an Italian company?! Sure enough, Italy’s Ferrero International SA is buying U.S.-based Fannie May Confecti...
Fri, Mar 17 2017, 9:03 AM
The Fed reported US household net worth (total asset value minus total liability value) jumped to a record $92.8 trillion in Q4 driven by stock market...
Thu, Mar 16 2017, 9:50 AM
“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that is stupid.” Different peopl...
Wed, Mar 15 2017, 9:19 AM
Yes, calendars have changed over a few thousand years. But the Ides of March is a day on the Roman calendar that corresponds to 15 March, marked by se...
Tue, Mar 14 2017, 9:05 AM
Every lender should know a little about demographics . The Millennials receive the publicity, but the population aged 65 and older is expected to grow...
Mon, Mar 13 2017, 10:31 AM
It seems the general public is not moving. Not because they don’t way to, but because of… the influence of government regulations !? The regulatory en...
Fri, Mar 10 2017, 9:36 AM
The last time I checked Americans enjoy living indoors, especially given storms like today’s in the Northeast. How’s this for a combination of edifice...
Thu, Mar 9 2017, 9:34 AM
I have my own opinion about reading a book versus watching YouTube videos, given our finite time every day, but this statistic is staggering: The numb...
Wed, Mar 8 2017, 9:19 AM
Yes, we change our clocks this weekend, losing an hour, although some states have escaped this ordeal by not using Daylight Savings Time. Different st...
Tue, Mar 7 2017, 9:28 AM
Thousands of lenders around the nation, in one form or another, donate to charities. But here’s an interesting twist on that. Todd Potter, SVP & Natio...
Mon, Mar 6 2017, 9:30 AM
Welcome to national White Chocolate Cheesecake Day, and Oreo Cookie Day, both of which usually have gluten. Like gluten, most people don’t precisely k...
Fri, Mar 3 2017, 9:12 AM
For me the last few weeks included travel to events in Florida, Texas, Southern California, and now The Mortgage Collaborative’s event in Arizona. And...
Thu, Mar 2 2017, 9:31 AM
Here’s a public service announcement for folks in Detroit: check to see if you should boil your water before you drink it . Apparently drinking water ...
Wed, Mar 1 2017, 9:02 AM
There is some rate and price at which a borrower and lender will meet, whether it is residential loans, commercial, personal, auto, etc. But apparentl...
Tue, Feb 28 2017, 9:46 AM
The last day of February, already? Wasn’t it just New Years? Time flies by, things progress. Yesterday the Chamber of Digital Commerce, the world’s la...
Mon, Feb 27 2017, 10:03 AM
If you’re a lender in only one state, just think about the state and federal regulations you must deal with, not to mention the investor or agency rul...
Fri, Feb 24 2017, 10:21 AM
Boss: "Working hard here, Jimmy?" Jimmy: "Yep, ever since I heard you coming down the stairs!" Mortgage banks are working hard, but banks and other fi...
Thu, Feb 23 2017, 9:50 AM
"Those who have knowledge, don't predict. Those who predict, don't have knowledge.” But what if you use knowledge to predict? Research by Goldman Sach...
Wed, Feb 22 2017, 1:37 PM
Are you lending in areas where LOs are receiving more calls from recruiters than they are from real estate agents? Let’s hope not. But here’s somethin...
Tue, Feb 21 2017, 2:23 PM
For the past six years, there has been a quiet revolution in the mortgage market: Big banks like JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) , Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) an...
Tue, Feb 21 2017, 8:49 AM
Through the wonders of modern air travel, I find myself in Miami. But everywhere, in front of the grocery stores, in truly exciting news, are reminder...
Fri, Feb 17 2017, 10:31 AM
In lender and regulator news, SoFi (Social Finance) is reportedly close to raising $500 million in fresh funds from an investor group led by Silver La...
Thu, Feb 16 2017, 9:38 AM
Bank of America has opened 3 completely automated branches without any employees. Customers can use ATMs or have video conferences with employees at o...
Wed, Feb 15 2017, 9:56 AM
“The flat earth society has members all around the globe.” Speaking of orbs, while global wealth totals $255 trillion , the median wealth of all 4.8 b...
Tue, Feb 14 2017, 8:47 AM
What did one boat say to the other? “Are you up for a little row-mance?” Oh boy. Don’t forget the chocolates for your sweetie. If the love thing doesn...
Mon, Feb 13 2017, 3:22 PM
Fed Chair Janet Yellen 's semiannual testimony before Congress this week comes as the banking industry is about to undergo a dramatic makeover. Conseq...
Mon, Feb 13 2017, 9:16 AM
When I was a kid I’d go the bank, and my parents’ favorite teller and I would swap my money for the silver dimes and quarters she’d saved for me. I st...
Fri, Feb 10 2017, 8:52 AM
The stock market is not the economy. That’s a simple financial truth, but it is hard to keep in mind during rallies or sell-offs. Especially when main...
Thu, Feb 9 2017, 10:18 AM
“Sometimes I wake up grumpy; other times I let him sleep.” Kids in NY are sleeping in since the schools are closed today. But if you worked for Deutsc...
Wed, Feb 8 2017, 9:16 AM
Think there’s no creativity allowed in the down payment help arena? Think again. Loftium pays up to $20,000 towards your down payment and offers month...
Tue, Feb 7 2017, 10:07 AM
Our Census Bureau is at it again. Did you know that 5 million U.S. veterans are living in areas designated as rural between 2011 and 2015 per a new re...
Mon, Feb 6 2017, 8:45 AM
Tomorrow we’ll take a deep look at potential future Dodd-Frank changes , but for something more concrete the Census Bureau told us that U.S. home owne...
Fri, Feb 3 2017, 9:01 AM
Residential lenders are paying raptly following the news that President Donald Trump intends to roll back much of the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial regula...
Thu, Feb 2 2017, 9:38 AM
Supply and demand (“the invisible hand”) are the driver of many things in life, as are perceived shortages. So it was with great concern that Chris C....
Wed, Feb 1 2017, 10:21 AM
Although I am now in Phoenix for several days, where house flipping is ramping up again, I was fortunate earlier this week to be able to attend the Te...
Tue, Jan 31 2017, 9:42 AM
As the old adage goes, “Women spend more time wondering what men are thinking than men spend thinking.” But certainly women spend a good deal of time ...
Mon, Jan 30 2017, 10:04 AM
I certainly am hearing some dire numbers from appraisers out there – like their business, which kind of gets the ball rolling for a loan so could be c...
