Tue, Oct 22 2013, 9:35 AM
I travel to a lot of engagements (this week is Los Angeles, Kansas,
and North Carolina, and then to DC for the conference) and am jealous of
my co...
Mon, Oct 21 2013, 9:41 AM
Some of the information out there is "about as reliable as a
Realtor's photograph." But rumors continue to swirl about the health of
companies. On...
Fri, Oct 18 2013, 9:57 AM
It is a proven fact that ghosts, ghouls, vampires, werewolves, and
the like all live forever. (I either read it in the National Enquirer or
Nation...
Thu, Oct 17 2013, 10:50 AM
LA Dodgers' Tommy Lasorda reportedly said, "I found out that it's not
good to talk about my troubles. Eighty percent of the people who hear
them d...
Wed, Oct 16 2013, 10:56 AM
A biologist, a chemist, and a statistician are out hunting. The
biologist shoots at a deer and misses 5 feet to the left, the chemist
takes a shot...
Tue, Oct 15 2013, 9:53 AM
Welcome to "National Aging in Place" Week (October 15-21). No, this
doesn't mean sitting in that 10-yr old office chair, slouched over your
comput...
Fri, Oct 11 2013, 11:44 AM
Entities like title companies, real estate agencies, home inspection
services, etc. don't mind this statistic, but lenders sure do: the
National A...
Thu, Oct 10 2013, 10:09 AM
"Ladies, if your guy says that he is going to fix something, he means
it. There is no need to remind him every six months." Hopefully the
governme...
Wed, Oct 9 2013, 10:51 AM
I have decided to take matters into my own hands. I am in the
Washington DC area today for the Mid-Atlantic Lender Conference, and I
plan on telli...
Tue, Oct 8 2013, 9:37 AM
"All of the talk about lenders 'loosening' their requirements for IRS
transcripts. Lenders should remember that just because an investor or
aggreg...
Mon, Oct 7 2013, 9:26 AM
This is exciting - kind of like a WWII movie, where things are sent
via code. (No foot tapping jokes please!) In this case, our government's
weath...
Fri, Oct 4 2013, 10:26 AM
According to a release from Citi, the bank will pay Freddie Mac
$395 million, all of which is covered by its existing mortgage
repurchase rese...
Thu, Oct 3 2013, 9:54 AM
Craig B. sent this one in, discovered when doing some research on
prepaid interest: "Prepaid interest is interest that you pay in advance.
Prepaid...
Wed, Oct 2 2013, 9:57 AM
Anthony Bird, owner of Michigan's Riverbank Finance , writes, "I have done some research regarding the shutdown and how it will affect government age...
Tue, Oct 1 2013, 10:20 AM
What is bothersome for many CEOs, as we enter the 4 th
quarter, is profitability - or lack thereof. I received this note from
the CEO of a reside...
Mon, Sep 30 2013, 10:47 AM
"Rob, I attended a seminar last week, and one of the speakers
mentioned something called 'Freddith Mae'. Ever heard of that?" Nope -
either I'm ou...
Fri, Sep 27 2013, 10:24 AM
Although she is blind, Justice never sleeps, and any company's management who thinks it can skirt the Bank Secrecy Act might
be in for a rude awak...
Thu, Sep 26 2013, 10:42 AM
Does anyone really retire anymore? Most seem to adapt to re-careers,
heading off to other pursuits. But still plenty of U.S. citizens retire,
and ...
Wed, Sep 25 2013, 10:29 AM
I didn't make it to the gym today. That makes five years in a row.
Speaking of five years, WAMU 's failure - the largest
commercial bank failur...
Tue, Sep 24 2013, 10:49 AM
Given the change in the MBA's logo, David Frase writes, "I love the
new MBa logo! It emphasizes the loss of 'capital' experienced by our
industry...
Mon, Sep 23 2013, 11:11 AM
As usual, we have some keen insights and observations about the residential lending biz worth sharing (along with vendor, agency, and investor updates...
Mon, Sep 23 2013, 10:22 AM
Phew! It turns out that the acronym for the Mortgage Bankers Association (of America) remains "MBA." MBa is just its logo .
Here is an interesting...
Fri, Sep 20 2013, 10:18 AM
Whereas the National Association of Realtors has managed to have
everyone capitalize the job of their members (Realtor), the MBA (which
years ago ...
Thu, Sep 19 2013, 11:01 AM
Welcome to "Talk Like a Pirate Day" , even held in Minnesota where I am heading today. Of course, 3.14159...% of sailors are Pi Rates .
Let's face...
Wed, Sep 18 2013, 10:07 AM
The industry is moving toward more acceptance of non-QM loans .
The CFPB will be the first to admit that just because a loan is not QM
doesn't me...
Tue, Sep 17 2013, 9:48 AM
I am really surprised at how many mortgage vets seem to have forgotten
what a business cycle is (almost like how I was surprised in 1977 when a
bu...
Mon, Sep 16 2013, 10:24 AM
On Friday the 13th the CFPB released the final amendments
to the Loan Officer Compensation, Servicing, QM and HOEPA Rules. The
official release ...
Fri, Sep 13 2013, 10:23 AM
After 36 years of space travel and months of heated debate among
scientists, NASA confirmed Thursday that Voyager 1 has indeed left our
solar syst...
Thu, Sep 12 2013, 12:21 PM
Citi is a global bank, and unfortunately for some of its workforce, there will be fewer of them in the mortgage group. Per FOX Business, Citigroup pl...
Wed, Sep 11 2013, 12:04 PM
The MBA numbers this morning confirmed that business is slowing even
more. Lock desks knew it but the MBA confirmed it: the Mortgage Bankers
Assoc...
Tue, Sep 10 2013, 10:30 AM
Last month this commentary mentioned the possibility of a maximum
loan amount reduction by the agencies. It has now become mainstream news
- a poo...
Mon, Sep 9 2013, 10:08 AM
We're all watching the residential lending industry change, although
in Saturday's commentary I noted several bank mergers from recent weeks.
Whet...
Fri, Sep 6 2013, 9:04 AM
"Are LOs liable for their comp plans?" Yes they are. This commentary discussed this topic over a month ago, yet I still hear stories about a company ...
Thu, Sep 5 2013, 10:16 AM
On Saturday we'll have an exciting anniversary: on 9/7/08 Treasury
Secretary Hank Paulson announced a plan where the government took
control of Fa...
Wed, Sep 4 2013, 10:15 AM
I know it is already Wednesday, but here is something labeled " The Monday Map "
which shows some interesting trends in personal incomes among the
...
Tue, Sep 3 2013, 9:49 AM
August was not a pleasant month for many lenders, and September may
not be much better. Sure, volumes are down, and staffing is down in most
shops...
Fri, Aug 30 2013, 10:52 AM
Radian announced it has entered into an agreement with Freddie Mac
on a pool of delinquent loans which eliminates credit risk on 9,756
delinque...
Thu, Aug 29 2013, 9:55 AM
Affordability has a strong impact on homeownership. Not surprisingly,
per the NRA, I mean the NAR, four of five states with the lowest
homeownersh...
Wed, Aug 28 2013, 10:53 AM
There are lots of training videos out there. But there aren't many 0%
down payment programs from the government - the USDA is about it. Here
is on...
Tue, Aug 27 2013, 10:00 AM
I am spending some time in Kansas, and some of the discussion is about
how hiring is so much more interesting and fun than eliminating staff.
Obvi...
Mon, Aug 26 2013, 9:42 AM
Here is an e-mail from Gary B. up in Washington: "Rob, I work for a mortgage bank, and we'd heard that that LOs have to be fingerprinted every three ...
Sat, Aug 24 2013, 3:55 PM
With so much going on in the lending, banking, and real estate business, let's take a look at some thoughts from readers across the nation " in the tr...
Fri, Aug 23 2013, 10:42 AM
When S&P downgraded the United States (remember that?), it did
absolutely nothing to Treasury rates, and certainly didn't seem to
motivate Congres...
Thu, Aug 22 2013, 11:01 AM
Many parents of young adults grapple with the, "Do we help little Sage buy a home, or let him rent?" question. The Wall Street Journal reports 37% ...
Wed, Aug 21 2013, 11:05 AM
There is a lot of continued controversy and focus over the various
compensation plans for loan officers and regulatory audits. Obviously,
these c...
Tue, Aug 20 2013, 10:20 AM
One can have a lot of fun with statistics. If I own one dog, and
adopt another, my dog population has gone up 100%. The same can be said
for the c...
Mon, Aug 19 2013, 10:07 AM
I am heading off to Indiana this morning, but still had time to catch
this OCC release about a company to cheat consumers who are trying to
rebuil...
Fri, Aug 16 2013, 10:14 AM
Hundreds of lenders across the nation are targeting purchase business. When was the last time refis accounted for less than 50% of MBA's weekly appl...
Thu, Aug 15 2013, 11:36 AM
Here is an interesting note I received from a capital markets VP in
Florida: "Rob, I have nicknamed my company's sales staff the 'If
only's.' It s...
Wed, Aug 14 2013, 9:51 AM
Per the recent post regarding the STRATMOR Group's mid-year survey,
over 50 lenders have responded to the STRATMOR Survey on what actions
lenders ...
