Thu, May 21 2015, 10:41 AM
Hundreds
of capital markets folks have returned, bleary-eyed, to their roosts
around the country. Unfortunately, as Cantor Fitzgerald's Dave Gottf...
Fri, May 15 2015, 10:43 AM
The NMLS has commenced a study on the role of a MLO -
besides being at the receiving end of jokes about AARP in the
workplace. All kidding aside,...
Thu, May 7 2015, 10:59 AM
For aging LOs and real estate agents, a report by Genworth Financial
finds the median bill for 1 year in a nursing home is now $91,250 vs.
$87...
Tue, May 5 2015, 10:38 AM
I
grew up with a lock on my locker in school. Every once in a while
someone would have their combination stolen and locker broken into. Or
at le...
Thu, Apr 30 2015, 10:43 AM
I
travel around a fair amount, spending time with lenders, Realtors, and
TSA personnel. A major concern among the first two groups is whether or
...
Wed, Apr 29 2015, 10:39 AM
First
off, let me apologize for having the incorrect site in yesterday's
commentary regarding the funny history of the term "escrow" - this is th...
Wed, Apr 15 2015, 10:32 AM
Yesterday
we had plenty of CFPB updates , and let's continue with those. Remember
that even though although your bank or mortgage operation is th...
Tue, Apr 14 2015, 11:26 AM
As a reminder, many in the industry know that as of April 1 new rates kicked in under the National Flood Insurance Program . Policy premiums increas...
Fri, Apr 10 2015, 4:59 PM
This story can be adequately summed up with the internet meme: ' facepalm .'
Yet another ethically challenged lender is going to pay for implying a ...
Thu, Apr 2 2015, 12:58 PM
Even as some in the industry apparently hope for a reprieve
from implementing new mortgage disclosure forms the Consumer Financial
Protection Bure...
Mon, Mar 23 2015, 11:02 AM
Today
I head off to Austin, Texas for four days of MBA STRATMOR Peer Group
Program meetings - a great opportunity to sit in a room with the MBA,
...
Wed, Mar 4 2015, 9:45 AM
Nothing
ruins your Friday like realizing it is only Wednesday! I lose track of
what we're celebrating this month: I was all geared up for the Iris...
Thu, Feb 19 2015, 10:50 AM
Quicken
Loans recently released its monthly Home Price Perception Index (HPPI)
and Home Value Index (HVI). According to the HPPI, appraiser's ho...
Fri, Feb 13 2015, 10:58 AM
Friday the 13 th comes three times this year, and this is one of them.
I
can think of three more companies that won't be sending chocolate to
...
Fri, Feb 13 2015, 4:38 PM
Three mortgage lenders are facing civil action for false and misleading
advertising. The three were identified
in a joint Consumer Financial Prote...
Wed, Feb 11 2015, 10:27 AM
There
are plenty of states with plenty of mountains. In fact, while many say
it is "as flat as a pancake" in Kansas, you might be interested to kn...
Tue, Feb 10 2015, 3:36 PM
In a paper on the issue, the Consumer
Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) says that "Many older consumers and their
families are confused and frustr...
Mon, Feb 2 2015, 10:18 AM
The economy is filled with surprises , and people warning us about them
- and us not listening. Every time we fill up our gas tanks we are
remi...
Fri, Jan 30 2015, 3:27 PM
As it said it would, the Consumer Financial Protection
Bureau (CFPB) has taken steps to assist small lenders , particularly those in
rural areas, c...
Wed, Jan 28 2015, 9:57 AM
Don't
forget that last Friday Ocwen Financial reached a settlement with a
California regulator that will allow it to continue operating in the
...
Tue, Jan 27 2015, 10:29 AM
I
see a fair amount of state-level news, and it seems to be the season
for lenders to meet with legislators. What items are on the agendas? As
a...
Fri, Jan 23 2015, 10:48 AM
I
am in Portland, Oregon today, but I flew, of course, commercial. In
things to note, in Davos, Switzerland, where the famous finance folks
are,...
Wed, Jan 21 2015, 10:34 AM
A new JPMorgan Chase report indicates that summer jobs for young adults have significantly declined .
Less than half of young people (46%) who appl...
Wed, Jan 14 2015, 10:23 AM
After
being in Colorado earlier this week and preparing for a trip to Florida
Friday, I must admit that to save time most of today's commentary ha...
Tue, Jan 13 2015, 12:58 PM
According to a study conducted by the CFPB, nearly half of all consumers do not shop around before purchasing a
mortgage. "This means," Richard Co...
Fri, Jan 9 2015, 10:34 AM
I
guess it is a "new" economy? Coca-Cola has announced plans to lay off
about 1,800 employees globally, in an effort to cut costs by roughly US
...
Wed, Dec 10 2014, 10:32 AM
Winston
Churchill said, "There are a terrible lot of lies going around the
world, and the worst of it is half of them are true." Figures don't lie...
Fri, Nov 21 2014, 1:45 PM
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) has proposed
some new measures affecting the way servicers handle mortgages in various
stages of def...
Mon, Nov 17 2014, 10:32 AM
This week I will spend time in California, Colorado, and Kansas,
and expect to hear from many folks about the state of the industry.
Unlike Japan,...
Fri, Nov 14 2014, 10:34 AM
Regardless of if you're a bank or not a bank, the decision to service loans is not one to be taken lightly. Regulators are drafting rules to
addre...
Fri, Oct 31 2014, 11:07 AM
A recent motion filed by a mortgage
company to dismiss portions of a class action suit against it shows, according
to an attorney familiar with the ...
Fri, Oct 31 2014, 11:03 AM
Gaps of all kinds are widening out, and they are impacting business. In a story about " New Homes' Problem: Price " the
gap between the more exp...
Mon, Oct 27 2014, 10:38 AM
The
Fed reports home ownership among families with a head of household
younger than 40 years old have fallen from about 50% from 2005 to 42%
tod...
Tue, Oct 21 2014, 10:57 AM
I
was dealt a serious setback yesterday here at the MBA conference, being
held in the immense Four Seasons, Mandalay, Delano, conference center
...
Fri, Oct 17 2014, 2:03 PM
Over the last year or so mortgage
servicers have transferred a number of large mortgage portfolios to other
servicers. Beyond the selling of
mor...
Tue, Oct 7 2014, 2:47 PM
A recent audit of the Consumer Financial Protection
Bureau (CFPB) found that it was doing a good job in general in its role of
regulatory rule-mak...
Wed, Oct 1 2014, 10:50 AM
When
I was young, my parents taught me that my income was my own business,
and talking about wages and bonuses with others never did anyone any
...
Tue, Sep 30 2014, 11:00 AM
How did we arrive at the end of the 3 rd
quarter so quickly? It has been filled with legal news about the
financial services sector right up to...
Tue, Sep 30 2014, 4:10 PM
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
(CFPB) filed a Consent Order on Tuesday against Lighthouse Title, a title
insurer based in Holland, Michiga...
Tue, Sep 30 2014, 1:32 PM
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
(CFPB) came down hard on Michigan-based Flagstar Bank both legally and verbally
as it issued the first ...
Fri, Sep 19 2014, 10:41 AM
Arrgghh...
I read in Pirate Quarterly that you could take the entire human
population of the earth, put it inside of Texas, and it would still be ...
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...
Thu, Aug 28 2014, 11:14 AM
What's this? The borrower receives a cat when their mortgage closes?
What would the CFPB say? Will fleas lead to a class action lawsuit a
year d...
Tue, Aug 26 2014, 11:52 AM
The Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau (CFPB) recently revised its policy guidance to residential
mortgage servicers and subservicers regarding t...
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...
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...
Mon, Aug 18 2014, 4:21 PM
The Consumer Financial Protection
Bureau (CFPB) has increased threshold amounts for loans governed by various trigger
limits under Qualified Mortgag...
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...
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
...
