Mon, Aug 6 2012, 9:43 AM
Fortunately, on this 67th anniversary of the world's first atomic bomb
attack on Hiroshima, there is little going on with rates (the 10-yr is
basica...
Wed, Aug 1 2012, 9:30 AM
Ever wonder why it takes the government
so many words to say...maybe not so much?
So did a visitor to the Consumer
Financial Protection Bureau'...
Tue, Jul 31 2012, 10:24 AM
In mortgage banking, just like gymnastics, you have to get up after you
fall down .
Totaling through May, California (133,000), Florida (92,000...
Mon, Jul 30 2012, 10:17 AM
"Rob, with the Wells news earlier this month, and FAMC's comp change
last week, I am hearing rumors of all kinds of price and investor changes .
On...
Wed, Jul 25 2012, 10:09 AM
"Rob, I've read that wholesale lending accounted for only 5% of
Wells Fargo's volumes. Only 5%? What are you hearing about its remaining
business an...
Tue, Jul 24 2012, 9:49 AM
"Rob,
when do you think that the CFPB will go after us Realtors?" I am not
convinced that it will, although there are plenty of arguments why it mi...
Sat, Jul 21 2012, 10:07 AM
Happy 1 st birthday to the CFPB - it opened for business on
July 21, 2011.
Perhaps coincidentally, perhaps not, the CFPB issued the first
enfor...
Tue, Jul 10 2012, 5:49 PM
I received a note yesterday from the CEO of a mid-sized lender.
"Rob, I have begun thinking that the
CFPB is the best thing that ever happened to m...
Mon, Jul 9 2012, 10:50 AM
Welcome back to work! I'll skip the story that the press seems excited
about (a Massachusetts man paying his mortgage off in pennies), and the news
...
Mon, Jul 9 2012, 3:30 PM
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
( CFPB ) is rolling out two new mortgage disclosure forms for review and comment. The forms, one a loan e...
Thu, Jun 28 2012, 9:19 AM
Remember that scene in Apollo 13 when it dawns on the astronauts that
NASA doesn't know how to get them back? Regarding our economy, one can imagine
...
Tue, Jun 19 2012, 10:29 AM
Do we really need Congress writing or approving the industry's disclosure
forms? Can't it pick on the rental car agreement forms that no one reads,...
Tue, Jun 19 2012, 9:18 AM
The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau ( CFPB )
rolled out another new consumer tool this morning, an on-line complaint
database . The database,...
Fri, Jun 15 2012, 10:01 AM
On June 15, 1752, Benjamin Franklin performed his famous kite experiment,
proving that lightning is a form of electricity. Something that seems to be...
Wed, Jun 13 2012, 12:32 PM
Industry experts believe that one of the several reasons Countrywide fell
was because of their quest for market share for its own sake, rather than h...
Wed, May 30 2012, 11:09 AM
Hey, not
every prediction about the future is right, right? In my visits around the
nation to different companies and mortgage banking groups, I con...
Sat, May 19 2012, 12:56 PM
London
plans to use a painfully "High-Pitched Sound Generator" to disperse large
crowds at the Olympics. Observers note that it will be Cindy Lauper...
Thu, May 17 2012, 10:40 AM
Accenture Credit Services announced that, "Low
interest rates, less competition, more regulation and tighter credit standards
have pushed the time ...
Fri, May 11 2012, 1:35 PM
Occasionally
I remind folks that rates are low . They know that, but to remind them even
further, I tell them that if Mr. & Mrs. Smith spend their ...
Thu, May 10 2012, 4:55 PM
You may
not have known that May is Asian/Pacific
American Heritage Month, which started as a Heritage Week in 1978, but got
promoted to a month in ...
Fri, May 4 2012, 10:30 AM
Tomorrow
is Cinco de Mayo, hence the real-life, true, yes, really true, well kind of
true tale at the end of the commentary . Anyway, tomorrow cele...
Thu, May 3 2012, 11:20 AM
What is
33.9%? According to Inside Mortgage Finance it's Wells Fargo's market share
of the mortgage business for the 1st quarter, the most ever fo...
Fri, Apr 20 2012, 10:32 AM
Do you
live in a small town? Many in the real estate and mortgage business do live in
rural communities (FNC, for example, with the slogan "Know You...
Tue, Apr 17 2012, 11:02 AM
Remember
QRM? Not only is it not on the front
burner, but it may have been put back in the Tupperware container. QM , however, is very much alive...
Wed, Apr 11 2012, 10:29 AM
I woke up
yesterday morning wondering how I could convince the government to reduce my
principal. What about all those unfortunate folks who don't h...
Tue, Apr 10 2012, 10:51 AM
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau ( CFPB ) has released an outline of possible rules for servicing companies which are designed to protect mort...
Tue, Apr 10 2012, 10:46 AM
Here is an
interesting question to ask your boss: "If a project is running behind
schedule, should the boss add personnel to it in hopes of speeding...
Mon, Apr 9 2012, 10:15 AM
How much
did your company make on every transaction in the 4th quarter? For lenders, in
basis points, the average production
profit (net productio...
Mon, Apr 9 2012, 1:33 PM
Data is the content that is input into computer software, source code is the instructions that tell the software how to work. Software users usually ...
Tue, Apr 3 2012, 10:00 AM
Things are
decent in the mortgage insurance biz :
MI companies wrote $5.4 billion in new pools of risk in February. Mortgage
Insurance Companies...
Mon, Apr 2 2012, 3:39 PM
Acting in response to questions from mortgage originators and companies, the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) has issued a clarification on i...
Sun, Apr 1 2012, 12:20 PM
The NMLS turned some heads late last week
with its latest press release. "At NMLS, We are doing our part to help the
mortgage industry! We enhance...
Fri, Mar 30 2012, 9:41 AM
What is
more fun to talk about, the latest CFPB power grab, an investor changing its
appraisal review process, or the 42-state Mega Millions lottery...
Mon, Mar 19 2012, 10:27 AM
In this
environment, not only are many mortgage lenders making good returns, but the
Treasury is as well. The Treasury Department may announce today...
Tue, Feb 14 2012, 11:17 AM
This
morning we had the Retail Sales figures. Shopping in Texas can be a different
experience (30 seconds).
Small
lenders can be assured that ...
Tue, Feb 14 2012, 11:15 AM
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
( CFPB ) has rolled out a prototype of a form for mortgage lenders to send to
borrowers during each billi...
Wed, Jan 18 2012, 10:29 AM
The
Federal Reserve does other things besides keep overnight Fed Funds at 0% for
years at a stretch. It releases some interesting stats on mortgages...
Tue, Jan 17 2012, 9:48 AM
The
Federal Budget and National Debt numbers are so large that it's often difficult
to get a grasp of just exactly how much money is being discussed...
Thu, Jan 12 2012, 10:36 AM
Did you
know that dolphins are so smart that within 2 weeks of being in captivity they
can train a human to stand on the edge of a pool and give the...
Fri, Jan 6 2012, 9:48 AM
"I would
be moody too if I was standard and poor." I don't know how old that pun is, but
many in the industry continue to wait for the rating agenci...
Thu, Jan 5 2012, 11:44 AM
There sure
is a lot going on for a holiday-shortened week. First off, the Fed sent Congress a little missive on how to fix the housing and
mortgage...
Wed, Dec 21 2011, 11:17 AM
If you
have a few minutes, and want to learn more about our economy ("One recent
survey found that one out of every three Americans would not be abl...
Fri, Dec 2 2011, 10:26 AM
What is
Barack buying Michelle this year? A little non-owner unit, perhaps, but not
thanks to Freddie Mac's HomeSteps , which is owner-occupied onl...
Wed, Nov 9 2011, 10:04 AM
We have
fifteen days until Thanksgiving, first celebrated in the fall of 1621 when the
Pilgrims held a three-day feast to celebrate a bountiful harv...
Thu, Aug 4 2011, 10:20 AM
RMIC
threw in the proverbial towel Wednesday afternoon. "We wish to inform you that Republic
Mortgage Insurance Company (" RMIC ") will discontinu...
Thu, Jul 28 2011, 11:52 AM
Raj Date will replace Elizabeth Warren in her role as
Special Advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury for the Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau ...
Mon, Jul 18 2011, 9:26 AM
"Texting
is like intellectually roaming free in a cul-de-sac." Feel free to quote
Ralph Nader on that one.
Five-time
Jeopardy winner Rich Cordr...
Wed, May 18 2011, 1:28 PM
One obvious lesson we've all learned from the ongoing mortgage crisis: everyone loses
when consumers are unable to determine if they can afford to
...
Tue, Nov 2 2010, 10:16 AM
Minimal Regional Disparity in Mortgage Rates; Loan Buybacks Roll Downhill; CFPB Watchdog; LP Open Access Not So Open
