Archive for July, 2009
Appraisers Seek Sensible Reform
There’s been considerable debate regarding the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC), the agreement to curb appraisal abuses worked out between New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and their then regulator, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight (OFHEO). A number of leading real estate and lending trade associations are seeking [...]
14Jul2009 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
New Pro-Borrower Mortgage Rules Set For July 30th
It will be a new deal for real estate borrowers as of July 30th. That’s the day when new standards developed under the Housing and Economic Recovery ACT (HERA) go into effect. Okay, so what’s the big deal? In basic terms, the rule says that if you apply for a loan on July 30th or [...]
13Jul2009 | Peter G. Miller | 2 comments | Continued
Is A Commercial Foreclosure Crisis Next?
Go to any major metro area and you can always find a slew of downtown high-rise apartment buildings, office parks, shopping malls, and warehouses. Just like single-family homes and condos, these commercial properties are “real estate” too — and often real estate with a mortgage. Writing in the Dallas Morning News, Steve Brown notes that [...]
10Jul2009 | Peter G. Miller | 1 comment | Continued
Bankers In A Tizzy Over Proposed Toxic Loan Restrictions
The banking industry is having collective heart failure over the Obama Administration’s proposed Consumer Financial Protection Act. It would do such terrible things as ban unfair, deceptive or abusive acts or practices. The banking industry contends that the proposed legislation will stymie the development of alternative lending products and, of course, raise consumer costs — [...]
9Jul2009 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
No Predatory Lending In 2008?
The FBI is out with its latest annual mortgage fraud tally and the news is fairly grim: Despite a reduction in loan originations, fraud filings from financial institutions increased 36 percent to 63,713 in fiscal 2008 compared to 46,717 filings a year earlier. This is an unhappy statistic, but it does not tell the whole [...]
8Jul2009 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
California Seeks $2 Million From Mortgage Modification Providers
Foreclosure is a terrible thing, the cancer of financial events. Little wonder that many people desperate to hold onto their homes seek whatever help might be available. We know that loan workouts — whether modifications or payment plans — can mean months of delay and hopefully time to get homeowner finances straight. Unfortunately, we also [...]
7Jul2009 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
Why Not More Mortgage Modifications?
Writing in the New York Times, Gretchen Morgenson notes that “Alan M. White, an assistant professor at the Valparaiso University law school in Indiana, analyzed data on 3.5 million subprime and alt-A mortgages in securitization pools overseen by Wells Fargo. The loans were written in 2005 through 2007; data on their performance is provided to [...]
6Jul2009 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
Chase OKs 138,000 Trial Mortgage Modifications
In what may be the largest foreclosure relief effort reported to date, Chase says it has approved 138,000 trial mortgage modifications through the Making Home Affordable program. Chase absorbed Washington Mutual last year, a major source of option ARMs. In total, Chase services about 10.3 million loans. “We have made terrific progress since April 6 [...]
3Jul2009 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
Administration Increases Help For Distressed Borrowers
Some 200,000 people have applied for help under the Obama Administration’s Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP), but to date the program has been extremely restricted. The problem? HARP has both a refinancing plan for those facing foreclosure and a separate modification plan for those who want to refinance but lack equity. Under HARP, you can [...]
2Jul2009 | Peter G. Miller | 2 comments | Continued
Should We Cheer An 18-Percent Drop in Home Prices?
According to Business Week there’s good news on the home front. “Case-Shiller Home Prices Decline Only 18%” reads the headline. And then we discover that “the latest Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller housing index numbers out today show the market falling less dramatically than it had been earlier in the year. The 10 and 20 city indices [...]
1Jul2009 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
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