All Posts Tagged With: "option"
Can “Equity Sharing” Prevent Foreclosures?
In the coming two years option ARMs worth $134 billion will be re-cast according to Fitch Ratings. This means more than 500,000 borrowers are likely to face steeply higher monthly costs, costs which in many cases will lead to foreclosure.
It doesn’t have to be this way. Stop foreclosures and you can stop the widespread erosion [...]
11Jan2010 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
Mortgage Surprise? What Mortgage Surprise?
The most used word in the world of mortgage financing during the past few weeks has been “surprise,” as in, “oh my, cover your eyes and turn away from those poor wretched loans.”
“The U.S. mortgage giant Freddie Mac said it would no longer buy those high-risk home mortgages that it deems to be [...]
9Nov2009 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
Can 11,000 Appraisers Be Wrong?
Gee, golly, mention the idea of pressuring appraisers to come up with the “right” valuation numbers and you’re hardly alone. There seem to be a large number of appraisers who have encountered efforts to distort their valuations. Say 11,000 of them.
That’s how many signed on at AppraisersPetition.com. And what, exactly, is their beef? As the [...]
Mortgages, Foreclosures & The Disgrace of Journalism
It was long ago when I received a degree in journalism.
I wanted to study journalism because it gave me an opportunity to travel and to meet interesting people. I have been a correspondent on Capitol Hill and at the White House, I have lived on an offshore drilling rig in pursuit of a story, I [...]
Mortgages & The Unnecessary Crisis
July 14, 2008 should be remembered as a notable date in the long history of mortgage lending. The federal government gingerly stuck its regulatory foot into the warm waters of consumer advocacy and for the first time enacted rules which would protect borrowers. Not all borrowers, of course, and nothing that would materially disturb the [...]
31Dec2008 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
How Paper Mortgage Losses Turned Real
The question that keeps coming up is this: If only a small portion of all mortgages are failing how come the general financial impact has been so enormous?
To resolve this mystery, let’s go back to the 1970s when the mortgage-backed security — the MBS — was developed. The MBS was a financial device designed to [...]
15Dec2008 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
Foreclosure Numbers at New Highs: Are Toxic Loans To Blame?
Foreclosures used to be a rarity and for the most part that’s still the case. As of the second quarter of 2008 only about 2.75 percent of all loans were in the process of being foreclosed, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.
That term “in the process of being foreclosed” is important. Neither borrowers nor [...]
The Case Against Too Many Options
The latest mortgages to catch the attention of both the media and federal regulators are “option” loans, a form of financing which is likely to end badly for lots of borrowers.
More than a decade ago a few California lenders came up with a clever idea for borrowers with good credit and a solid payment [...]
Toxic Loans Threaten Home Values
Stashed away amid the tons of paperwork generated each day in Washington — reading which no one argues is a threat to Shakespeare — is HUD’s 2007 Budget Summary, a document which ought to make a lot of people take notice.
“Congress recognizes that today’s high cost loans negatively impact consumers, communities, and the economy. [...]
Option Versus First Refusal: What’s The Difference?
It’s been a good time to be a real estate owner in my community. During the past few months several would-be purchasers have approached with offers to buy property we own, even though the properties in question were not listed for sale.
It’s flattering to have someone court you, check in hand, seeking your interest [...]
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