All Posts Tagged With: "risk"
FHA Reverse Mortgage Restrictions Lie Ahead
For a number of years the reverse mortgages insured by the FHA were a successful product in the sense that borrowers got their cash and the FHA had few claims. However, the FHA reverse mortgage program does not work in isolation — it actually requires rising home values. The typical reverse mortgage is outstanding for [...]
8Feb2013 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
Big Bank Derivative Bets Nearly Double In Six Years
America’s major banks now hold derivatives with a notational worth of $225 trillion – about a third of the world total. No kidding. Trillion. And that’s up from a mere $120 trillion six years ago. Rather than being weened off derivatives, America’s big banks are more deeply entrenched then ever. Hopefully Wall Street has it figured [...]
4Oct2012 | Peter G. Miller | 1 comment | Continued
Why Obama Should Favor Mortgage Appraisals
President Obama inherited the worst financial crisis since Hoover and the Great Depression. It follows that getting the country back on track is no easy task and while his new housing plan includes much to support it also includes a provision to dump appraisals when they are most needed. Dump is really the right word. Fannie [...]
6Feb2012 | Peter G. Miller | 2 comments | Continued
Why Bernanke Is Wrong On Mortgage-Backed Securities
Oh no, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke wants more taxpayer dollars to bailout the upper-class. He doesn’t actually say that, of course, but what else would be the result if the government — us — starts to buy mortgage-backed securities from poor, down-trodden investors who hold billions of dollars in mortgage-backed securities? In basic terms [...]
3Nov2011 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
Washington Special Interests and Mortgage Loans
“Pro-Housing Policies will Stimulate Job Growth” says the National Association of Home Builders. Well, good, where do we start? What exactly are those “pro-housing” policies? “The inventory of new homes for sale is at a record low and there are many areas of the country that are approaching a housing shortage. Tight credit conditions are [...]
11Oct2011 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
Stock Prices At Heart Of Mortgage Crash
A new and revealing study by the Mortgage Bankers Association argues that the introduction of risky loan products during the past few years was caused in large measure by efforts to pump up lender stock prices. Written by Clifford V. Rossi, a business professor at the University of Maryland, Anatomy of Risk Management Practices in [...]
27May2010 | 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 [...]
15Dec2008 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
Wrong-Way Borrowing Threatens Borrowers, Lenders
Freddie mac figures show that as of September 18, 2008 you could get a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage for 5.78 percent plus .6 points. How low is 5.78 percent? In June, 2003 we saw 5.21 percent plus .5 points — the lowest mortgage rate in 45 years. This would all be encouraging except that it’s difficult [...]
19Sep2008 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
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 [...]
19Sep2008 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
Should We Return To Straight Mortgages?
My grandfather was always proud of the way he financed his home. Family lore says he bought a row house on a dirt road — in Brooklyn! It was an immigrant’s dream, financed with an interest-only “term” mortgage that lasted three to five years. At the end of the term you either paid off the [...]
17Sep2008 | Peter G. Miller | 0 comments | Continued
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