Often I start the commentary off saying something witty, but I couldn’t think of anything clever so I thought I’d suggest you take a look at this video about seat belts (also embedded below). It is making the rounds, and with good reason. Why Rates Won’t Rise On March 31 The Federal Reserve has a
CitiMortgage, who continues to scale back in sellers, and also being welcomed by warehouse lenders, made some changes to their “Best Efforts Pull-Through (BEPT) Reward program”. Basically, they are making the measurements simpler beginning in August – possibly due to their re-engineering efforts a few weeks ago. No More BofA Broker Condo Loans In Florida
The administration unveiled a new set of incentives for second mortgage modifications: the government will pay mortgage servicers (not originators) $500 upfront and $250 a year for three years for successfully modifying a second mortgage, such as a home equity loan. FBI To Hire Hundreds of Mortgage Fraud Agents The news yesterday also included the
Recently seen bumper sticker: “Honk if you are paying my mortgage”. Tax On Small Business Most mortgage companies in the United States would be counted under the “small business” category. (500 employees or less.) Sure, billions of dollars of closings might pass through their doors, but in terms of revenue, expenses, and employees, they would
OK, I am a sucker for the etrade baby ads, along the right side of the site. Tracking TARP Money Where does your favorite bank stand in receiving TARP money? Well, here you go. Chase Exits Warehouse Business Having only 8 clients left, Chase bailed on their warehouse business. “After consideration and review, the Correspondent
PNC Bank is showing other banks the advantages of capital infusion component of the Treasury’s TARP plan. They’re buying National City Bank for $5.2b which, it can be argued is fully-taxpayer funded since PNC received $7.7b in Treasury’s first round of bank re-capitalizations. This is exactly what Treasury wanted to happen: for banks to take
Those clever FDIC/Indymac folks! They are sending out letters to their HELOC borrowers, saying, “IndyMac Federal Bank will be selling your home equity line of credit to a third party within the next 90 days.” (Who? We’d all like to know!) “To help facilitate this transaction, IMFB is willing to pay the greater of $500
What coffee drinker doesn’t want to open up some market commentary and get a coupon for free coffee? (Gosh, I hope that I don’t get sued on this one!). FREDDIE MAC LOSES $821m, CUTS DIVIDEND Freddie Mac lost $821 million in the 2nd quarter after taking $2.5 billion in provisions for credit losses. Revenue fell
Basis Point contributor Julian Hebron was quoted in a MarketWatch story yesterday about how to handle HELOC freezes. All year, banks have been freezing Home Equity Lines of Credit in big waves. It’s a way to protect themselves from dropping home prices and also a way to free up limited capital that would otherwise have
A majority 69% of Countrywide shareholders voted today to approve takeover of the company by Bank of America. Countrywide will drop the name in short order and is likely also to drop many product lines. According to Bloomberg: The combined companies will handle 25 percent of U.S. mortgage originations and a 17 percent share of
Wachovia, the last name-brand player besides Countrywide still active in neg-am Option ARMs, has hired Goldman Sachs to evaluate its loan portfolio. Wachovia’s slogan on their wholesale broker rate sheets is “We Lend Our Own Money, We Make Our Own Rules.” That seems likely to change as outsiders exert more influence over the process. But
There are millions of clever folks out there, and believe it or not some aren’t even in mortgage banking! The website name says it all, but anyone who likes cats, and especially those that don’t, should check out this site. Goldman Sachs came out with a great research piece reminding us how the increases in
Later today, Chase will announce that they will no longer accept home equity applications through their wholesale channel. All new applications are due end of business day tomorrow, and these deals must close by July 14. Wholesale account representatives will only have system access until May 23.
With the Prime Rate down to 5.0% at banks, what does that do for borrowers and their HELOC’s? Well, assuming that a borrower still has a HELOC, some might be searching their database for clients where it makes financial sense to use their 2nd to pay down their 1st. One top loan agent said, “Most
What if a loan agent is trying to help a client decide between renting and buying in this environment? Here’s one tool that might help them organize their thoughts. As one would expect, in high value areas (the coasts) renting is often a favorable option, whereas in depressed areas such as Cleveland or Detroit, buying
If you’re like many loan consultants, you’re entering into the second quarter thinking you’ll still have second mortgages to structure your deals with. You should think again. Loan-to-value requirements will keep dropping, and you may be returning to old school mortgage insurance for financing greater than 80% sooner than you think. There has already been