Loan Think

Election time is like the Wild West: anything can, and will, happen. Yesterday our page views went through the roof when we blogged about GOP hopeful Mitt Romney floating the idea of getting rid of HUD. So far, Romney hasn't backed down from the idea (that we know of), but professionals who are serious about this industry know full well that killing HUD at this point in the recovery would cause housing to crater yet again.

A recent survey from staffing firm Robert Half International finds many chief financial officers believe their office environment has been successful in their Candace role of stifling worker creativity.

If GOP hopeful Mitt Romney has his way HUD will be killed and presumably so will the FHA program. It's election season and the candidate - hoping to appeal to conservatives - wants to stick a knife in HUD/FHA because, well, it's a cabinet level agency and cutting big government is a red meat move.

The great Charlie "Tremendous" Jones is very well known for this quote: "You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read." Because I am a voracious reader, I have always focused more on the "reading" portion of this quote.

Most financial institutions would probably say that the National Labor Relations Board is the least of their worries. That may be changing.

For Residential Capital Corp. the shinola hit the fan on Tuesday. Early this morning ResCap filed a notice with the SEC saying it missed a scheduled payment on its debt Tuesday, laying the ground work for an eventual default - that is, if the payment is not made up within 30 days.

Fact: Our industry can be a bit stressful. Which is why I love these two ideas.

Loan originator compensation rules were originally adopted by the Federal Reserve Board in September 2010 and covered institutions were required to comply with the provisions on April 6, 2011.

Rumors are starting to surface that if and when a 'HARP 3.0' program is unveiled it will include non-GSE loans. As one commenter told us, "There are a lot of Alt-A loans that look just like GSE loans, but went to private investors. Why should they be punished because their loan was sold to the wrong investor?"

It seems strange how fast things have changed for businesses in the online era. In 1998, a romantic comedy featuring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan called "You've Got Mail" had the message that big businesses like chain bookstores are putting their independently-owned competition out of business (a message that could have been about dozens of other industries as well).