Loan Think

By now you've read the exclusive on the National Mortgage News website - that Bank of America is halting (for now) cash-out refinancings. Maybe cash-out refis don't account for much of the bank's production. Then again, relatively speaking, there isn't much production left at B of A. In 4Q the bank funded $20 billion in home loans compared to $120 billion at the number one ranked Wells Fargo.

In today's challenged housing market, creating and preserving value in REO portfolios is critical. There are three ways servicers can protect their bottom lines.

Sorry, it doesn't exist. How arrogant of me, or anyone else, to make a definitive statement that something is the "best." Simply put, it would mean that I know every program that's available, have tried and tested them using a large sampling of attendees and then analyzed years of data and statistics.

The mortgage industry has taken one for the team in the way the payroll tax reduction extension has been funded, at least partially, by an increase in government housing agency guarantee fees. But in my view, once is more than enough.

Some AMCs are looking at the UAD as an opportunity to revisit quality control processes, updating them and streamlining them where possible. Those AMCs that are not taking advantage of this opportunity should be.

Yesterday news broke from HUD secretary Shaun Donovan that a robosigning deal was imminent. Today, we learn that maybe a deal isn't as close as Donovan portrayed. Then again, the 'State of the Union' address is next week and there is some talk that President Obama wants to mention the robo settlement using the speech as yet another opportunity to bash the mortgage banking industry.

"Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can't ride you unless your back is bent." - Martin Luther King, Jr.

Insurance companies have become more sophisticated in the face of the housing crisis, hiring teams specifically to investigate and adjust hazard claims filed by the mortgage servicers. This has resulted in an increase in hazard denials.

Home prices fell 3.5% in the past year and mortgage rates are at record lows. One would think that borrowers would be flocking to their nearest real estate agent to buy the next home they can find. However, homebuyers are not coming out of the woodwork - yet.

Remember that 10 basis point increase in g-fees that will pay for the payroll tax break (at least until February 28)? Well, guess what? It appears that some lenders and secondary market investors are hiking their rates a lot more than 10 bps, or so we're told.