Loan Think

If anyone thought the GSE 'Buyback Wars' would subside in 2012 all they have to do is read a recent SEC filing from Bank of America, the poster child of repurchase claims. The bank notes that the "criteria by which the GSEs are ultimately willing to resolve claims have changed in ways that are unfavorable to us."

Flippers doing it illegally defraud banks by buying at short sales for prices below the true value and what legitimate buyers will pay. In these schemes, realty agents obtain FRAUDULENT APPRAISALS to persuade banks to sell houses at below-market prices.

Happy holidays to everybody. In looking for some words of wisdom I could pass along to everyone about how to make their 2012 a success, I came across an article written by Canadian business consultant Andrew Miller.

It's time for eggnog and yearend lists—top news stories, newsmakers, stuff like that. But what about the great mortgage rumors that got away? Here lay five stories/rumors that went nowhere:

Only a couple of comments in this holiday week, but they are good ones. The first corrects some loose language in a Chicago ordinance, while the second identifies with the prevailing mood in the industry.

What would Congress do if it didn't have housing (and mortgage banking) to kick around? Who knows, really. Passing the payroll tax break extension was a good idea. It puts extra money in the pockets of potential mortgage customers who might use the cash to finance a home.

Another press release has arrived in my inbox, declaring a new low for mortgage rates. My initial response is: who cares! I don't mean to sound like a jaded mortgage columnist, but the untold story on rates boils down to this: how come continued low rates have not caused home purchases to really boom?

After reading bits and pieces of the Securities and Exchange Commission's complaint against the former heads of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac one thought comes to mind: what exactly is a subprime loan again?

It's that time of the year again: one in which financial services columnists wax poetic and ponder the Bailey Building and Loan and how if it existed today (it doesn't really) regulators would sue George Bailey (and Uncle Billy and 'Old Man' Potter since he sat on the board) for fraud to go after the D&O insurance.

We've all heard the cliché quote about death and taxes. But for the small business owner (which defines many mortgage company owners), getting ready to do their taxes (and we can skip the cliché about render unto Caesar as well) is something that falls to the bottom of the list as the year ends.