Loan Think

Now that America is somewhat aware that the White House wants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to refinance as many underwater loans as possible it needs something else: details.

Social media survival skills—if you want to become famous in your little corner of the mortgage world, there are some things you simply must do!

The word is out: Uncle Sam is refinancing mortgages, allowing underwater Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac borrowers to take advantage of ultra low rates. I interviewed one West Coast CEO who said his shop is getting phone calls from borrowers shouting "Give me one of them Obama refis."

On the National Mortgage News website this morning we broke another story about Bank of America losing yet another top LO. In a recent interview with bank officials we were assured that (a)it hates to lose these top producers and (b)it is trying to keep as many as possible.

A complaint that consumers have regarding today's mortgage loan origination process is all the hoops they have to jump through in order to get a loan.

Next week Ally Financial reports third quarter earnings, and chances are its mortgage division could report stellar results. How do I know? Actually, I don't, but keep in mind these thoughts:

On Oct. 13, a federal grand jury returned a two-count indictment charging Hubert Rotteveel with mail fraud for a mortgage fraud scheme.

When the White House first entertained the thought of a massive GSE refi plan it had high hopes that eventually $1 trillion of Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac underwater loans might be restructured, resulting in annual savings north of $20 billion a year for consumers - money that could immediately be injected into the U.S. economy.

Not too long ago a top residential producer at Bank of America named Kevin Budde left the lender because he got a better offer from Plains Capital. Budde left not just because of financial reasons, but he was getting frustrated by how long it takes to close a loan at B of A. He had kind words for the people he worked with, but it was time to move on.

Not only are lenders 'dinging' consumers with all sorts of 'loan level price adjustments' but it appears a somewhat quiet problem is affecting the nation's megabanks: their inability to close loans quickly. A retail loan officer for a top five lender told me this week that he has one refinancing deal that has been in the works since May.