Loan Think

I'm not one to spout out Pollyanna hope to readers when there is none. Friday's job figures from Uncle Sam was a blow to the gut, the only good news being that it could've been worse. Here's one ray of hope: the mortgage brokerage segment added jobs for the first time since October 2010.

On Friday morning the yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 2.06% compared to a record low set two weeks ago of 1.98%. The reason for Friday's rate tumble: a still ugly labor market.

At the recent SourceMedia Loss Mitigation Conference in Dallas I sat down with industry experts for a chat on the latest in loss mit.

By now you've heard all the talk about the White House plan to hit a button and automatically refinance $2 trillion of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans. The idea is to help both current mortgagors with LTVs north of 100% and late payers who are contemplating a strategic default.

Starting today, your appraisals are going to look a bit different. Basically, the agencies have been warning us for the last year or so that they were creating a uniform set of "codes" that will be used by all appraisers nationwide.

It's now official: Bank of America has told the world that it's throwing its correspondent lending division overboard. Top managers in the group received word this morning. Of course, the news was inevitable.

For those of us who live on the East Coast, we certainly had plenty of reminders about impending disasters this past week.

To sell your servicing ‘released' – or not. That is the question. It's no secret that SRP (servicing released premiums) prices have been weak the past few years, but nonbank lenders take the cash up front because, well, it's cash. Of course, the megabanks (Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and JPMorgan Chase) have been stingy on what they offer, realizing that they have a huge advantage over smaller players.

A victim in a foreclosure scam and sale/leaseback transaction cannot state a TILA claim because the victim is not a “consumer” and the transaction is not a "consumer credit transaction" within the meaning of TILA. See Scott v/ Dearcp REO. Inc.TILA ¶¶ 1.04[16]. 1.04[17],U.S.D.C. NJ.

One of the most maddening subjects to report on in all of mortgage banking is the nonperforming loan sector.