Loan Think

This past weekend we published a blog about how hard it was for customers and members of the media to contact Seterus, the residential servicing division of IBM. Over the weekend, one veteran mortgage banking executive who we've known for years weighed in on the matter.

I often wonder if the Treasury Department—which owns Fannie Mae—has actually tried to call (on the telephone) Seterus, the servicing division of IBM that the GSE is apparently using to handle its lousy loans.

Next week the National Mortgage News website will publish a story about some improving numbers in wholesale production, but in the meanwhile we keep hearing stories about firms growing their presence in table funding.

We keep hearing reports that a former Freddie Mac official (post the federal takeover) is working on creating a 'mega' platform to originate loans. We have a name and presently are trying to confirm details.

There might be some Veterans Affairs loan program funding fee changes on Oct. 1st—or maybe not!

By now, most of know that the second quarter was not pretty when it came to residential origination volumes. On Monday National Mortgage News will publish its final 2Q rankings.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is dominated by mortgage/banking hating socialists hell bent on destroying the U.S. economy. At least that's the perception you get from talking to some rabid industry executives who were hoping to kill the agency before it ever got off the ground.

Social media use remains a polarizing issue among mortgage origination companies—they either embrace it or shun it totally. The latter is in part because of the fear, not entirely unfounded, that their regulators who don't have a policy in this area could come down hard on any missteps.

In general, mortgage booms are born in recessions (though not always.) When the economy struggles (like it has since 2008) the Federal Reserve keeps rates low, and those low rates spark a boom in housing and mortgage lending. Of course, this time around everything is different.

On Aug. 29, two men suspected of scamming homeowners struggling to avoid foreclosure will be arraigned in San Bernardino Superior Court on a 45-count criminal complaint.