Loan Think

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.

Let's put Bank of America on the couch. If anyone can figure out its absolutely schizophrenic approach to mortgages over the past two decades drop me a line. Remember when it owned a subprime lender back in the 1990s and actually liquidated the thing even though it was making money?

The White House has been talking up a plan to help underwater borrowers who actually want to stay in their homes refinance, but from what we're hearing from lobbyists and at least one former administration official, it may be too little, too late.

If you had the steel nerves to buy thousands of shares in Bank of America stock a few days ago at $6.01 each then you woke up this morning to the happy news that Warren Buffett will invest $5 billion in the struggling megabank. If you bought the stock at just over $6, your two-day return would be 29%. Not bad.

So, were you one of the people who thought scrapbooking was just a fad and that it would go away after a short period of time? I did! But surprise, it’s more popular than ever!

As we all know, residential application volumes have been climbing now that 30-year FRMs can be had for 4% or less, but as everyone mortgage lender knows this is a cyclical business. Will full-time processors hired today be needed three months from now?

In the early spring Wells Fargo & Co., and Bank of America – which rank first and second, respectively, in terms of residential lending -- shed thousands of back office loan processors and support staff. Wells alone cut its mortgage retail fulfillment staff by 4,500 full-time equivalents or FTEs.

The No. 1 tool in the marketing bag of tricks is the use of incentives. Discounts, teaser rates and the like have been used very effectively in the cable television vs. telephone company wars. Now, one of the nation's largest mortgage lenders, Navy Federal Credit Union, Vienna, Va., said its application volume is up over 50% since the start of August because of its incentives.

I just returned from a week long vacation in the South New Jersey shore area with good news: the rental market is fairly strong with prices holding steady.