Loan Think

For some strange reason American International Group has stopped reporting the mortgage insurance activity of its MI subsidiary, United Guaranty Inc. of Greensboro, N.C. to National Mortgage News.

The rumor mill has been active lately with reports that a large correspondent buyer of home mortgages may be heading for the exits. Again, we can only stress that it’s all talk at this point. We won’t name the firm and chances are it’s what we in the news/rumor business call a “false positive.”

Not everyone is cut out to be either a sales person or an entrepreneur. I speak from personal experience. I have worked in a number of positions in my life where I was involved with sales functions (but not a salesman myself) or had the opportunity to acquire a business. But I was not ready or willing to take the risk.

The Federal Reserve published for public comment a proposed rule amending Regulation Z (Truth in Lending) to implement amendments made by the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.

If uber investor George Soros is selling gold these days that tells us something. Or does it? The recent not-so-great reports on housing and employment are hardly encouraging.

THIS JUST IN: Back in the day Angelo Mozilo once dreamed of Countrywide Home Loans having a 25% origination market share. We all know what happened to that dream (and Countrywide). As I recall, Mozilo once thought that such a goal might be achievable, but it would probably require Countrywide combining forces with a megabank such as Wells Fargo.

At the annual SourceMedia Mortgage Servicing Conference in Dallas, attendees concerned about the future of their industry discussed at length the pros and cons of recent regulatory changes and still pending rules and requirements they may have to abide with in the near future.

If you, for a minute, believe that Goldman Sachs isn’t dumping Litton Loan Servicing overboard because of the taint of subprime, then I have some Enron bonds I’d like to sell you. As reported by National Mortgage News 10 days ago Ocwen is eyeing Litton, as are two other investors.

Let me see if I can state this plainly: if housing does not recover in any meaningful way the U.S. economy is sunk. This is a platitude that every mortgage banker worth his/her salt knows. But there is one huge stumbling block to a housing recovery: loan standards and the qualified residential mortgage test, which – as presently written – demands a 20% downpayment from a consumer.

Are you getting frustrated that no one is commenting on your Facebook posts? I recommend that about one-third of your posts be about business, while another one-third should be personal, with a short post (and pictures) about what you have been up to lately. And finally, one-third should be fun—such as asking personal questions that you’d like your friends, real estate agents, family and fans to answer.