Loan Think

We were talking to MBS inventor Lew Ranieri this morning and he had some interesting things to say about rates. He noted that if Spain cannot solve its debt woes (I assume you saw the protests in Madrid last week) that bond holders worldwide may flock into Treasuries, which means rates would fall even further in the U.S.

Homeowners can use a little known but increasingly popular provision of the bankruptcy code to eliminate second mortgages and avoid foreclosure. Statistics are hard to come by, but the provision has been used effectively on hundreds, if not thousands, of cases during the past two years.

Is the subprime industry poised for a rebound? Now, I know what some of you are thinking: “Paul, the Rapture is coming and it’s finally damaged your brain.” Maybe, maybe not. From all those CCD classes I attended as a kid, I know that when the Big Man comes it will be like a “thief in the night.”

As most readers of National Mortgage News know, Freddie Mac appears to have returned to profitability, while Fannie Mae still struggles with the red ink. It’s unclear when Fannie will finally turn the corner, but with all the great quality loans it’s been buying the past two years, certainly that day will come. It’s just a matter of when.

The new MBA delinquency numbers are out and the news is both good and bad. Late payments rose slightly but foreclosures fell. But why are foreclosures falling, really? Therein lies a story, perhaps.

Perhaps, hard money (read: subprime) has a bright future after all. Consider this: if the White House and Congress cannot strike a deal on raising the U.S. debt ceiling interest rates will spike.

Marketing your mortgage origination business should be a year-round event. But, according to Chase's Annual List of Events, it takes on an even bigger prominence in June.

As we all know, the mortgage application market has picked up some steam the past few weeks thanks to lower interest rates. And as we also know, loan brokers are suffering because of the new compensation rules.

Federal agents are investigating homebuyers in Arizona who are illegally taking advantage of the dip in home prices. Bob Bemiss leads the Arizona MLS, utilized by 30,000 Realtors in the state. He's been juggling stacks of subpoenas from FBI agents. Bemiss said recently they have been coming to town in waves, asking for piles of documents from real estate transactions.

THIS JUST IN: Are Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac finally contemplating unloading some of their nonperforming loans onto the secondary market? One player in the NPL space said the two GSEs—which have toyed with the idea for the better part of a year—are once again considering doing something.