Loan Think

Has the market for nonperforming loans peaked? Not really, but the complaints continue to roll in that the big banks are hoarding their NPLs (thanks to accounting changes made last year that make such a move beneficial) and when they do, in fact, offer their crap it's at unrealistic prices.

Former Texas Congressman Dick Armey has come up with a whole list of ways to balance the federal budget, including eliminating a few cabinet agencies, chief among them the Department of Housing and Urban Development. (His suggestions were published this week in an op-ed piece in The Wall Street Journal.)

Here is a script for mortgage brokers to sell against bank loan officers.Now don’t get me wrong; I’m sharing this script (written by a mortgage broker) because brokers need all the help they can get to sell against loan officers who work at traditional banks.

The megabanks have spoken! Both Wells Fargo & Co. and JPMorgan Chase this week declared that big ticket loan repurchase demands from Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and other secondary market investors may soon be a thing of the past. (See our reports on the NMN website.)

Last week we spoke about our No. 1 marketing strategy (go back to see last week’s article if you missed it) and we told you how dangerous it is to only have one way of generating business. In fact, we even proved it to you.

There are two schools of thought on how rising mortgage rates will affect the application market. One camp suggests it will kill all mortgage deals, including both purchase and refinancings, while another maintains a spike in rates is forcing some home buyers to get off the fence and buy a home now before rates rise even more.

Even though Nancy Friedman is known as the Telephone Doctor, she has come out with a list of ground rules for customer service that are to be applied whether or not a client comes in the door or calls in.

HUD has issued its new mortgagee letter ML 11-02. The requirement is all Direct Endorsement lenders must update their respective quality control plans to include review of Sponsored Third Party Originators and the FHA insured loans they generate. The update shall document the methodology used to review the sponsored TPO’s, review all TPO loans that go into default during the first six months (i.e. become 60 days past due within the first six payments.) (ml 2011-2)

THIS JUST IN: First off, what we've been hearing regarding a change to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and GNMA servicing fees is all preliminary. But rest assured, government proposals (if you can call them that) soon will be revealed. And which agency might do the revealing? Well, that's a different matter.

We continue to hear reports from industry officials about how International Business Machines is jockeying for market position as regulators make it less enticing for the nation's megabanks to hold mortgage servicing rights on their balance sheet. But despite several reports in National Mortgage News about all the MSR contracts IBM's Wilshire division is handling for JPMorgan Chase, IBM continues to be totally mum regarding its mortgage plans.