Loan Think

Over the past year or so we've been reporting on the increasing likelihood that some factions of the mortgage business might shift over from being controlled by banks to nondepositories. Case in point, is the recent National Mortgage News story on the rise of IBM in the servicing space.

Allied Home Mortgage Capital Corp has agreed to pay $38,000 fine for violations of branch office rules that require the corporation to pay all expenses of all branch offices. (See Mortgagee Approval Handbook 4050.1 Rev-2 ¶¶ 2-8, 2-14.B.). AHMCC also agreed to refund “improper fees” to two borrowers and “buy down the principal of one loan that was over-insured,” HUD said.

THIS JUST IN: Bank of America has taken it on the chin the past two years (along with its stock price). Its "legacy" problems can be directly traced to its August 2008 purchase of Countrywide Financial Corp., which had $80 billion in problematic loans (home equity, nonprime, alt-A) on its books.

Jumbo mortgage lenders take note: The (Don) Corleone estate is for sale in Staten Island. The asking price for the 8-bedroom, 4.5-bath house in NYC's most suburban borough is $2.9 million. Staten Island is just a ferry ride away from lower Manhattan where a different type of mob makes its living: the stock market gang.

Are you out of time? Out of energy? Have you said lately, "I’m just not going to respond to that e-mail or phone call. Don’t they know how busy I am?" Yet, the time you are spending on your business is not exactly yielding the results that you really desire, need and/or want?

It's another wild and wacky day in the markets. The yield on the 10-year briefly rose above 3% which could affect mortgage rates, but then again mortgage rates are shaped by what Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are doing in the secondary market. Wait a second, mortgage rates are rising too. Is the world coming to an end?

So you want to remember your favorite real estate agent over the holidays, right? (Okay, maybe you don’t—so don’t read this!) You’ll get lost in the “crowd” by giving a gift during Thanksgiving, Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza, etc.

Plenty of executives in the industry are still trying to figure out what IBM is up to in the servicing space, a situation complicated by the fact that 'Big Blue' continues to keep the "cone of silence" (rent the old 'Get Smart' TV shows to understand that cultural reference) on whatever it's up to. The big unanswered question is this: is IBM buying MSRs or just subservicing?

Now before your BS antennae go up let me tell you that we really will share a little known yet highly effective technique with you that will get you free advertising.

U.S. consumers are feeling more confident about the economy, and it appears the unemployment rate is on the way down, but will it be enough to kick start the moribund home buying market? Mortgage bankers – thanks to refis – are staffing up and anticipate at least two more strong quarters on the production front.