Loan Think

Success requires, no demands, a level of intensity that is absent in most environments. That is why most people do not produce consistent power-results.

If you're looking for more evidence that well capitalized nonbanks (and REITs) are plotting to make major inroads into mortgage banking in the next few years, look no further than Kislak Mortgage of Florida. The privately held nonbank has just hired former Chase and Aurora Loan Services CEO Tom Wind to manage their growing company.

Mortgage servicers may want to send a bouquet of flowers to Wells Fargo CFO Howard Atkins who — based on his conference call comments this morning — appears to be standing up to the media pack of wolves that has been portraying most mortgage firms as Bozo the Clown when it comes to foreclosures. Atkins told analysts and reporters that the nation's foreclosure mess is "overstated" and "misrepresented."

As I noted over the weekend, there is a group of five Fannie Mae subservicers called the 'Fannie Fabulous Five' who serve as the GSE's 'go-to-guy' when Fannie doesn't like the way one of its customers is handling certain (shall we say) 'high touch product.'

Many small business owners use a credit card opened in the name of their firm to buy things for their company. But a new federal law that regulates rates and fees on consumer credit cards does not cover these cards.

Investors in bank stocks are not happy campers these days. On Monday morning Citigroup reported earnings of $2.2 billion in 3Q. But its stock is up all of 17 cents to $4.12, a not-so-whopping gain of 4%. Of course, Uncle Sam owns Citigroup and seeing that its stock was at just over $3 in the spring, perhaps taxpayers should be rejoicing.

The California 4th District Court of Appeal held that brokers for home sellers have a legal duty to tell buyers about mortgage problems such as a short sale where existing lender may not accept less than what is owed and that might prevent sales from closing. Brokers are "obligated to disclose to the buyers" when there is "a substantial risk that the seller [can] not transfer title free and clear of monetary liens and encumbrances."

ANGELO'S ASHES: On Friday, Bank of America's stock slid by 7%. It was also the very same day that former Countrywide Financial Corp. chief Angelo Mozilo inked a deal with the Securities and Exchange Commission, settling the massive insider trading case against him and his lieutenants, David Sambol and Eric Sieracki. B of A, of course, bailed Countrywide out more than two years ago, just as the firm bordered on near collapse.

It often seems as though men and women are from different planets, but every day millions of couples navigate through day-to-day and even life-altering decisions. Because a home is the biggest purchase most people will make in their lifetime, we surveyed 1,000 individuals to discover how much men and women differ in the home-buying process.

The Foreclosure-gate scandal appears to be having a real effect on loan closings — at least for some mortgage bankers. John Walsh, CEO of Total Mortgage Services in Milford, Conn., told us the other day that Connecticut's 60-day moratorium on foreclosure sales has caused his firm to scuttle closings scheduled for last week and this week.