Loan Think

We continue to hear talk that Michael Strauss, the former CEO of the now defunct American Home Mortgage of Melville, N.Y., is looking at starting a new mortgage company. A publicly traded REIT, American Home, at one point, was the subject of an FBI investigation. (The FBI are the foot soldiers for the U.S. Attorneys office in Brooklyn.) What became of the investigation? Probably nothing. And if that's the case why hasn't there been a statement out of the agency or the USA's office? AHM filed for bankruptcy protection in the summer of 2007 when its warehouse lines were pulled. The company was a top ranked alt-A and conventional lender…

With all the trillions in bailout money being thrown around these days, it's tempting to think about how a relatively small amount of money by those standards, say $25 or $30 billion, could solve one of the nation's most troubling housing needs. Still, it remains smarter to work by taking small steps first.Having scored a coup by getting the only major American Indian legislation through Congress last year, Indian housing officials are pressing full speed ahead for more money and the elimination of a major roadblock to Native homeownership.The National American Indian Housing Council will ask Congress for $854 million in fiscal 2010 to fund Indian housing block grants through the Native American Housing Assistance and Self Determination Act. Indian housing activists last year got a bill re-authorizing NAHASDA through Congress last year.That amount would be a substantial boost from the $630 million appropriated in the last fiscal year. Fiscal 2009 money, still pending in Congress, has been proposed at $650 million in the Senate and $645 million in the House of Representatives. Tribal housing has also been boosted by a one-time $510 million provision in the president's stimulus plan.NAIHC revealed at its annual legislative conference in Washington, DC that it will also ask for $50 million to fund the Bureau of Indian Affairs' Housing Improvement Program. This program had been zeroed out in President Bush's fiscal 2009 budget. However, $40 million to help fund HIP has been included in the President's stimulus package.The group also plans to lobby to reform BIA's Title Status Report program "to encourage homeownership and business development." Difficulty in obtaining TSRs in a timely fashion has hurt the effort to extend mortgage lending to tribal homelands.NAIHC, which recently expanded into advocacy for Native Hawaiians, wants Congress "to swiftly enact the Hawaiian Homeownership and Opportunity Act of 2009 to reauthorize and amend Title VIII of NAHASDA (Housing Assistance for Native Hawaiians)."The group also seeks federal catastrophic protection for AMERIND Risk Management Corp. in the event of claims exceeding $35 million from fire, wind or flooding. And it would like to see AMERIND's scope expanded beyond the Department of Housing and Urban Development to other federal agencies.NAIHC is also seeking an appropriation of $4.8 million to fund its training and technical assistance effort. This program was zeroed out in President Bush's budget for fiscal 2009. It was funded at $2 million in fiscal 2008. The groups also wants to "maximize federal resources for the elimination of drugs and drug-related activities in Native communities."

A new bill that will be marked up in the House next week places severe restrictions on yield spread premium payments but also might require mortgage banking firms (banks, thrifts, non-banks) to disclose their "servicing released premiums" to consumers. For the complete story see National Mortgage News Online later today…

You are losing thousands of dollars every day because of the credit scores of your clients.

Who in their right mind would start a new mortgage insurance company in today's financial atmosphere? Mark Casale, that's who. Mark is the former head of Radian's MI business. Word is that he has capital commitments of $500 million for his new venture. Former MI executive Trez Moore is an advisor and former FHLB regulator Bruce Morrison has done some lobbying work on Mr. Casale's behalf. Some MI executives tell me now is actually a great time to start an MI. For the full story, which you can't get anywhere else, read the Monday edition of National Mortgage News. Don't subscribe? Call 800-221-1809...

Industry veteran Tom Donatacci has left Residential Capital Corp. At press time, a spokeswoman confirmed his departure, noting that it "was absolutely voluntary." For a complete update see National Mortgage News Online at 1:30 east coast time…

Lenders are looking for efficiency, transparency, etc. How are they getting there? By at least taking steps toward adopting e-mortgages. And vendors realize this need. So, they’re stepping up as well. And in stepping up, they’re starting to step on each other.

Talk about conflicting economic signals! A new report from Deutsche Bank notes that, "household buying power has collapsed." DB calculates purchasing power by looking at a household's income and factoring in such things as mortgage payments. What DB sees isn't pretty. But over the past few days we've had such 'positive' news as the Mortgage Bankers Association predicting a 75% gain in residential originations this year (to $2.8 trillion) and an unexpected rise in new home sales. One big caveat on the new sales figure: it's in comparison to January, not a year ago. Compared to the year ago number, new home sales are still a disaster and will be for several quarters. But it would appear that the Obama and Arnold (Schwarzenegger) combined 'tax credit' totaling $18,000 for certain homebuyers may be having a positive impact. Be fore-warned: both tax credits are conditional and eventually expire…

How many times have you heard someone say, "that's so simple, why didn't I think of it?" Too often we want to look for complicated procedures and plans that go on forever when adding new products to our menu. To be truly successful in the reverse mortgage business, sometimes all you need to do is look around at what's right in front of you.

MORTGAGE REFINANCING UP IF YOU KNOW WHERE TO LOOK FOR LOANS ELIGIBLE FOR REFINANCING