Loan Think

The level of success we achieve in life has much more to do with our tenacity than our talent.

Intense scrutiny is rarely focused on condemnation clauses in security instruments, but they will set the tone for potentially drawn out litigation as the parties work through the complexities specific to condemnation.

The widespread return of the subprime mortgage business will be the big event for the mortgage industry in 2015.

Many ask whether there is any such thing as a “safe” marketing services agreement for mortgages. The answer, unequivocally, is yes.

The pain and necessary changes in the mortgage industry that stemmed from the housing crisis have forced many lenders and servicers to utilize operating strategies that are reactive in nature and fail to capture the longer-term intrinsic value of today's troubled borrowers.

Two Republican legislators have suggested that affordable housing funding should be put on hold until Congress finally decides what to do about Fannie and Freddie. But why give Congress another six years to fiddle around with housing finance while the poor and homeless face a declining level of government housing assistance?

By selecting a niche, originators do not need to have the best rates to attract new business.

Regulatory attention is supposed to be laser-focused on servicers right now, especially when it comes to how consistent they are in applying workouts. So regulators should be looking closely at whether loans have forbearance.

Fannie Mae recently released its Collateral Underwriter automated risk assessment tool, which evaluates the risk associated with appraisals. It does not accept or reject appraisals, nor does it provide lenders with an estimate of a property's value.

Before the Dodd Frank Act went into effect in 2010, the residential mortgage market was in an entirely different state — particularly in regards to servicing. Several large servicers dominated the market, but ultimately shed most of their servicing assets, creating a substantially large segment of midsize servicers.