I caught the last two hours of HUD's "public" RESPA forum on Thursday. Here's a few takeaways thatdidn't quite fit in the stories published on MortgageWire and National Mortgage News:lenders cannot guarantee escrow amounts and partial interest payments prior to closing because most of them don'tknow what this cost will be -- especially if the closing date keeps moving; public interest lawyers want the consumerto have the option of comparison shopping but no one is in agreement on how to do it; Section 8, the anti-kickbackprovision, is needed to help consumers but also is a deterrent to developing a one-price settlement package; theNational Association of Mortgage Brokers does not support packaging and believes fraud occurs most oftenwhen there is a one-price package offered; few in the industry support a "black box" concept of a one-pricepackage. And that's not all. One lender told me that he is hardly a fan of consumer interest attorneys and believesthey have no clue about what they're talking about because they've never closed a loan in their lives. During theforum reporters were put in a separate room to watch the meeting via closed-circuit TV, but the agency did nothave a master list of participants so it was hard to identify all the speakers. In one audience shot, I thoughtI saw GSE critic Bert Ely, but I'm pretty sure it wasn't him. For the full story, read NMN. Don'tsubscribe? Call: 800 221-1809
The brand-new Mortgage Industry Directory is about to hit the shelves, as is the electronic version,the eMID. Among its 1,000 pages are detailed rankings and profiles on the nation's top 400 lendersand servicers -- plus a brand-new ranking on the top 400 loan officers. For more information contact
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Late this past week, Ameriquest Mortgage settled with Connecticut over allegations that it did not properlyregister loan originators in the state and imposed prepaid finance charges on certain refis. The company, the nation'slargest subprime funder, agreed to pay $7.25 million. See Monday's MortgageWire for more details
Hank Greenberg said at least one accounting error admitted by American International Group wasmade with sound accounting advice. To understand the irony of this statement you first have to know that AIG wasa chief backer of FM Watch, the anti-Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac group. And wasn't it ex-FannieCEO Franklin Raines who said he relied on his accountants for some his company's accounting interpretations?AIG owns mortgage insurer United Guaranty, which according to Monday's NMN, is about to enter a new,foreign market
Using new tax receipt projections, the White House says the federal budget deficit will fall to $333billion this fiscal year, compared to $412 billion in 2004. The administration is citing "unanticipated"tax revenue. Some of the increase comes from the expiration of an investment tax break but I would wager that achunk of the increase is coming from profits made by real estate investors in both the commercial and residentialarenas
Meanwhile, chief executives across the nation are less confident about the state of the economy now than theywere in the first quarter of this year, according to a new survey conducted by The Conference Board
Two weeks ago I brought up the issue of high LTV lenders of yesteryear, asking which of these five firms werestill in business: FirstPlus Financial, Empire Funding, AMAXIMIS Lending, Life Bankand Master Financial. The correct answer is Master Financial. Readers who e-mailed me with the correct answerinclude Douglas R. Lober of SmartLending/LeadPlanet.com; Andy Payment, a public relationsofficial; Dave Sommer, Fremont Investment & Loan; John M. Cerra, CREF Bond Group/TIAA-CREF;Jeff Lewis, Foundation Home Lending; Michael Foote; Jason Romrell, DocuTech;Scot Lee of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago; John R VanCora, Boston Portfolio AdvisorsInc.; and Barry Epstein. NOTE: Life Bank changed its name and is no longer actively involved in residentialfinance
SCME Mortgage Bankers Inc., San Diego, has announced the formation of Clearpath Lending Solutions,a wholesale division that will specialize in offering nonprime mortgage programs to mortgage brokers
According to NMN affiliate, Quarterly Data Report, the top 80 servicers service 46.87million loans. NMN assumes the top 100 control 85% of the market. That means there are 53.9 million outstandingresidential loans in the nation
In a recent research note, Greenwich Capital analyst Doug Greenig writes, "The economic recoverysince November 2001 (officially designated as the end of the latest recession) has been atypical. The most salientanomaly has been weak growth in payroll employment."
WASHINGTON NEWS: President Bush has signed a bill that allows mortgage lenders to continue tofax "rate" sheets without getting prior permission from mortgage brokers. Passed by Congress in lateJune, the bill (S. 714) restores an exemption for sending unsolicited faxes to individuals and entities where thereis an existing business relationship. The president signed the Junk Fax Prevention Act on July 9. The act essentiallynullifies a provision in a 2003 law to stop "junk" faxes that would have required lenders to get expresswritten permission from brokers before sending a fax.
MORTGAGE PEOPLE: Subprime lender Aames Investment Corp. has named John A. Vella presidentand chief operating officer. Mr. Vella comes to Aames from Option One MortgageLime Financial Services hasnamed Mary Brown senior vice president/director of operations. PHH Corp. has named Francis VanKirk to its board. Mr. Van Kirk will serve as chairman of PHH's audit committee. He comes to PHH from PricewaterhouseCooperswhere he served as managing partner. Oak Street Mortgage of Carmel, Ind., has named Glenn Brunkerpresident.
DATA NOTICE: The first-quarter 2005 edition of both the Quarterly Data Report and AlternativeProducts Quarterly Data Report is now available. The AP-QDR features rankings on the top interest-only, alt-Aand jumbo lenders. For more info about these products contact:
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