What We're Hearing

Bank of America is fighting back. Well, sort of. Now that Wells Fargo & Co. is winning the residential loan production war, BoA has come up with a plan to offer upfront guaranteed closing costs via its 6,100 bank branches. Yes, but will the plan catch fire with consumers and will it ever be extended to third-party loan brokers working for BoA? At press time BoA was holding a press conference on its "Clarity Commitment" marketing effort. For an update see National Mortgage News Online later today. Meanwhile, former Resolution Trust Corp. chief Stanley Tate has reportedly raised $1 billion to bid on mortgage assets through the Treasury's PPIP program. For all you youngsters out there the RTC was the S&L bailout agency that was in operation two decades ago...