Gilda's Arizona Real Estate Lending Blog

The Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) is a federal law designed to encourage commercial banks and savings associations to help meet the needs of borrowers in all segments of their communities, including low- and moderate-income neighborhoods. Congress passed the Act in 1977 to reduce discriminator...

Remember the "undue influence" put upon Appraisers by Loan Reps, Real Estate Agents, and Home Owners that lead to HVCC?    Now the Lenders are the "enforcers" but in the opposite direction. In declining markets, lenders are refusing values that exceed the highest price paid to date for an area. A...

In my opinion, the Truth-In-Lending form (TIL), that we are required to disclose to the Borrower is the most useless form in the pile of other useless forms we kill trees for.  Partly because it explains financing in terms no one can understand and partly because it contains that even more misund...

I had my periodic chat with one of my favorite underwriters today. Usually I call her to ask a specific loan question but today it was a friendship call which turned into an education about the latest and greatest scams in the industry. I call this scam: "If you can't refinance, try Short Selling...

Last weekend I read an article in USA Today about a law suit filed by a Marine Captain against JPMorgan Chase claiming overcharges and errors in his mortgage after requesting his rights under the Servicemembers' Civil Relief Act (SCRA). The law suit resulted in Chase spending $2 million to 4,000 ...

I toured the MIM (Musical Instrument Museum) located in north Phoenix (Desert Ridge Community) today and I was completely blown away. Never has any exhibit gone this far beyond my expectations! It takes at least 3 hours to see and hear every exhibit.  It's really cool because you wear a head set ...

OK so I'm married to a Block Watch Captain.  These types are a rare breed, always giving advice, and mostly it's appreciated by the neighbors.  Today one of our neighbors reported an attempted scam so I thought I would share it with you so you don't get caught. My neighbor came home to find a not...

Most married couples take Title to their property as Community Property with the Right of Survivorship because of the legal and tax advantages for the surviving spouse should one of them die. What if you're not married? Here is a true story that happened to friends of mine because they didn't und...

Forgive me, this is one of those "back to basics" lessons. So many times my customers are unaware of all of the factors that go into a loan approval.  Being a "nice guy" isn't one of them.   The Four "Cs" of the CreditWorthiness Evaluation:   Capacity: The ability to repay the loan. Capacity is m...

An item commonly questioned on the Good Faith Estimate and final Settlement Statement is MERS. For the benefit of those living in different states with different laws, I think I need to back up a bit and provide some background. Question: If you are on a Mortgage (Borrower on the Note), do you al...