Industry News

New Appraisal ordering Policies (Home Valuation Code of Conduct - HVCC) mandated by the Agencies is creating operational challenges among lenders.  Time will tell if this is actually resolving the problem it was meant to solve.  In Practical Application, HVCC has had the immediate effect of incre...

National Mortgage Licensing System and Registry Last year Congress passed the Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act, which requires all mortgage originators -- including bank employees -- to register with the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry. The Secure and Fair ...

This is a light week for Treasury news.  Dow futures up over 100 pts this morning and mortgage markets may suffer as investor money follows the stock market.  MBS prices are down a little from Friday.  Best rate Conforming 30 year fixed 5.000% (APR 5.126%) 80% LTV, $250,000 ln amt, 720 FICO, OOC ...

Will the government do anything to get interest rates back down below 5%?  We hope so, but based on this morning's MBS rally it's obvious that the government is not the only one buying up mortgage securities.   Private investor interest is moving prices are up (Rates down) this morning.  Best rat...

The problem with the markets is that no one can predict with all certainty that rates will be up or down.  Mortgage rates this week are well over 5.00%.    I do expect to see some improvement in rates before the summer is out,  although we may have seen the lows already.  The Treasury's auction o...

Neighborhood Stabilization Program Home Down Payment and Closing Cost Assistance May 2009: Phoenix just received $39,478,000 in federal funds to help families purchase a home in the city of Phoenix. For a first time homebuyer, this down payment assistance comes in the form of a $15,000 zero inter...

Legacy Assets (another word for possible bad loans) are the unknown on Bank's balance sheets. Unkown because their performance is uncertain. The housing bubble that created the negative economic cycle that we are in is now being helped with taxpayer dollars. If banks that acquired marked down leg...

Ever wonder why your mortgage is sold to another lender?  Mortgage Servicing rights are sold, or transferred for a variety of reasons.  A look at the top mortgage loan servicers in 1993 - Where are they now? Countrywide               Company bought by Bank of America in July 2008 Fleet Mortgage  ...

I saw an interesting article this morning on the Mortgage Bankers Association's website about FICO score trends and thier affect on new mortgages.   The current loan level price adjusters on mortgages purchased by FannieMae and FreddieMac reward borrowers with the bests pricing options if the app...