Thank you for being accessible and your service. I hope you take my comments in the spirit they are intended. First off I sincerely believe there is a huge disconnect. HUD is running around making changes that do not impact the consumer positively and in fact doing harm. The revised Good Faith Estimate is the first item. Explain to me what the problem was with the previous format. To me the purpose of this "improved" document is to regulate how much a mortgage professional can make (nothing to do with consumerism) even though every other profession in the world including the medical community do not have to show how much they make on each transaction. No other industry is required to itemize with precision or within tolerances the exact costs etc. The consumer should take some responsib... 01/26/2010

Yes HUD (and our government) is at it again and yes the mystery continues as to why they do what they do. Great thinking on the yield spread premiums, the revised good faith estimate, HVCC appraisal mess, the elimination of a cost neutral down payment assistance program....do I need to go on? HUD has decided that the seller can no longer contribute 6% toward closing costs and or prepaid expenses. Instead they say the magic ....the place where the healing begins....is 3%. YES, 3% is the magical number and will solve unemployment, the real estate collapse, too big to fail and that nagging itch....fine whatever. For example if you buy a home for $200,000 the seller can contribute $6000. This means the borrower will pay some cash out of pocket in addition to their 3.5% down for their proper... 01/20/2010

Over the past two years we have had hearing after hearing with all the usual suspects that I have named as public enemies to the consumer and our industry. Wall Street certainly set the table for this calamity but they couldn't have done it without the help of repealing an act called GLASS STEAGULL (Originally passed in 1933). The repeal happened in the dark of night a late December eve in 1999. Thank you Phil Gramm. Without going into much detail you can read the awful details and yes you will find the usual enemies of the consumer and our industry currently costing the consumer millions with their antics of "reform" - familiar names. You will find a huge list on both sides of the political spectrum which demonstrates and supports my previous blogs noting that we are not represented by... 12/08/2009

Not surprising to me HUD is going to put a 120 day 'enforcement' delay for the new Good Faith Estimate and HUD-1 roll out scheduled for Jan. 01, 2010.  What a mess. What a disaster. This photo depicts perfectly how our government (the big guy - Oliver Hardy) and HUD (the skinny -Stan Laurel) are managing this little thing we call a financial calamity. Recovery my (Fill in blank). HUD always has a scandal each administration costing millions or billions (depending upon how many years you include). Inexplicably they eliminated the down payment assistance program thinking a down payment would solve this economic calamity. BIG thinking. So here the nation of lenders wait to see what's next. How are the investors going to react. Some lenders may require us to use the new form. Others may not... 11/17/2009

Yes. Instead of doing the heavy lifting and figuring out how to work out loans for the folks still employed Fannie has decided to become a landlord. Instead of foreclosing they will lease to folks for one year then month to month there after. How they set the rent or how things get fixed in a timely manner or even how they evict people are details nobody knows. It is safe to say knowing our government Fannie Mae does not know but sounds good doesn't it?  Just like the other failed programs. Unfortunately if you live in an area where home sales are brisk there will be less inventory because Fannie isn't foreclosing on homes that perhaps should be foreclosed on. (I don't believe that will be a problem in most areas unfortunately) The real tragedy from where I sit is the government cannot ... 11/10/2009

I have just been resuscitated after the shock and awwweeee of the news I'm about to tell you. Our government.....the government....yes our government actually did something that will help stimulate the economy and keep this little thing we call a country breathing. Not only did they extend the tax credit for new homebuyers ($8,000) it now offers a $6500 tax credit for repeat buyers or buyers moving up (how do you move up when prices are down?). This tax credit will end in June 2010 and all contracts must be in writing by end of April. I wonder if the record number of foreclosures in a quarter in American history had to do with it....HMMMMM. Anyway that is good news and I have posted an excellent site that gives you full details. http://www.federalhousingtaxcredit.com/ IRS Form 5405: htt... 11/09/2009

In his quest to appease the too big to fail banks making sure the CEO's get the bonuses promised so his campaign coffers remain flush Barney Frank is working hard to keep his promise of killing any and all competition for home loans leaving only the too big to fail banks to lend to the consumer. You know the TARP KIDS.     30 years ago the banks had their little monolopolistic operation - no competition and they were slow. The consumer was victimized because they were the only players in town until the local community based lenders (mortgage bankers/brokers) cropped up and what the consumer found was lower rates and better delivery of service. Community based lenders (non-bank) provide 40% plus of the origination's and 50% of all FHA (HUD) loans and the reason for that is the big banks ... 11/03/2009