Real estate agents love it when loan officers give them referrals. That’s not always easy. Is giving a real estate agent a book on becoming a productive and well-respected real estate agent a RESPA violation? How about an all-expense paid trip? Attorney Brian Levy points out in his latest Mortgage Musings (chock full of Rolling Stone song references) how it matters whether the “thing of value” is offered in return for referrals or is just ordinary business promotional activity. LOs know that working with real estate agents is a numbers game. (How many loan officers contact the listing agent when a property goes on the market to ask for a referral?) Did you know that on any given day there are about 61,000 people in airplanes above the United States? (I think that number is light.) I mention this because Heathrow Airport in London is taking the unconventional step of capping the daily number of passengers at 100,000 per day for the rest of the summer. Heathrow was h
Sue W. writes, “After I say, ‘That’s crazy’ twice, please wrap up your story.” There are a lot of stories out there now as residential lenders tighten their belts, their payrolls, and their expenses in the face of rising rates, the worst inflation since 1981, and per loan costs of over $10,000. Hey, corporate has taken a hit, branches have taken a hit… is it time for LO comp to take one? Time will tell, but meanwhile ops staff are grappling with a number of issues. Along those lines, anyone trying to retrieve their collateral from the smoking ruins of First Guaranty Mortgage should try (no guarantees!) reaching out to all these, with an air bill, there are signs of success: Santa Ana Custody Requests, Correspondent Collateral Return, Nelida Parrish, Imelda Flores-E, Steven-E Willard, Christopher Ma, or Kimberly Hem. Good luck! Others are in survival mode. loanDepot (high stock price of over $26 per share in March of 2021, now trading at $1.70 p
We’re all trying to save a few pennies. We have the increase in postal rates coming soon and perhaps pick up a roll, or ten, of Forever Stamps. It’s not like they have an expiration date, unlike, apparently, lenders. Remember names like AmeriLoan, Countrywide, PNC, WaMu, Home Savings of America, Fleet, Great Western, World Savings, Associates, Nat City? “We are writing to share an update on ’s efforts to address significant, unexpected, and unprecedented economic pressures facing the entire mortgage market. As you know, the mortgage market faces mounting macroeconomic challenges, including increasing concerns about the availability and cost of credit, the end of the refinance boom, the systemic impact of inflation and geopolitical issues, and reduced demand for purchase money mortgages. As part of our efforts to address these challenges, will no longer purchase correspondent loans… We value our relationship with you and appreciate your pati
Yesterday in Ft. Wayne, Indiana, at the Indiana Mortgage Bankers Association’s annual conference, one of the non-mortgage conversations that I had was about TV. (Sometimes people talk about shows they’re “streaming.”) I don’t know what’s what: Hulu, Paramount, Paramount+, Dish, Amazon Prime, Disney, Disney Plus, Charter, Verizon, Comcast, You Tube TV, Peacock… can’t we just go back to cable? Maybe not: The number of Americans opting out of cable accelerated in the first quarter of 2022. In 2019 and 2020, a net of 1.1 million subscribers cancelled their cable or over-the-top streaming television, a figure that rose to 1.4 million in the first quarter of 2021 and has now hit 2.5 million cable cancellers in Q1 of this year. Comparing subscriptions in 2022 versus 2018, the only winners are Hulu + Live TV, up 3.1 million subscribers, and FuboTV, up 925,000 subscribers. The rest of the cable landscape? It’s bad: Comcast
As the MBA’s Secondary Marketing Conference wraps up in Manhattan, and the 1,200 or so registered head home and face post-conference life, Rob B. asks, “What was the mood of the attendees: Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, or acceptance?” The talk in the hallways revolved around constructive things like ARM investors and pricing, outlets for investment and second homes, lock and shop programs, extended locks, all-cash programs, and the various vendor offerings. On a larger scale, the FHFA, acting through Fannie and Freddie, has a lot going on. The Agencies continue to retain earnings and are doing credit risk transfers while the FHFA is in constant contact with U.S. Treasury. Both are striving to serve the underserved, and the actions must be sustainable. Progress has been made in terms of solar panels, green bond program, affordable housing programs, green specified pools, protecting borrower information, and addressing climate-related losses due to storms an