Talk in the hallways here at the MBA Annual in Philly? How about the cost of insurance of all types. Case in point: “What Happens When the Flood Insurance Market Goes Underwater?” The NAR commission legal issues are a big, big deal, possibly impact real estate agents’ commission structure. The cost of credit will be going up, with the evening up of tiers: ask your CRA about it. Buybacks (repurchases) have been a problem for months. Several sales managers have told me that a new reason to touch base with previous clients, besides asking about outstanding 30 percent credit card debt, is LOs reminding previous borrowers about investing their money in a money market or Treasury Direct account and earning 5 percent. The CFPB’s attention, as well as that of other regulators, is on redlining, and we can expect to see fines and penalties due to that. (Today’s podcast can be found here: Sponsored by nCino, maker of the nCino Mortgage Suite, built for the moder
Attorneys across the nation have taken note that the Federal Trade Commission has proposed a rule that would bar companies from requiring employees to sign a noncompete agreement, which limits workers' ability to leave for a rival or to strike out on their own in the same field. The FTC says barring noncompete agreements could raise pay by $300 billion annually. So the FTC wants to ban companies from telling their employees they can't work for competitors, and says it'll help workers make $300 billion more a year. From the East Coast, Brian B. points out that the FTC believes that this is a “rule change” and that approval from Congress, which is a near-impossibility these days, is not needed. Along with this, there are plenty of other topics that are of interest to originators, lenders, and vendors, so let’s jump in. Affordable Housing and Multi-Family Observations Affordable housing is a very hot topic, and Julie Cooper from Evergreen
Robert K. writes, “My Mom always said, ‘Work until your bank account looks like a phone number. Well, I did it! ‘Available balance: $911.’” Speaking of numbers, thank you to those who wrote to me correcting the GDP of Mexico here as being $1.4 trillion and not $1.4 billion. Numbers certainly tell the story with vendors and lenders. Owners of vendors and third-party providers are looking at middle layers of management, cutting back, certainly cutting salaries, or ridding themselves of unproductive salespeople. Lenders continue to cut staff (Wells Fargo being the latest example) or furlough employees for a portion of their workweeks and implementing salary cuts. Meanwhile, managers report that end-of-year reviews are resulting in employees asking for raises due to inflation. On a lager scale, uh, larger scale, mergers and acquisitions continue. The latest to cross the tape is that "Guild Mortgage is excited to announce the acquisition of Inlant