By: Jeffrey M. Haber In TD Bank, N.A. v. Keenan, 2023 N.Y. Slip Op. 06158 (2d Dept. Nov. 29, 2023) (here), the Appellate Division, Second Department examined the often “nettlesome”.
Yesterday, a clown held the door open for me. It was such a nice jester. On the flip side, it’s not nice being taken advantage of and lenders are feeling Thunderstruck about, as this Commentary has mentioned several times, credit costs being jacked (more below). On the inflation theme and a little more mainstream, for me and plenty of people who read this Commentary every day, is the egg price fixing that has been occurring. (Remember when prices were way up around Easter?) Although inflation has been slowing, we don’t need this stuff. And the price of the twelve gifts described in the classic song “The 12 Days of Christmas” is at a record high of $46,730, according to PNC’s 2023 Christmas Price Index. At the other end of the cost spectrum, how’d you like to live like Martha Stewart (for a night) for $11.23? Rent her place! (Today’s podcast can be found here, and this week’s is sponsored by MCT. MCT’s technology and know-ho
This morning it’s off to Missoula, Montana, for me to spend some time with the folks at MAMP. (Few states have as many different species of mammals as Montana: nearly 120 out of a total of 490 in the wild in North America.) Going through the airport there were few signs of Halloween, although across the country, lenders’ employees are asking, “Which area of our office has the best leftover Halloween candy, underwriting or accounting? Or perhaps it is near the front desk… a Kit Kat bar after lunch won’t hurt anything!” I bet the folks at NAR could use something sweet: In a case where the appeal was nearly filed before the verdict, the National Association of REALTORS (NAR), Keller Williams, and HomeServices of America were found guilty of conspiring to inflate commissions and ordered to pay damages totaling $1.78 billion, a jury in Missouri ruled Tuesday. Good loan officers and real estate agents are masters at gauging customer psychology and se
Seen on someone’s laptop here in Phoenix: “If Pete Davidson can date a Kardashian, you can be a homeowner.” From a business viewpoint, if you think mortgages are bad, try NFTs. I don’t know what I was thinking, sinking my entire 401(k) into that sector a few years ago. My collection of fake, imaginary art is now worthless!? It’s good to keep things in perspective. If you think rates in the U.S. are too high, try being a lender in Pakistan (22 percent) or Turkey (benchmark rate at 25 percent.) Although buyers in the U.S. don’t have to contend with rates like that, what are the big concerns in the home buying experience? A sizeable portion believe that they will not be able to afford the mortgage payment. Almost as many believe that they won’t be able to save, or don’t have enough, for a down payment. Some think that their home will not be a good investment. And there is a portion who believe that they can’t trust the real es