“I accidentally rubbed ketchup in my eyes. Now I have Heinzsight.” In terms of foresight, looking ahead, there are some interesting things going on out there in Mortgage Land! How ‘bout the CapitalW Collective non-profit for women in mortgage capital markets? And Beeline's Miguel Vega has been in the press lately with, "The Dream of Owning a Piece of America is a Dominant Theme in the Latino Community” and the company launching a Spanish-language version of its home loan experience this week. Something else that continues to be “interesting” is the question, “Are brokers violating RESPA every day?” This question is asked because brokering is a referral of a customer to a lender, right? HUD identified fourteen services normally performed in the origination of a loan (Section II, subsection C of the link above), and brokers usually do five out of the fourteen services, including taking the application, to get around
“This commentary is only available while supplies last!” In the fall of 1621, the Pilgrims, working hard in Plymouth Colony after coming to North America with limited supplies in 1620, held a three-day feast to celebrate a bountiful harvest: the nation's first Thanksgiving. No football was involved. (During the Lincoln Administration it became a national holiday in 1863 to be observed on the fourth Thursday of November.) 300 miles to the southwest, New Jersey has spent $2.6 billion replenishing the Jersey Shore with sand since 1922 and given the inexorable march of climate change fueling beach erosion, the fear is that not even that will be enough to keep the beach alive. Per foot of shoreline, Jersey has been one of the most aggressive when it comes to shoring up the beach. There are other ways to stabilize the shoreline, like facilitating vegetation and building out hard structures like jetties and t-groins, but those haven't seen anywhere near the inves
It is said that if all the hunters on opening day(s) of deer season in Wisconsin were grouped together, they would comprise the sixth largest army in the world! Sometimes lenders feel that they have a target on their backs, and here at the WMBA’s 49th Annual Real Estate & Finance Conference in Milwaukee, some of the informal talk in the hallways is about avoiding redlining, a focus of audits and exams. Another is RESPA. When does “As you wish” or “intent” figure into lending? “Rob, is it true that the same business lunch can either be a RESPA violation, or not?” I am not an expert in compliance, but yes, that is true. If you’re an LO who takes a real estate agent to a nice lunch as a thank you for sending business your way, that is seen as a thing of value and would be a RESPA violation. If the same nice lunch is used to discuss new programs and training that your company offers real estate agents, then it is copacetic
Today, as I head to Chicago (from the Native American word shikaakwa, for the wild onion) on my way to Philadelphia, I received this note. “Rob, why is PenFed exiting from correspondent?” Well, you should talk to your PenFed rep. But if anyone had to make a harsh guess, it would start by asking, “Why would any member-based organization with a branch network and thousands of members, in this environment, feel the need to offer wholesale or correspondent channels to others at very low margins who may be competitors?” There will be plenty of competitors under one roof at the MBA’s Annual starting Sunday. For many IMBs, their goals by going include searching for a great HELOC and/or 2nd program, seeing what’s new with down payment assistance programs, and seeing the latest in under-served markets. Another topic will of course include inflation and interest rates. Is your car insurance up 19 percent? Yesterday’s CPI said so. How about taking
I head to Vancouver, WA, this morning for a Banner Bank event and will probably have the option of Wi-Fi on the plane. How is it that NASA is able to receive data from 4.6 billion miles away, but I lose my Wi-Fi signal in my kitchen? Having a computer or smart phone has a price. I use Duck Duck Go for a search engine… Don’t think that Google doesn’t alter your search queries to reach your wallet. In other tech news, and you will forget about this note by then, your phone will blare a national emergency alert test today at 2:20PM ET, 12:20 PM MT. Of course, the messages will be accompanied by a “unique tone and vibration.” Listen for a jarring and obnoxious alarm that will immediately make you stop what you’re doing, utter obscenities, and pick up your phone to make it stop. Who can concentrate on Taylor Swift munching on football stadium dogs, or the lack of inventory and high rates, when the Las Vegas oddsmakers are making an active market in