Regulators have been threatening to penalize mortgage servicers for months now. Recent reports say they’re one step closer. Servicers have come under quite a bit of fire recently for how they’ve handled everything from loan modifications to foreclosures.

Today, Edward DeMarco, acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, said Fannie and Freddie “will be moving forward with servicer penalties… in the coming weeks.” Read the rest of this entry »

If you follow this blog regularly, or even Google News for that matter, you know the latest big news in the mortgage world: the Treasury has laid out three strategies to reform our country’s mortgage system. Sure, last Friday’s presentation of the plans made a big splash, but the truth is, concrete Fannie, Freddie reform is a long way off.

Sure, debate will be waged on Capitol Hill where both political parties will fight hard to preserve or eliminate different aspects of our mortgage system, but I’m banking on the final plan of action to be made under the next president’s watch.

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You will commonly hear the Dodd-Frank bill come up in the midst of all the conversation surrounding the recently-announced strategies for reforming Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The reason is, Dodd-Frank is a major piece of legislation that has already begun to take form, and is expected to continue to influence the landscape of the market and ultimately impact the structure of the GSE reform.

The Dodd-Frank bill is commonly referred to as “the most sweeping financial reform since the Great Depression” (or something very akin to that). Proof that Dodd-Frank is living up to that moniker is the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFBP), slated to open up shop this July.

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Opinions on what to do with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac run a range from eliminating them swiftly and entirely, to gradually reducing their lending power and influence over the entire mortgage market.

On Wednesday, House Republicans held a hearing to debate the future of the GSEs ahead of the Treasury’s proposal, which is now expected as early as Friday. While there are conflicting opinions in terms of how Fannie and Freddie should be dealt with, I think everyone agrees that they need to be dealt with. I believe we can expect to see at least two major reforms that everyone can agree on: Read the rest of this entry »

Republican lawmakers have been making quite a bit of noise recently, calling for shakeups of certain government policies as they pertain to Washington’s involvement in the mortgage and housing markets. Rightfully so if you consider the mounting tab taxpayer are covering to support a government-controlled Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as well as failing foreclosure-prevention efforts like HAMP. The latest “ruffling” comes in the form of a hearing to be held tomorrow to discuss the future of Fannie and Freddie and perhaps jump-start their reform:

Rep. Scott Garrett, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee’s Subcommittee on Capital Markets, announced that he would hold a hearing Wednesday on Feb. 9 on reforming Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

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Saturday

“Selling your home? Scared you made the wrong decision” Read the rest of this entry »

With all the recent debate surrounding the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the question, “What if Fannie or Freddie disappeared from the market” has come up quite a bit. But HUD…I honestly haven’t really been thinking “What would happen if HUD disappeared?”

That is until today.

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Last week, we described mortgage rates throughout the month of January as erratic. Even though mortgage rates have been up and down over the course of the last four weeks or so, the range in which rates have bounced around in has been pretty narrow:

After a fall run-up which saw a 60+ basis point jump in the conforming 30-year fixed rate over an eight week period, the benchmark mortgage product has held in a 10-basis-point gap over the past seven weeks and seems likely to hang there for a while longer.

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Saturday

“Exactly what is a private hard money lender?” Read the rest of this entry »

Saturday

“5 keys to buying a bank-owned property” Read the rest of this entry »