Look out, things are starting to slip. With the home mortgage market turning from refi’s to purchases, rates rising, and a housing shortage along comes an increase in loan defects, fraud, and misrepresentations. The good news, according to the most recent First American Financial Corp’s Loan Application Defect Index, is that the defect rate for both refinances and purchases remained…
Author: Michael Vitali
Will Alternative Credit Scoring Dilute Loan Quality?
The FICO credit score was introduced many years ago and touted as the end-all for determining a prospective borrower’s creditworthiness. The better the score, the more likely the borrower would repay the debt. The lower the score, look out, higher potential for default. Simple, right? No more! Today, we’re told that maybe this revolutionary predictor may be outdated and in…
A New Year’s Resolution That Should Be Broken
Over a month after we all sat down and tried to improve our lives through our New Year’s resolutions, here is one that came up this year that is a little disheartening. Hopefully, this is a resolution that will not be kept. According to a Debt.com report, buying a home is not at the top of the ‘to do’ list…
Mary. Mary, How Does Your Garden Grow?
We all sang and heard the childhood nursery rhyme. But, Mary really never reveals how she makes her garden grow. Maybe, it’s her secret to success. One she doesn’t want to share with her competition. Guess we’ll never know. At the MBA’s Independent Mortgage Bankers Conference in Florida, attendees heard from Todd Duncan, founder & CEO of High Trust of…
CFPB’s CIDs. Don’t Just Complain; Do Something
In case you haven’t heard, there are some changes going on down at the CFPB. The new Administration is trying to foster a more business-friendly atmosphere while maintaining the CFPB’s mission of consumer protection. Can it be done? Only time will tell. The conversation, or should I say debate, has begun. With Mulvaney now as Acting Director, moves are being…
Are You Wired For Fraud?
Fraud has always been a problem for mortgage lenders. But, now it’s starting to really get interesting and expensive. In the past, instances of fraud mainly centered around the consumer trying to get away with providing misrepresented information to get approved for their loan. Some instances dealt with unscrupulous parties creating bogus loans based on fictitious information to reap some…