Excuse me if I take a little detour from business to congratulate my hometown Eagles for winning what may be considered the biggest game in their storied franchise history; the Super Bowl. I can finally say the Philadelphia Eagles are World Champions. What a team, what a game, one off my bucket list. It just goes to show what careful…
Author: Michael Vitali
HMDA Keeps Humming Along
The CFPB just released their new 2018 LAR (Loan/Application Register) formatting tool, with updates to their 2018 HMDA data reporting Instructions Guide. These can both be found, along with other HMDA data reporting requirements, on the CFPB HMDA Website. This new tool should be used for the reporting of the new required HMDA data collected by lenders in 2018 for…
Should Non-Bank Lenders Join Banks in FHA Boycott?
One of the byproducts of the housing crash was that many of the large commercial Banks discontinued offering FHA insured mortgage loans. In fact, at present, only two of the big guys are still originating under the FHA program; Wells Fargo and Flagstar? Both also offer a huge correspondent loan program allowing many non-bank lenders to originate these loans as…
Home Remodeling to Stay or Sell?
Homeowners’ equity is at all-time highs. That affords them the opportunity to use that equity in a number of ways. One way is to take some money and do some long overdue upgrades. The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Remodeling Index, (yup, another index), rose 3 points in the fourth quarter of 2017. This is its highest level since…
Fraud Risk Rises, Inventory Falls & Lenders Expand Programs
The national mortgage average fraud risk indicator, according to CoreLogic, increased by 3 points in the fourth quarter, going from 135 to 138. The CoreLogic’s mortgage fraud risk index is determined from the total of loan application fraud risk scores during the prior quarter. Scores are calculated for the 100 most populated U.S. Census Bureau Core Based Statistical Areas (CBSAs)…
Headlines Can Be Deceiving
A recent article indicated “Homebuilder sentiment cools in January from 18-year high”. Sounds a little ominous. Like, maybe the jig is up, things are taking a turn for the worse. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Yes, homebuilder sentiment is down from its highest level in 18 years, but by a mere 2 points. The Housing Market Index fell…