Any business should know that it’s the complaints that you don’t hear that cause the biggest problems and loss of business. The same holds true for the defects that you don’t find. These are the ones hidden in the pipeline that can end up costing a company big money in the long run This is all the more reason to…
Quicken Loans, one of the mortgage industry’s leading lenders, and a pioneer in the use of technology may soon consider the use of electronic property valuations instead of standard manual appraisals. Why? Last week, a federal district court hit Quicken with a guilty verdict resulting in fines and penalties of almost $11 million in a class action suit brought by…
Despite the fact that many big banks have recently scaled back their mortgage lending, the overall share of mortgage originations done by the top banks increased in the 1st quarter of 2017. With overall volumes declining, this means that these banks are grabbing a bigger piece of a shrinking pie. Unfortunately, total originations declined by 36% in the first quarter…
The Mortgage Bankers Association, along with several of the mortgage industry’s largest trade groups, continue on their quest to make things better for consumers and mortgage lenders. MBA, along with the others, are seeking a meeting with the new Attorney General, Jeff Sessions, to discuss issues related to enforcement actions against lenders under the False Claims Act. These discussions would…
Non-QM (Non-Qualified Mortgage) loans are getting a bad rap as the coming of the next subprime wave. Although they may be considered a little riskier than your standard QM (Qualified Mortgage), the perceived risk is in not having the QM’s safe harbor from repayment ability requirements. Some loans may have loan terms, i.e. interest only features, which disqualifies them as…
Recently, I’ve been writing about the challenges lenders face resulting from a shortage of affordable housing. With consumers having less money available for a down payment, lenders are forced to stretch the credit and income limits to qualify potential home buyers for higher priced homes. Now, we start to see the flip side. Loan defects, fraud, and misrepresentations once again…
