Another day; another survey on housing. This one is from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. Based in Chicago, this is the 12th largest private foundation in the US according to asset size. Pretty impressive. According to this survey about two-thirds of Americans believe that something needs to be done about housing affordability and that the current presumptive…
Today, communication on social media is quite common. People are constantly texting, tweeting and posting information, both personal and professional. No different with many mortgage lenders and so too their loan originators. It’s how we communicate, especially with the Millennial generation. Not just Millennials are paying attention to what gets posted on social media when it comes to mortgage lending.…
Everyone knows that we need first time homebuyers in the market so we can continue the stream of move up homebuyers. This usually signifies how the economy and the housing markets are faring. The better the economy, the better jobs and wage growth, the more likely consumers will be in a better position to buy their first home or move…
Ed Golding, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Housing and Head of the FHA, (that’s what it says on his letterhead), issued an informal letter (The Letter) to all FHA lenders on the acceptance of Housing Finance Agency (HFA) down payment assistance programs. Everybody rejoiced. Seems FHA had put to bed the industry’s concerns resulting from actions taken by DOJ against…
It seems to me like only yesterday when a brand new method of determining a borrower’s creditworthiness was introduced. It was dubbed a “credit score”. It would revolutionize lending. No longer would underwriters need to sweat and labor reviewing the details of an applicant’s credit history and profile. Like Prego, it’s in there. All the necessary ingredients to determine a…
Another day, another DOJ settlement under a False Claims Action brought against a major Bank originating FHA loans. This time, it’s M&T Bank Corp to the tune of $64 million. Not a happy tune. Here we go again. DOJ alleged that M&T did not originate their FHA loans in compliance will all FHA rules and requirements. Rather than fight these…
