Ar_home_b_search
 



lender: MERS in middle of new mortgage foreclosure mess - 10/18/10 06:28 PM
MERS is hardly a household name to many homeowners but the company now finds itself tossed right in the middle of the latest and rapidly-heating home loan challenge. It stands for Mortgage Electronic Registration System and the name pretty much says what it does. It records electronically, in proprietary software, mortgages … (15 comments)

lender: Mortgage walk-aways poised to accelerate - 09/16/10 10:33 PM
It appears relative calm has descended on the long-suffering housing market, especially when it comes to price movement. For months now home values have shown signs of stability, and even moderate increases in some areas. Real estate observers of course like to see that but are generally unconvinced that a sustainable … (12 comments)

lender: Is the growing HAMP criticism fair? - 07/23/10 11:37 AM
Home Affordable Modification Program, or more commonly HAMP, was rolled out to allow mortgage lenders and servicers to make available trial modifications to an estimated 3 to 4 million homeowners.When Treasury announced its birth it raised hopes among not only mortgage borrowers in trouble but also government officials who frantically tried … (10 comments)

lender: Southern Nevada June home sales up - median price lower - 07/14/10 04:41 PM
Las Vegas homeowners and real estate observers have been looking for clear direction the local housing market could be happy about but it's refusing to cooperate. It seems to have settled on a typically erratic path that markets display when they reach the bottom on a downward cycle - or are … (6 comments)

lender: Mortgage foreclosure assistance authorized for worst-hit states - 06/24/10 04:55 PM
As the housing sector kept sucking for more oxygen, Washington announced back in February the Hardest Hit Fund worth $1.5 billion that was designed to help states in serious housing peril and asked them at the time, as a condition to get a slice of the money, to submit creative programs … (13 comments)

lender: Refinancing upside down mortgages under HARP could get wider range - 06/30/09 10:00 PM
Discussions are underway as we speak. The Federal Housing Finance Authority, or FHFA, is tossing the idea around since the original intent of HARP, or Home Affordable Refinance Program, isn't doing much good at all. Currently it can only refinance loans up to an LTV, or loan-to-value, of 105%.  In the … (2 comments)

lender: HVCC, the new appraisal regimen for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, receiving flak - 05/19/09 04:25 PM
The mortgage and real estate mess has drawn the keen attention of many regulators in Washington and elsewhere, as if the existing laws governing those industries were largely inadequate. It must be, is the thinking, that there were too many gray areas and too many gaping holes in them. By amending … (18 comments)

lender: Vegas housing market getting demand help, from vulture funds - 04/21/09 04:42 PM
The numbers are still too high. Southern Nevada existing home inventory, according to the local MLS, continues to hover up there where no one wants to see it. It has been over 20,000 for months. Much of it has to do with the high mortgage foreclosure rates here that seem to … (8 comments)

lender: BPOs stoke controversy within the real estate industry - 04/03/09 01:28 PM
BPO, or broker price opinion, is a vehicle used by real estate agents to assess home values. Over the years it has become sort of a competitor to an official appraisal that mortgage lenders still rely on when underwriting loans. BPO can be a dependable gauge although it is less scientific … (14 comments)

lender: Mortgage loan modifications ought to have more bite - 01/22/09 09:22 PM
As foreclosure numbers keep growing nationwide lenders are facing more pressure to make home loan modifications, or workouts, more meaningful. Up to now their efforts have mostly been half measures from the borrower's perspective, backed by recent stats that around half of modified home loans re-default within six months. That surely … (6 comments)

lender: Mortgage cosigner approach worth looking into - 01/15/09 10:32 PM
It could make home buying, or even a refinance, a reality. Mortgage interest rates are bouncing around the low 5% mark that ought to draw consumers to the marketplace by the thousands, and it's doing that to some degree. What still keeps many from getting a loan approved, though, are the … (4 comments)

lender: Fannie Mae to tighten condo finance guidelines - 01/03/09 08:12 PM
Some savvy industry observers could've foreseen it. Anyway, the new underwriting standards go into effect January 15 but the good news is that they only apply in Florida for investors and second home buyers. Fannie Mae has determined that Florida condominium segment will continue sliding for the foreseeable future and is … (4 comments)

lender: Mortgage industry dealing with more challenges - 12/28/08 03:47 PM
The federal government has been quite aggressive in the past few months in infusing money into the financial system in order to turn the tide on the still deteriorating housing industry. One of the key goals of this was to assist homeowners facing foreclosure find a way out of their mortgage … (8 comments)

lender: LV existing home sales stay on an upbeat course in November - 12/09/08 04:32 PM
The holiday season is upon us although this year it might be more subdued than in a long while due to the overall weakness in the national economy. The mortgage and housing markets have taken unprecedented punishment in most parts of the country that requires extraordinary efforts and just plain old … (6 comments)

lender: New mortgage fiasco in the making? - 12/05/08 05:10 PM
The financial system has taken it to the chin repeatedly over the last few years thanks to multiple factors, one of which was the subprime home loan product. Many eager borrowers were able to secure funding for a home purchase using its flexible underwriting criteria although many really didn't have the … (12 comments)

lender: Home builders are extending the tin cup for Washington aid. Should they be rewarded? - 11/25/08 09:22 PM
It's becoming the fad of the year that major industry lobbyists are sent to march up the long, stone steps of the U.S. Capitol and ask for federal help for their flagging businesses. The belief seems to be that Congress is the cradle of group therapy that will cure their ills by handing … (18 comments)

lender: Las Vegas foreclosures take a breather in October - 11/15/08 08:29 PM
Overall, it has been a tough year for Clark County, Nevada, home of Las Vegas, when it comes to residential real estate. One of the bright spots has been the availability of mortgage money at affordable rates that has kept matters on some sort of a path toward a distant normalcy. … (12 comments)

lender: Is the financial bailout plan addressing the wrong issue? - 10/16/08 10:24 PM
The extensive financial, or housing and mortgage, rescue program in its present form is clearly designed to first lift Wall Street off the mat. Details are still being worked out in Washington on it but that's where its main focus is. Some say that this direction is ill-advised, though. Among the … (8 comments)

lender: Mortgage lender settles lawsuit that will help out many struggling homeowners - 10/07/08 05:30 PM
The media is still abuzz about the massive, controversial and headline-grabbing Wall Street bailout plan put in the books just last week and now there is another important financial development that is trying to elbow itself some room on the headlines. Bank of America just settled a lawsuit with 11 states … (2 comments)

lender: The bailout program may offer real help for struggling homeowners - 10/04/08 08:55 PM
The extra time that Washington took to hammer out the much-anticipated rescue plan may have produced something that will make distressed mortgage borrowers feel a little better about the whole exercise. In the original blueprint their plight wasn't very important at all but according to the revised version they have a … (12 comments)