subprime meltdown: FHA Reform Makes it Through the Senate
- 12/15/07 05:44 AM
The Senate’s FHA Modernization Bill, S 2338 flew through with a 93 to 1 vote yesterday. The House previously passed its own slightly different FHA reform bill in September. The measure will now go to a committee to work out compromises between the two competing version before the final draft is forwarded to the Oval Office for signature. Two of the key issues are: Raises the maximum FHA loan amount to $417,000, putting it in parity with conventional loan limits. Lowers the required down payment to 1.5% from 3% (the House version eliminates the down payment requirement altogether)(read the rest) (1 comments)
As if on cue for Thanksgiving, the Sacramento Bee today announced that governor Arnold Schwarzenegger had obtained agreement from four lenders to freeze rates on California subprime loans that are about to reset. Hey, one more reason to celebrate! The initial list of lenders include Countrywide, GMAC, Litton, and HomeEq—hopefully more will follow their lead—and the agreement applies to borrowers who a) have not yet defaulted on their payments, b) live in the home, and c) can prove that they will be unable to make their new payments. Rates could be frozen for 5 years or more, depending on the borrower’s situation. (read the rest) (1 comments)
subprime meltdown: Stressed Home Owners: Is There a Bailout in the Works?
- 09/27/07 01:57 PM
I ran across this article from Kiplinger Forecasts this morning. It does a fair job of addressing the question on every troubled home owner’s mind: Is there a bail out coming? So far, the answer appears to be no. Despite high level legislative chatter, the recent Bush proposal for FHASecure—the details of which remain vague, and the inevitable debate about the “moral hazard” of keeping the dirty bath water to save the baby, no broad plan has emerged. That may be understandable in light of the fact that 70% of the foreclosure problem exists in 7 states. If your state didn’t (9 comments)
subprime meltdown: More Lenders Falter
- 08/22/07 10:33 AM
Lehman Brothers announced today the closure of its sub-prime subsidiary BNC Mortgage. Lehman Brothers will continue to originate prime mortgages through its Aurora Loan Services platform but is discontinuing all sub-prime originations. More sad news from my rep at Accredited Mortgage yesterday afternoon: I’m sure you’ve all heard the news that we’ve ceased accepting new loan applications. As you can surely guess, this means I am no longer employed. I wanted to thank all of you for your business and wish you the best of luck in the future. My email account will be shut off shortly. If you’d like to stay in (2 comments)
subprime meltdown: Countrywide & Washington Mutual Reveal “Unprecedented Disruptions”
- 08/10/07 04:26 PM
If common sense and research studies hadn’t already convinced you that you should use a mortgage broker (vs. a mortgage banker or direct lender), then chew on this: Countrywide and Washington Mutual, two of the nation’s largest mortgage banks, stated this week that they are facing “unprecedented disruptions” in the secondary market for mortgages that could adversely impact earnings and financial condition. Unprecedented disruptions. Hmmmm… that’s a vague and scary phrase, but what does it mean? It means that if you arrange your home loan through a mortgage bank and they experience an unprecedented disruption of the we-can’t-fund-your-loan kind, you may be sleeping in (4 comments)
subprime meltdown: Subprime Troubles Spread to Europe
- 08/09/07 12:20 PM
From CBS Market Watch this morning…. LONDON (MarketWatch) — BNP Paribas, one of the largest banks in France, said Thursday that it will stop valuing three of its funds and is suspending investor withdrawals after U.S. subprime-mortgage woes led to the “complete evaporation of liquidity,” the latest sign of housing market troubles in the world’s biggest economy rippling across the globe. So the mess has now spread beyond the subprime, beyond the prime mortgage arena, beyond the U.S. economy, and into the international economy, causing a complete evaportation of liquidy. BNP Paribas was joined by Germany’s Union Investment who suspended redemption (0 comments)
subprime meltdown: SouthStar Funding Implodes, Leaves Borrowers Stranded
- 04/02/07 06:32 AM
Here is this morning’s installment in the ongoing subprime meltdown. Realtor and borrowers need to be very cautious, even when borrowers appear to be fully approved. Lenders are shutting down suddenly, cancelling loans, and leaving borrowers stranded. As fewer options remain, the type of loan for which you or your client were qualified may no longer exist. As always, be sure you or your client are working with an experienced lender who has been through this type of market before and knows how to guide you and advise you. Dear Customer, SouthStar Funding, LLC has ceased its mortgage lending (2 comments)
subprime meltdown: Are You Pre-Approved for 100% Financing? Better Check Again…
- 03/05/07 07:57 AM
Worthless Pre-Approvals So you’ve decided to buy a home. And being the educated consumer or Realtor that you are, you secured loan approval for your 100% financing in advance. Now, you’ve got a formal approval and all the conditions are met. Smooth sailing, right? Not necessarily. I recently wrote an article entitled 6 Reasons Your Next Loan May Take Longer Than It Should. The post got a lot of attention over at Active Rain where most people had begun experiencing these very problems. And I’m afraid it’s just the tip of the iceberg. Rapid Changes The meltdown in sub-prime lending market (0 comments)
subprime meltdown: What Would Levi Leipheimer Have to Say About The Subprime Meltdown?
- 02/23/07 01:13 PM
Most likely nothing! He could care less right now, having just won Stage 5, the second time trial of the Tour. Levi also won the opening Prologue and holds the yellow jersey as the overall leader. Congratulations Levi! So rather than trying to create a cheesy tie-in to explain this digression, let me just simply say: THANK YOU SACRAMENTO!! for your tremendous support of the AMGEN Tour of California! May Sacramento forever remain on the tour route. Think about this: the television coverage of this year’s event exceeds what ESPN use to give the Tour de France just a few short years ago. Thanks (9 comments)