Understanding Yield Spread Premium and the Congressional threat - 04/30/09 09:39 PM
Yield spread premiums may be the most misunderstood facet of the retail mortgage industry. They are receiving a disproportionate share of blame as a result of this misunderstanding. If some in Congress have their way, the mortgage brokerage industry will be significantly jeorpardized and consumers will suffer.
Two bills pending in Congress target yield spread premium. In the House, HR 1728, is scheduled for full vote next week. In the Senate, SR 896 a bill addressing mortgage modification with amendment 1015 to ban all yield spread premiums and SR 912 a bill specifically to ban yield spread premiums. 
I am writing another post about this issue … (0 comments)

Facebook and Twitter a Job Interview - 04/30/09 08:20 PM
Today Dustin Luther , Mike Mueller and others held a conference call today exchanging ideas about how to use a Facebook page as compared to a Facebook profile. Mike made his point of the difference by asking, "Do you need more friends or more more clients."
That seems like a reasonable question.
Yesterday NPR presented a discussion on Talk of the Nation about job searching. Social media was discussed as it impacts the job looker. It occured to me that real estate agents and loan originators are job lookers if we are using the internet and social media to market our services.
Mike's point … (9 comments)

VW Group of America President's Keynote Speech at Chattanooga Spirit of Innovation luncheon - 04/29/09 09:31 PM
Volkwagen Group of America President Stefan Jacoby gave a powerful and upbeat keynote speech at today's Spirit of Innovation Awards luncheon. His talk caught the spirit of the event, complimenting Chattanooga's vision and commitment to creative thinking, risk taking, and fresh ideas.
The two award winners were DJO Chattanooga who received the Kruesi Award and Adaptive Methods received the Early Innovator Award. The webcast production linked below includes some excellent and informative video about all the award nominees.
Mr. Jacoby said this spirit of these unique awards ties in well with the corporate culture at Volkswagen and was one of the reasons that Chattanooga was … (2 comments)

Bank stress tests reports coming out - 04/28/09 10:29 AM
This is the first stress test report I have heard about. Evidently the top of the list of 19 will need additional capital.
Bloomberg reports update on Bank of America and Citigroup bank stress test. The article says that full stress test results may be available as soon as May 4.
Questions include where the additional capital will come from and what will be the market response and economic impact.
It remains possible for additional TARP funds and further movement towards nationalization.
While this is going on, will another regional bank close this Friday?
… (4 comments)

HR 1728 Mortgage Reform 2009 - NAMB call for action - 04/28/09 07:19 AM
NAMB has issued a call to action in response to today's markup of HR 1728 by the House Financial Services Committee.
UPDATE 4/29: The House Financial Services Committee has passed HR 1728, without HVCC delay amendment. Additionally there are provisions for credit risk retention and for yield spread premium restrictions. This according to several news sources. Here is the story from Wall Street Journal.
The primary focus of NAMB's call for action is to push for an amendment to delay implementation of HVCC, the policy that mandates a property appraisal process that many active in the industr believe will introduce inefficiency, … (18 comments)

I falsely charged NAMB representative Denise Leonard - 04/27/09 08:14 PM
In a post from April 24, I falsely attributed to Denise Leonard, Vice President, Government Affairs, National Association of Mortgage Brokers, comments that were apparently made by a representative from the Federal Reserve.
I regret the mistake. I will send NAMB and Ms Leonard a written apology.
I also apologize to the Active Rain and other blogging communities. Those of us who have a blog, have a responsibility, to the public and to ourselves, to verify our information and sources.
I did not perform this responsibility with this post.
When Ms Leonard's actual testimony becomes available as a transcript, I will … (7 comments)

FaceBook - 04/27/09 05:30 PM
There has been so much posted about Twitter. And, if you are not on Twitter, it is time.
A couple LO's in my office, and now me also, are becoming great fans of FaceBook. As well as a great many people I know on a nonprofessional level. I complained at Sunday School yesterday that all my friend recommendations were for people under 25.
(For those who do not know, I am over 25.)
Facebook works. It is fun. It is growing. It is effective.
The fastest growing demographic on the site is actually over 35.
You can actually target a more … (13 comments)

HR 1728 Mortgage Reform 2009 - Anti-Predatory Lending - 04/27/09 05:01 PM
HR 1728 will be considered tomorrow before the House Financial Services committee. It needs to be known by all that mortgage reform in some form is coming this year.
Some of the main points of HR 1728 include a Federal Duty of Care that included licensing, providing "appropriate mortgage loans", and tagging each loan with an originator ID. That is pretty interesting.
Yield spread premiums are specically labelled steering incentives, The scary thing about this label is that it reveals to me a lack of understanding about the bond market on the part of those who are making this legistation.
The language is … (17 comments)

Bank stress test - too big to fail - 04/25/09 08:50 PM
The federal government has published its stress test for major banks. The stress test is to determine how vulnerable these large banks are to various economic worst case scenarios. The actual stress reports are being given privately to the individual banks.
Those banks who fail could be required to increase their capital reserves.
The stress scenarios involve worsening unemployment and continued declines in home values.
The goals of the stress test scenarios were to evaluate the extent of potential problems and to improve market confidence in the financial system.
The effect may have been just the opposite, to increase market instability.
… (6 comments)

THDA Tax Credit Second Mortgage - 04/25/09 07:47 PM
THDA, Tennessee Housing Development Agency, has this month introduced their anticipated second mortgage program. The program is to be used in conjuction with the stimulus tax credit for first time home buyers. The purpose is to assist potential home owners by providing a no interest loan. THDA recommends that borrowers use their tax credit to pay the loan off, when the credit refund is received.
Some details:
The THDA second mortgage is for the down payment. It is only available with an FHA loan closed with the THDA Great Rate or THDA Great Advantage programs.
The minimum credit score is 620 … (1 comments)

Home Buyer Seminar Saturday - Presenting THDA's Tax Stimulus Program - 04/24/09 07:40 PM
We are holding a home buyer seminar Saturday and Sunday, April 25 and 26.  The seminar will be held at the new town home development, Melrose Parc Townhomes, by Coleman Hochman on East Brainerd Rd. Pam Jackson, from Crye-Leike Realtors, is conducting the seminar. Brumlow. Martin Insurance Agency will also participate in the seminar.
We are going to cover information on credit and on qualifying for a mortgage. We will review the new first time homebuyer stimulus tax credit and the THDA Stimulus Second Mortgage Program.
Pam Jackson can be reached at 423-619-8026. Her website is www.PamJackson.Crye-Leike.com
The times are 10am Saturday and 2 pm Sunday. The … (0 comments)

Bank failures mounting - 04/24/09 06:58 PM
Last year there were, I think, 25 bank failures. To date this year, there have been 27. Two today. Heritage Bank in Michigan and American Southern in Kennesaw, GA. The pace is apparently picking up.
With the news about GM shedding Pontiac, numerous plant closings, the economy remains troubled. There has been here and there a piece of encouraging news, but I do not think the turn has been made yet.
We are coming into a new economy. More centralized? Less American? More government? Less debt? More socialized? Less entrepreneurial?
A congressman has recently asked if capitalism is the same as … (6 comments)

NAMB must do better representing brokers before Congress - 04/24/09 07:23 AM
In this post, which started as Members Only but was posted public as comments grew, I falsely attributed to NAMB Government Affairs Committee Chariman, Denise Leonard, with calling yield spread premium a kickback and not being able to answer whether capitalism is the same as "survival of the fittest.
These comments were apparently made by the representative of Federal Reserve. Looking over the list of witnesses at the hearing, the Federal Reserve representative was Ms. Sandra Braunstein, Director of the Division of Consumer and Community Affairs.
Mark Green, of http://www.topofmind.com/, has researched and discovered my error. I apologize to NAMB, the AR community, … (75 comments)

Chattanooga Spirit of Innovation - 04/21/09 05:46 PM
The Chattanooga Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring the annual Spirit of Innovation luncheon this year on April 29. Stefan Jacoby, President and CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, is the keynot speaker.
The awards recognize Chattanooga "area companies whose innovative ideas resulted in a creative new product, service or way of doing business."
Six companies are finalists for the Kruesi Award which is given in honor of John Kruesi, a Swiss born immigran who immigrated to the United States and worked with Thomas Edison as the head machinist for many of Edison's key inventions.
The Kruesi Award is America's first community … (0 comments)

Library Thing - 04/20/09 09:36 PM
I stumbled on this online community for book lovers, especially book lovers with a lot of books. It has been around since May 2006. You can catalogue your books, make and receive book recommendation, participate in group discussions regarding any subject matter that interests you.
The cataloguing process is very helpful for me. Type in the ISBN and the book information loads. You can tag the book and search to find it when needed.
You can catalogue up to 200 books for free. Unlimited for $10 annual or $25 for life. There are over 600,000 members.
www.LibraryThing.com
Hope to see you … (2 comments)

NAMB reports HVCC reaction from Congress - 04/20/09 06:16 PM
NAMB had earlier withdrawn its lawsuit against the imminent changes to the appraisal ordering process. Last week it issued a "call to action" for mortgage brokers to contact their congressional representative to delay implementation of this disasterous requirement.
It has always seemed odd to me that the parties that were involved in the original law suit that brough about this settlement were representatives of the very entities that will now be trusted to protect against appraisal fraud: lenders and appraisal management companies.
Here is a copy of the original settlement announcement. For those who follow such things, it should not come as a surprise that Senator Schumer is … (1 comments)

FannieMae boss no raise - 04/20/09 05:07 PM
The Wall Street Journal has just reported that Michael J Williams, the Chief Operating Officer of Fannie Mae, has just been promoted to the position of president and CEO.  He will evidently not will not receive a raise this year along with his promotion. He will have to be satisfied with a base salary of $676,000 and incentives of about $1.04 million.
He has been with Fannie Mae since 1991, making him a part of the rise and fall of Fannie Mae, and a large part of the billion dollar losses the company has suffered in the credit crash since the fateful decision … (2 comments)

Rural Development Income Limits Increased - 04/20/09 10:56 AM
The Guaranteed Rural Housing program with Rural Development has always been a great loan. In the mad mortgage rush of previous years it had lost some popularity.
With the new income structure and the new income limits, the program will be even stronger.
Previously, income limits for many counties, including Hamilton County, TN, depended on the number of persons. There was a different income level for each additional person.
The new structure only has two income levels for the Guarantee Program: 1-4 persons and 5-8 persons. This increases the maximum income level for most families.
Additionally, effective also on 4/20 is the increase … (1 comments)

 
Richard Smith FHA VA Rural Development in TN GA Rainmaker_large

Richard Smith FHA VA Rural Development in TN GA

Chattanooga, TN

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