Today marks day 1 of the new brand...Bank of America Home Loans...finally putting an end to the Countrywide name.  Link here:  http://www.inman.com/news/2009/04/27/bofa-launches-loan-summary-form.  Countrywide has been hit hard in the mortgage meltdown and perhaps this new brand will help them over time...but I'm not sold.  Countrywide and BofA are miles apart when it comes to image and how they do business.  BofA has always played the buttoned down, coat and tie kind of company, and Countrywide...is...well...not so much.  Both certainly have had great runs and I'll be intersted to see how things shake out.  But as one former Countrywide loan officer asked me when they told me they were leaving, "Do you like BofA"?  Says a lot about what their own employees thought of the deal.

Also in the news today is a new bill aimed at removing incentives for mortgage brokers to put borrowers in risky loans.  Link here: http://www.inman.com/news/2009/04/27/sweeping-lending-bill-under-fire.  HR 1728, http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d111:h.r.01728: or the Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act of 2009...would require loan originators to determine a borrower's ability to repay a loan, and only refinance mortgages when there is a "net tangible benefit" to the consumer.  Hmmm...we'll wait and see but there is talk that it could backfire and actually hurt the very people it is trying to help.

Last week also marked a new pilot program between us, RealEstate.com, REALTORS in CA and Lending Tree Loans aka The Home Loan Center.  As sister companies under the Tree.com umbrella, I am excited to be able to tap into this great team and know that our customers will have the opportunity to interact not only with a great REALTOR, but also a tremendous team that specializes in purchase financing.  Lending Tree Loans is dedicated to providing the best possible service, rates and terms to their customers.  Add in the RealEstate.com, REALTORS dynamic call center that responds instantly to every inquiry and you have a team that stands ready to deliver top notch service to customers.  Lending Tree Loans can handle all of your conventional and FHA financing needs.  Check them out today at http://homeloancenter.com.