An article on the Pay Option Arm appeared on-line today at BusinessWeek Online and it sheds some light on this loan program. Pay Option Arms came into vogue in 2003 and 2004 when fixed interest rates started to increase but these loans were still offering low introductory or initial fixed rates. How? The Pay Option ARM uses what's called a lagging index, also known as a trailing index. For example, to determine the interest rate you would take the AVERAGE of the past 12 months of the COFI (Cost of Funds Index). So even if the COFI was starting to increase somewhat in step with 30 year fixed rates, the AVERAGE would bring the rate down today.

Mortgage Lenders like World Savings(recently acquired by Wachovia), IndyMac Bank and Downey Savings pushed the program through their wholesale sales force to loan officers and brokers. It's long been my opinion that very few loan officers know how these loans work so it is no suprise that borrowers often feel misled later on when the interest rate continues to increase.

I wrote an article on these programs titled "What is a Pay Option ARM?" which is posted on my blog at HomeLoanDFW.com. At the request of a reader and in response to a mortgage forum "war" held by a World Savings Wholesale Account Executive extolling the "greatness" of the Pay Option ARM, I wrote "Why you do NOT want a Pay Option Arm under most circumstances", which is published here.

The article on BusinessWeekOnline was very interesting because it included the performance and updated the current state of these loans.

"The bill is coming due. Many of the option ARMs taken out in 2004 and 2005 are resetting at much higher payment schedules -- often to the astonishment of people who thought the low installments were fixed for at least five years. And because home prices have leveled off, borrowers can't count on rising equity to bail them out. What's more, steep penalties prevent them from refinancing. The most diligent home buyers asked enough questions to know that option ARMs can be fraught with risk. But others, caught up in real estate mania, ignored or failed to appreciate the risk."

This is far from surprising. The start "teaser" rate on many of these loans was 1.00% and the COFI in October of 2003 was 2.408 compared to 4.502 today. That's a greater than 2% increase in 3 years. Think that's bad? Read on...

"There was plenty more going on behind the scenes they didn't know about, either: that their broker was paid more to sell option ARMs than other mortgages; that their lender is allowed to claim the full monthly payment as revenue on its books even when borrowers choose to pay much less; that the loan's interest rates and up-front fees might not have been set by their bank but rather by a hedge fund; and that they'll soon be confronted with the choice of coughing up higher payments or coughing up their home. The option ARM is "like the neutron bomb," says George McCarthy, a housing economist at New York's Ford Foundation. "It's going to kill all the people but leave the houses standing."

So basically, it benefitted the lender to put these loans on their books so they over-paid the broker or loan officer relative to other adjustable and fixed rate options. Being that I'm in Dallas which was recently reported as one of the top 3 markets for home foreclosure I hope these loans didn't gain much traction here. OH, and before you go thinking this loan program is just used in the coastal states like California or Florida...

"Through Mar. 31 of this year, at least 51% of mortgages in West Virginia and 26% in Wyoming were option ARMs."

YIKES! I haven't looked up the appreciation rate of West Virginia but that's one SCARY statistic. The real tragedy is in the underpayment of principal.

"Up to 80% of all option ARM borrowers make only the minimum payment each month, according to Fitch Ratings. The rest of the money gets added to the balance of the mortgage, a situation known as negative amortization. And once balances grow to a certain amount, the loans automatically reset at far higher payments. Most of these borrowers aren't paying down their loans; they're underpaying them up."

Now don't go thinking I gave you all the good parts of the article and there's no need to read the whole thing. That couldn't be farther from the truth. Please read it in its entirety.

©2006 Ken Stampe

Ken Stampe is a Mortgage Loan Originator, Mortgage Author and Mortgage Loan Officer Instructor living in Dallas, TX. Ken provided his first client a mortgage loan in 1996 and writes about home buying and mortgages to help clients make smart home mortgage loan decisions. Contact by email Ken@MortgageLoanDallas.com

What resource do SMART home buyers use?... Mortgage Calculator Bank.com

 

 
This post has been included in Texas Information

17 Comments on Pay Option Arms - Suicide in a Mortgage Loan

SEP
05
2006
210,638 Points 39 Featured Posts Outside Blog
I absolutely disagree. Pay Option ARM's are NOT for everyone. People who are using the POA as their only means for affording a home are making a mistake. I use the POA to free up cash flow on some high value properties that increase in value at least 3% per year. To qualify for a POA you MUST qualify for the fully amortized payment. There are some very simple formulas for determining whether a POA will work on a particulat property but, again, if the borrower is using the POA to free up money to spend on other items that will only increase in value, yes, it's a very bad idea. It's helping me to build wealth and when I have dealt with people about it we discussed all these points in detail. PAID MORE TO SELL POA's? HA! Especially not in Georgia. Ever heard of the Fair Lending Act? Lenders don't PAY more. Brokers CHARGE more to EARN more. Maybe it's different in Texas. Bad press for a great loan for people who can handle it and deserve it. By the way ... you CAN make principal reduction payments every month and you'll still pay down your principal at the same rate with a MUCH lower monthly payment. Guess I have another blog to write! Thanks - you still get an UP because, unlike some folks, I think if you take that much time to research and start a conversation based on your beliefs and research you get an UP.
10:16pm • #1
SEP
06
2006
6 Featured Posts

Ken, I love a spirited debate. Let me clear up one thing before I respond. I do not think that Pay Option ARMS are bad loans. Personally I had one for about a year when I bought my new house and had not yet sold my previous home. That said, when you see a statistic of over 50% of mortgages in West Virginia are Pay Option ARMS are you telling me they are creating wealth?

Let me also clarify the the issue of increased compensation for brokers on pay option arms. In 2004, IndyMac Bank was paying as high as 103.40 in yield to brokers on a pay option arm. Yes, they were buying up the margin and passing it on to the customer. Comparatively a 5/1 ARM was paying a max yield spread of around 102.25. So the broker could buy up to make more on the pay option arm. Also, the buyups on a 5/1 arm affect the interest rate and monthly payment. The buyups on a pay option arm affect the margin which does not affect the MINIMUM payment option and is harder for the customer to realize.

In your own words, POA when used to qualify for too much home, to free up money to spend on items that will not appreciate and it's not for everyone. Those were pretty much my points as well. When you see in that article that 80% of POA consumers are making the minimum payment it does not say if they are investing in appreciating assets but my suspicion is that a fairly low percentage are doing that with the savings.

Ken Stampe  HomeLoanDFW.com

3:58pm • #2
210,638 Points 39 Featured Posts Outside Blog

Hi Ken, after I commented on your blog (and gave you an UP rating ;) I reflected on some conversations I've had recently and some of the blogs I've seen not only on AR but on various other sites of interest related to real estate. We all write or speak from our own standpoint which created this blog My Own Little World Thanks from my own little world in Atlanta, Georgia! 

4:25pm • #3
210,638 Points 39 Featured Posts Outside Blog
And by the way ... there is a limit to YSP in Georgia so that's the HA! You got from My Little World. In other words what's true in Texas isn't necessarily so in Georgia. Evidently predatory lending is welcomed in West Virginia ... but then again that's a pretty liberal state government.
4:29pm • #4
SEP
07
2006
258,734 Points 102 Featured Posts Outside Blog

I'm not even going to start.  Blogging about the negative effects of neg am ARMs by mortgage brokers awfully Monday morning quarterback of us.

Let's stipulate that neg ams are not for everyone and not dwell on the mistakes so many borrowers made. 

The more we point fingers at each other, the less confidence it inspires in our industry. 

This is like saying that some people were unfairly pushed in FHA ARMs in the 90s and that people could lose there house if rates went up.

3:11am • #5
6 Featured Posts

Brian,

While I hold you in the highest regard, I think that to preclude blogging about historic mistakes is a mistake. Isn't it a true axiom that those who ignore the past are destined to repeat it? Furthermore, the blog I posted was in response to an article which is one of the first I've seen with data and performance.

In 2003, it was only theoretical that Option ARMs were being presented to borrowers that perhaps should not take them. Now that there are some statistics behind the usage, performance, etc. it feels timely to blog on the subject.

I'm afraid I also have to take issue with your statement that we should not "dwell on mistakes so many borrowers made". I think the issue is poor loan officer presentation of options instead of borrower mistakes. That issue is not only historical but also very much present in today's market.

Lastly, people WERE pushed into FHA Arms in the 90s who shouldn't have been. In the last couple of years people have been pushed into sub-prime loans on 2 or 3 year fixed rates in non-appreciating markets which have resulted in an increase of foreclosures. The mitigating issue worth blogging about is to me, that borrowers need to be aware of their choices and the pitfalls of potential loan programs.

1:16pm • #6
600,953 Points 34 Featured Posts Outside Blog Hit Router
Well, Apparently Texas has one Lender that will do the Pay Option ARM at 100% (80/20) as I got an ear full about it today.  I represent sellers on a property that was supposed to close on Aug 25... we're still waiting.  Since there is only 1 lender doing this, starting just a couple of weeks ago, apparently LO in the area sent them files, and now there's  a back up of files.  The LO finally made the decision to send the file to her normal lender and the buyer is going to bite the bullet with 7% instead of 2.5%, but my sellers are sick of waiting for this to close!
9:58pm • #7
SEP
14
2006
210,638 Points 39 Featured Posts Outside Blog

NAMB Responds to BusinessWeek Article

NAMB President Harry Dinham, this week sent a strong rebuke to BusinessWeek Magazine for its inaccurate and irresponsible portrayal of Mortgage Brokers in a September 11 story about the rising popularity and dangers of pay option ARM loans. Read the NAMB letter to BusinessWeek or the BusinessWeek article.

3:55pm • #8
6 Featured Posts

Ken,

I concur with the vast majority of Harry Dinham's response the accusations and defamation of the overall character of mortgage brokers. However, he only marginally defended the pay option arm loan and didn't discredit any of the statistical information reported by Business Week. Furthermore, his statement that,

"Your ‘explanation’ for the burgeoning popularity of pay option ARMs is to cast blame on mortgage brokers for steering consumers into loans that pay the highest commissions. Both accusations are false. Steering is illegal, and in fact, there is no clear advantage to the broker to sell these loans."

While I respect that in Georgia there may be restrictions, I can assure you that in the 7 state region I covered as a regional wholesale manager for a very predominant pay option arm lender there was more premium to be built into the YSP on the POA then on other ARM programs. I can tell you there were specific loan officers that pushed the POA because they could make more on the loan in YSP without buying up the start rate.

In sum, I still like the Pay Option Arm and have it in my "arsenal". However, it is a loan program that continues to be originated by loan officers who cannot fully explain it to the borrower.

Ken Stampe  HomeLoanDFW.com

10:09pm • #9
SEP
15
2006
210,638 Points 39 Featured Posts Outside Blog
And thus my continued thrust for required licensing and CE's for every loan originator. Not just the broker or one designated employee, but every loan officer in the United States regardless of there affiliation whether direct lender, mortgage broker, state or federally chartered banking institution, or any other organization. If it loans money on primary residences and it has employees and it talks to customers - even if it is one of the national dot coms who have "loan operators" I am pushing for licensing. Licensing and CE's won't stop it all but it will slow it down. And you're right, my defense of the POA is better than Mr. Dinham's but I'm likely a better communicator. ;)
9:22am • #10
FEB
27
2007

The negative press of pay option ARMs (and now stated income loans) is the result of a huge influx of inexperienced individuals into the mortgage industry who were lured by the idea of a "Quick Buck".  The Pay Option ARM while its popularity is only in the last couple years has been around for at least 15 years.  It is a case of inexperienced people selling something they don't know enough about, to people who know even less.  I think that Pay Option ARMs, when explained to the borrower completely, can be a good loan for just about anyone.  It is also an ideal loan for specific types of borrowers.  I have one on my own house, not for the minimum payment, but for the flexibility of payments.  In our industries, or anything commission based, there is the eb and flow of income on a monthly basis.  So for me it is an ideal loan, if I have a slow month I can make the minimum payment instead of paying for groceries with a credit card, and on heavy months when I barely have time to get to closing let alone go grocery shopping I can make a 15 year payment.

1:03pm • #11
MAR
14
2007

Great blog Ken.  I have to agree with your comments.  I educate and steer borrowers away from this loan almost daily.  I think as loan officers it's important to help our customers understand what their net worth will be over time. 

9:03pm • #12
APR
12
2007

PAY OPTION ARM LOANS

THE EQUIVALENT OF LAMBS LED TO SLAUGHTER

"Option ARMs are the best-executing product in the market right now,

despite the market noise," said Brad Morrice, chief executive officer

at Irvine, California-based New Century Financial Corp. The company

is selling non-prime loans at about 102 1/2 cents on the dollar,

compared with option ARMs "north of 104," he said."

He said just before they went under!

American Home Mortgage - The Pitch

"The Asset Builder Loan is the most efficient way to finance any real estate. As its name implies, this loan gives you the power of cash flow to help grow your asset base. The additional cash flow generated for you every month via a negatively amortizing feature allows you to channel funds for greater rates of return than sending them to us! The loan frees up cash flow for the borrower in a way that allows for control over more real estate for a given monthly payment. The more real estate you control, the faster you accumulate equity, the faster you accumulate equity, the faster you eliminate debt.

Real estate is usually the largest asset owned by most people. Traditional approaches to financing real estate with fully amortizing long term loans of 15 to 30 year terms produce very little "bang for your buck" when it comes to accelerated equity appreciation. These loans offer absolutely no flexibility when it comes to monthly payment choices. The Asset Builder Loan, with its three monthly payment choices is designed to give you complete payment flexibility, putting you in the drivers seat when it comes to choosing how much to pay the bank every month.

We have produced some unique calculators to help understand our loan products more clearly. Your real estate investment advisor will be happy to answer any questions."

The Calculators

SUMMARY Based on a $500,000 Loan

Traditional Fixed Loan Payments: $3,078.59

Your savings over 5 years: $88,988.16

Your home's appreciation over 5 years: $169,112.79 (according their calculators default setting of appreciation of 5% per year)

So they are implying you will be ahead $258, 100.95 with no deductions or offsets.

This ranks right up there with the "phantom profits" they claim associated with this loan.

Do you see any negative amortization figured in?

Do you see that if the home doesn't appreciate but instead depreciates, and if the negative amortization is figured in the figure will actually be a negative number of savings?

If the house depreciates as is happening in many markets, then the scenario is as follows. Reduced payment savings $88,988 over five years as presented.

Minus negative amortization of at least $133,482 +(more if interest rates go up as these loans float on indexes and margins) Savings is now (-44,494)

Minus depreciation of just 10% in the entire five years, not per year. Savings is now

(-$94,494)

Minus costs incurred in closing the refinance into this loan in the first place and the closing cost to re-sell, as homeowners can't afford the recast payment. (-144,494)

For a whopping savings of ZERO with a debt load of -$144,494.

So if your home was worth $500,000 and then the adjustments above take place, you will have to pay someone $144, 494 to buy your home just to get out of it. Not an unlikely scenario considering real estate values are deflating not appreciating in most markets. If somehow you hold the keys to a fabulous property that achieves that rate of appreciation in a declining market and the promised appreciation actually takes place, it will not provide you with a savings of $258,100 as shown in their calculators. Actually even under that scenario if you account for the negatively amortized principal it would actually be $123,582. So five years from now if somehow as if by magic the real estate market flies off the charts again, you "might" be okay. This is a huge gamble for the average American family. The gamble: Bankruptcy and foreclosure or a little profit and solvency. In the theories presented everyone should be taking the little bit of savings in their monthly payment and investing it in even more real estate to gain assets and build wealth. Well if you use that strategy right now, I know you need to see a doctor. But wait, maybe in just a few months now the new strategy will be to help all their rich friends buy up all the foreclosed real estate and rent it back to us. After they've driven half of the Nation into foreclosure, the rich investors can come in a steal their houses for pennies on the dollar. I knew there was a bright spot for them.

 

Some people have asked, or outright accused borrowers, Are you stupid? No one could offer an interest rate of 1%. I was recently asked this question by a professor, who is a CPA at a major university. My reply to him was as follows: When you get the first hundred direct mail flyers offering 1% you throw them away with just that thought. Then somewhere in the middle of the next 100 flyers which state boldly; 1% Don't miss out, 1.25% Why pay more, 1.9% This is the best product in the market, you start to think, hmm, maybe I'm stupid not to do this. Then you bite and call the number on the flyer, you just pick one from the pile that has the lowest rate. 1%. The far away voice on the other side says; this is a great deal, I can do this for you. With that you start the process. You shell out $400 for an appraisal that the anonymous voice says he wants right away. It ordered the same day. He rushes you saying rates can change at any time. If your credit scores drops even a little I may not be able to do this for you. So you move quickly. Then the bait-and-switch ensues. No Good Faith Estimate is provided right away. He waits a little while to make sure the appraisal is done and you have some money invested in the transaction already. Then he tells you only verbally what your house is worth. The appraisal is not provided even though you paid for it. He says your house is worth a bundle, you're sitting on a gold mine! Then the Good Faith Estimate arrives and the terms look like what he said. Overall it looks okay. Then between Good Faith and final closing only two weeks later, every term, every fee, is all changed. You start to bulk, but the faceless voice reassures you and says this is still a great deal because you are getting a 1% interest rate and your house is worth a bundle. So reluctantly you go forward, it's too late to start over with someone else. But now, with the first tinge of sickness in your stomach, you are uneasy. The settlement service notary who was forced on you by the lender comes to your house to do the settlement. No meaningful conversation is conducted. He just says sign here, sign there, while your kids are distracting you screaming in the background. The loan begins and two months later you get your first statement. It still doesn't reveal much because you got the 1% for the first month and nowhere is there an accounting for negative amortization. Then the next statement comes and you get the first real look at what you just did. BAM. You realize you just committed financial suicide. This loan went from the euphoria of the direct mail flyer of a 1% interest rate, to the sinking feeling something smelled, to I'm dead. All of the sudden what you thought, what you were promised is not at all what you got. So to all those who just say the borrower was stupid, consider the sophistication of the manipulation. The control the lender executes through a web of things under their total control. I like to say that there is a disconnect for people. In the past lenders made you jump through hoops to get a loan. They cared if you would be able to pay for the loan they gave you. So people have a tendency to think lenders wouldn't be offering them a bad loan they couldn't afford. There also is a level of trust earned by years of legitimate banking. Bankers and lenders, in the not so distant past, have been the pillars of communities. Respected, as upstanding citizens. Considered financial experts. Now these fly by night, take their profits and run lenders are nothing more then white-collar criminals leading the lambs to slaughter. If our government doesn't step up and stop them, the crisis we are seeing now will increase ten fold. Why? Because as more and more homeowners are becoming stressed financially, these companies are now pushing the Pay Option Negative Amortizing Arms as a solution to their problems to lower payments. The new pitch, Arms are resetting better lower your payments. The Pay Option Arm can do that for you. More and more homeowners desperate for a solution will bite. Everyone will be doing no more then renting their house until the reset happens then losing their house because they can't pay. What's the next pitch going to be then? Rent this house from one of the 2 million we own. Maybe you can rent your house from your lender after they can't sell it for a year or more. I was horrified to see some lenders who already were put out of business have started up again under different names. Synergy is now Citizen Trust Financial Group. Sounds like a trustworthy name, doesn't it. Until you look up Synergy's past. Then there's the new lenders, just now starting to offer this loan. I shook my head in disbelief. Even as Wall street investment firms sue lenders to buy back loans, new lenders are rolling out this "financial tool to build wealth" loan. Is this a joke? If it is I don't want to see the punch line. With real estate prices falling how can a negatively amortizing loan be good for anyone. Principal goes up while value goes down. Consider this.

 

Selling Benefits to the lender on the 1% Pay Option Arm

Lenders can mislead borrowers by using the 1% to alter the APR thereby making them appear less then they actually are.

Lenders can mislead borrowers as to interest rate they will actually be charged.

Lenders can qualify people at a lower rate.

Lenders can charge a higher rate by using margins and indexes.

Benefits to Lender Beyond Sale of Loan.

GAAP-Lender can count full payments as income on books (phantom profits) when they are receiving less then half of the payment.

Investors pay more for these high yield loans.

Profits from affiliates and divisions on closing charges for transaction itself.

Profits from "selling off" the loans they create with no regard to performance of loans.

Falsely presented value of companies stock using phantom profits to investors. Owners, officers of company take huge profits selling stock. Golden Parachutes.

Company executives take huge salaries before the company implodes. Golden Parachutes.

Benefits for Borrowers?

Temporarily, slightly lowers the monthly payment while adding a huge amount monthly to the principal balance of their loan.

Tragedy for Everyone

Investment firms will be left holding the bag when lenders can't buy back loans.

Individual investors (lambs led to slaughter) will own worthless stocks.

Borrowers (lambs led to slaughter) will be in bankruptcy and foreclosure.

Government ( helped create the problem) will somehow have to pick up the pieces of the broken lives and economy as a whole.

Everyone's house prices will fall with the foreclosures dumped on the market.

Taxpayers will pay for the government services all these, bankrupt, homeless families will need.

Is it criminal?

The concept that they offer is, That it is a tool to build wealth and eliminate debt.

The lender could only argue they offered this loan because they believed in the concept behind it if they were the ones holding the risk associated with it. But they are not. They sell them quickly off to someone else to assume the risk. Also, if it is such a great product, then why have so many of them gone to such great lengths to conceal the nature of the loan. Why not call it what it is, not a pay option arm, A NEGATIVELY AMORTIZING ARM.

Why don't they send out flyers boldly stating:

1% TEASER RATE FOR 1 Month* so we can qualify you into a loan you couldn't otherwise qualify for. But it's okay that's enough for us to get it through investors.**

Just for YOU a NEGATIVELY Amortized Interest of 8%*** which will increase monthly due to floating with the index and based on your margin****- This is way better then that crummy rate of 5.25% you have locked in now and pay every month. Pay a little less now and-PAY a lot later!***** It's the American Way. ******And when the payment comes due, don't worry, we'll refinance you for being a VERY SPECIAL CUSTOMER!*******

*If your loan closes on the 6rd of the month then your teaser rate will only be 24 days.

** Investors deserve to be duped, because they pay us high commissions to steer you into these loans.

*** As your balance increases with Negatively Amortized Interest you will be charged interest on the interest we are deferring in this great program. Don't worry your house is worth a bundle.

****Index figure can be found by....well....you look it up, it's at the library or you can write the board of Governors. Your margin will be determined by your race, gender, and overall intelligence. You know, by how much we can screw you and get away with it.

***** If your house depreciates instead of appreciating you will owe us a lot of money you will not have the money to pay. Don't worry we'll foreclose if you can't sell and take the problem off your hands.

******When you are already trillions of dollars in credit debt, what's a few hundred thousand more between friends. Besides our CEO needs a new Ferrari, he got drunk and totaled the last one. Boys will be boys.

******By the time your bill comes due we will have figured out some kind of rent to own loan, or lets face it anything can happen you could get hit by a car tomorrow. Live for today! None of us really own anything anyway.

THIS IS GREAT!! CALL ME TODAY!!!

We can make this loan happen by:

  1. Sending you a very generous company friendly appraiser.
  2. Filing out your loan application and making sure it reads like a good story.
  3. Violating a few minor federal and state laws like TILA, RESPA, RICO, DBPA, Consumer Protection Act, ECOA, etc. No big deal. The fines are minor.
  4. We'll read you a fairytale called the "Good Faith Estimate."
  5. We'll not disclose and not bog you down with the details in the fine print. We know you're really busy and stressed out and really don't understand anyway.
  6. We'll give you the feel good treatment for one month with a 1% interest rate.
  7. We'll promise you that real estate will appreciate and just stick to "Happy Talk" so as not to depress you.
  8. We'll pay the broker an exorbitant YSP for, um, well we're not quite sure for what. Oh yeah, now I remember, sorry brain freeze, for slamming you good.
  9. When the regulators are on to all of our games, don't worry we'll find another way to make this loan, or a hybrid of this loan. We're the masters of disguise.
  10. Don't bother reading the disclaimers, just relax sit back and watch your TV and wait for your house to grow cash and riches to fall from the sky.
  11. We'll delay your pay off for a few days so you can pay the interest on two loans for a few days. We really hate to ask to do this but it's been a rough year for us and we're doing you such a big favor giving you this loan. Being a woman, self-employed and with all that debt, all things considered, no one else would give you such a great deal. We are just charging a little extra for that over what we would charge if you were a white male in the same circumstances.
  12. Don't worry about us though, even if the regulators come after us, and Wall Street investors force us to buy back loans, we'll be back real soon with a new name and we have your name on our mailing list under, Gullible, we be in touch with our new and exciting programs.

See you soon. Oh, you think you won't recognize us under our new name. You will by the outrageous programs we will be offering. We'll even tell you who we used to be. The regulators will take years to catch up with us again. By that time we will have made another billion. No worries, it's all-good.

Paula
5:45pm • #13
APR
20
2007
5 Featured Posts Localism Sponsor Outside Blog

Ken, good post. POA's are a great tool for those who truly understand them and are willing to micromanage their mortgage, but for the majority they will default to the minimum payment. I like the new hybrids better, fixed rate for 5 years, but they are still fraught with danger if all they do is pay the minimum.

I also agree that many LO's have specialized in POA as they could make 3 pts YSP.

It seems that POA's should at the minimum be treated like Reverse Mortgages and require special licensing...

9:52am • #14
JUN
12
2007

Ken, thank you for taking the time to write on this and other subjects of interest. 

While many comments and opinions are listed here, I stand by the belief that the Negatively Amortizing ARM aka PayOption, PickAPayment, Option ARM, et al are a great loan program for the right borrower.  We as mortgage professionals, the ones who actually determine borrower suitability before making any type of loan recommendation have a responsibility to our communities, borrowers, lenders, and to ourselves. 

Those who offered the NegAms to borrowers who shouldn't have been in them in the first place are not mortgage professionals in my opinion, they do not hold any regard for others nor themselves.  What do I mean?  Think about it, those non-professionals hyped and sold these loans to borrowers who really couldn't accept the risk through a declining home values or increased mortgage payments, are huring themselves since their own homes will also rise and fall with the local economy based upon job performance, sales, etc. 

NegAm Loans are a great tool, however for the average consumer they are a Suicide Loan indeed a foreclosure waiting to happen . There is an excellent report about the NegAm Loan at www.homeloans.cc Consumer Alerts Report #2.

More than likely the loan officer who explained it to the borrower doesn't even really understand how it works themselves, nor to they care, since they were offered over 3% YSP while providing the borrwer a nice 3.75% or 4%+ margin, very nice indeed (NOT).  

Those loan officers who jumped in the business, rode high on the hog and took advantage of the consumer are probably not in business today, I even want to go as far as stating that most, if not all of them weren't even licensed.   Frankly, I am glad that many of those loan officers, lenders, realtors, and the like are out of business and am greatful that more of them will soon be exiting as they begin to default on their own mortgages by overextending themselves and allowing greed to get the best of them.

Currently, I am aware of an experienced "loan officer" in my local who purchased his McMansion in early 2004 for $340,000, borrowing $323,000 from First Franklin.   In Decemer of the same year he borrowed another $100,000 from a "private lender".  Then at nearly the PEAK of the market in July 2005 he refinanced to just over $450,000 with New Centrury at 6.625%. The market was still increasing slightly in early 2006 when he borrowed another $55,000 from the same "private lender".    In December of 2006 he was served with a Notice of Default and then in February 2007 was served with a Notice of Trustee Sale.  According to "sources", he was able to salvage (reinstate) his home and brought the $26+ in payments, penalties, arreas and fees current.   I am not sure what will happen to this guy and how the events will truly unfold, however if he is foreclosed upon he will be able to get out from under the debt and the lenders who hold the paper will suffer losses.  He may be issued a 1099-C Cancelled Debt notice from his lender(s), which will get reported to the IRS as income, which will further increase his already mounting tax liablities, etc etc, do you see a pattern here? 

I know that no one is immune from the effects of overextending yourself, which was clearly the case, otherwise why would he encumber his property to over $500,000 or by 50% more than he paid of it only a few years ago?  Perhaps he also believed that "real estate never goes down, its an always appreciating asset..." right?  Right...

Recently, I had lunch with a title representative who lost his position with a national title company.  He was earning about 17k a month at his peak and he spent ALL of it.  Currently his home, which he purchased in mid-2005 at the peak for $390,000 is hitting the foreclosure streets.  He has no means of stopping the foreclosure. He has a new industry job earning about $55,000 yearly, a far cry from his $200k gig.  His expenses, all inclusive are about 12k per month, and while earning 6k puts most of those expenses into the toilet his general outlook is positive.  He made a big mistake and he knows he'll pay of it too. 

During the housing value peaks, I saw another "experienced" loan officer/broker actually, struggle through various foreclosures of his own home and rentals.  Matter of fact, recently he had one of his rentals on the foreclosure streets that sold at auction.  The reason he didn't salvage it was due in part to the large IRS liens attached to it.  Wow!  We all win some and lose some is what he told me in so many words.

These people and others like them are representing our clients and they are having difficulty managing their own affairs.  Can they offer good advice?  Are they able to offer their borrowers good counsel while they are one wave from drowning themselves? Would you seek counsel from these people?  Did they make mistakes?  Can they learn from them, will they? 

As mortgage professionals we have a duty, a responsibility, an ethical viability to counsel our clients the bet way we can, no matter the product.  I applaude all of you who uphold these covenants and practice sensible and responsible lending, guiding your clients, borrowers, and prospects to the best of your abilities. 

Thank you.

PS Kudos to "Paula" for her entertaining and oddly true reality of the way things are...

 

1:53pm • #15
AUG
03
2007

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Ken Stampe iBrandPlan

Dallas, TX

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