I have never aligned myself with Democrats or Republicans. In fact, I am a proud independent and have always given my votes to the candidates that I feel best represent my personal interests politically regardless of their party affiliation. I voted for Clinton. I voted for Bush. There are many issues that I lean towards the right on and others that make me go left. While I always vote, the mortgage crisis has definitely taught me a lesson in politics. More importantly, it has taught me that our votes really matter. Due to impending anti-predatory lending legislation both at the state level as well as federal, there is a very real possibility my ability to run a succesful mortgage practice will be threatened. In short, now it is personal.
Unfortunately, while Republicans have remained largley silent and appear to be taking a "let the market work itself out approach", Democratic politicians have not wasted anytime pointing fingers at mortgage brokers and trying to find yet another big government solution. In fact, when it comes to my industry, Democractic policiticians have shown great skill at ignoring facts and vote pandering in the worst kind of way.
At the State Level:
Locally, Illinois legislators recently passed SB1167 which is probably the harshest anti-predatory lending law in country. The law essentially forces mandatory credit counsleing on homeowners and buyers and outlaws stated income loans. While I am sure the legislators hearts are in the right place, the law is so void of common sense and practicality that it really makes me wonder about the legislators qualifications in other areas. I will discuss the serious flaws in this law in more detail at a later date but you can read all about it in the Wall Street Journal.
At the Federal Level:
Nationally, issues in the mortgage market have not gone unnoticed by Senators, Congressman, and Presidential candidates. In fact, it seems like every Democratic politician is vying for air time to provide their uninformed opinion. They just want to make everyone think they are going after the evil predatory lenders. While I won't go over each politicians' proposals (Obama, Hillary, Dodd, Schumer, Frank, et al), there are several key themes in all of their proposals that I am going to address over the next week or so. But to give you some flavor as to what may be coming down the pipe from our representatives:
- Elimination of yield spread premiums
- Increased disclosure of yield spread premiums
- Making stated income loans illegal
- Requiring mortgage brokers to be fiduciaries
- National licensing of mortgage brokers
- Elimination of prepayment penalties
- Mandatory tax and insurance escrows
To the uninformed, a lot of these proposals sound good on paper. Just like ejector seats on helicopters or screen doors on submarines. However, when you really look at what is being proposed, it does not look good and most of these proposals violate 10th grade economics. Nevertheless, I would advise my industry cohorts to think long and hard about who you are voting for and why. Your future is at stake. Remember, it is your pocket book they are coming after.
have never aligned myself with Democrats or Republicans. In fact, I am a proud independent and have always given my votes to the candidates that I feel best represent my personal interests politically regardless of their party affiliation. I voted for Clinton. I voted for Bush. There are many issues that I lean towards the right on and others that make me go left.While I always vote, the mortgage crisis has definitely taught me a lesson in politics. More importantly, it has taught me that our votes really matter. Due to impending anti-predatory lending legislation both at the state level as well as federal, there is a very real possibility my ability to run a succesful mortgage practice will be threatened. In short, now it is personal.
Unfortunately, while Republicans have remained largley silent and appear to be taking a "let the market work itself out approach", Democratic politicians have not wasted anytime pointing fingers at mortgage brokers and trying to find yet another big government solution. In fact, when it comes to my industry, Democractic policiticians have shown great skill at ignoring facts and vote pandering in the worst kind of way.
At the State Level:
Locally, Illinois legislators recently passed SB1167 which is probably the harshest anti-predatory lending law in country. The law essentially forces mandatory credit counsleing on homeowners and buyers and outlaws stated income loans. While I am sure the legislators hearts are in the right place, the law is so void of common sense and practicality that it really makes me wonder about the legislators qualifications in other areas. I will discuss the serious flaws in this law in more detail at a later date but you can read all about it in the Wall Street Journal.
At the Federal Level:
Nationally, issues in the mortgage market have not gone unnoticed by Senators, Congressman, and Presidential candidates. In fact, it seems like every Democratic politician is vying for air time to provide their uninformed opinion. They just want to make everyone think they are going after the evil predatory lenders. While I won't go over each politicians' proposals (Obama, Hillary, Dodd, Schumer, Frank, et al), there are several key themes in all of their proposals that I am going to address over the next week or so. But to give you some flavor as to what may be coming down the pipe from our representatives:
- Elimination of yield spread premiums
- Increased disclosure of yield spread premiums
- Making stated income loans illegal
- Requiring mortgage brokers to be fiduciaries
- National licensing of mortgage brokers
- Elimination of prepayment penalties
- Mandatory tax and insurance escrows
To the uninformed, a lot of these proposals sound good on paper. Just like ejector seats on helicopters or screen doors on submarines. However, when you really look at what is being proposed, it does not look good and most of these proposals violate 10th grade economics. Nevertheless, I would advise my industry cohorts to think long and hard about who you are voting for and why. Your future is at stake. Remember, it is your pocket book they are coming after.
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