Getting A Mortgage Will Be More Difficult In 2014...Be Prepared!

The Dodd-Frank Act is finally being implemented, and it's rules are far-reaching. 

The creation of the Consumer Protection Act in 2010, which spawned the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The CFPB is the end-all, be-all for mortgage related activity, and it's expected that many large banks will scale down their mortgage operations (some might even close up shop) due to the risks involved under the new guidelines. 

Speaking of risk...the lenders themselves will have to take on more of it on each loan, so their own guidelines will get stricter (over and above Fannie/Freddie guidelines). In addition, you can surely bet that the added risk will be passed back to the consumer in the form of higher rates and costs. 

The best news about the new rules is that there should eventually be far less foreclosures. The bad news is that the underwriters will be scrutinizing each loan even harder than they do now. 

Here's a good article from Yahoo explaining some of the new changes:

http://homes.yahoo.com/news/refinance-by-january-2014-184251797.html

If you've been thinking about getting a mortgage, NOW is the time to do so, and avoid rising rates and stricter guidelines.