Mortgages and Housing: Getting to Know PTFA, Financial Counseling Paper, Who Owns Your Mortgage, MI Class Action vs MERS, Mineral Rights Problems, $545B MBS in QE3, Trading Drachma, FHA: All Is Well, More Transparent Appraisal Forms, Japan and USA, Home Sales Contracts Fall

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(vague law and 3 court cases) Eviction Edicts: The PTFA Undergoes Further Refinement – BY BENJAMIN C. STRUBY – … Some significant changes have come in the form of new eviction requirements, perhaps none more significant than the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act of 2009 (PTFA). … The combination of unanswered questions and imprecise language regarding issues such as eligibility, timing, legal remedies and other critical details has created a set of circumstances that was (and still is) ripe for debate and dispute. … – (has 3 rulings) – MortgageOrb

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(has the white paper) Holistic Financial Counseling Can Help Avoid Big Foreclosure Losses – BY MORTGAGEORB.COM – Holistic financial counseling that considers more than just mortgage-related expenses is critical to preventing foreclosures and reducing recidivism rates among modified loans, a new study says. According to the study, released by Peachtree, Ga.-based mortgage consultant firm STRATMOR Group and sponsored by specialty servicer Outreach Financial Services, holistic financial counseling could reduce losses on a 10,000-file loan portfolio by as much as $71.5 million. The findings of the study are available in a white paper titled “The Impact of Consumer Credit Counseling on Distressed Mortgage Loan Losses.”
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(other good questions answered) How to find out who owns your mortgage – By Lew Sichelman – Marketwatch

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Lawsuit against mortgage firms now a class action – By Don Reid – The Daily Reporter – A lawsuit against a majority of Michigan’s mortgage service firms has been converted into a class action for the state’s 83 counties, after it was filed locally by Branch County Register of Deeds Nancy Hutchins. The new suit, filed in Ingham County Circuit Court by Hutchins and Curtis Hertel, Jr., the Ingham County Register of Deeds, alleges the Mortgage Electronic Registration Services (MERS) and others owe millions of dollars in property title transfer taxes. … The suit is expected to have national implications and may end in federal court. …
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Mortgage Lenders Are Becoming Increasingly Concerned With Gas and Oil Leases Associated With Hydraulic Fracturing – By:Sedgwick LLP – … Recent reports indicate that mortgage lenders are becoming increasingly concerned with the growing number of gas and oil leases on mortgaged land. In most instances, a mortgage is secured by both the "surface" and "subsurface" rights to the land. As a result, the terms of the mortgage generally include the requirement that the landowner: (1) obtain prior permission from the lender before entering into a lease; (2) protect the property from damage, and (3) prohibit the storage of hazardous materials on the land. Some mortgages also include a rider specifically prohibiting the landowner from leasing mineral, oil or gas rights. … – JDSupra.com
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Dealers See Fed Buying $545 Billion Mortgage Bonds in QE3 – By Daniel Kruger and Cordell Eddings – Bloomberg

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ICAP Testing Trades In Greek Drachma Against Dollar and Euro – Michael Shedlock – ICAP Plc, the world’s largest inter-dealer broker (one that carries out transactions for financial institutions rather than private individuals), is now Testing Trades In Greek Drachma Against Dollar, Euro. ICAP Plc is preparing its electronic trading platforms for Greece’s potential exit from the euro and a return to the drachma, senior executives at the inter-dealer broker said Sunday. – MISH’S Global Economic Trend Analysis

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What Housing Risk? The FHA says there’s nothing for taxpayers to worry about. Oh-oh. – … Far from making "spurious" claims, Mr. Gyourko is doing a public service by chronicling the FHA’s reckless expansion at a time when the housing market needs less government intervention, not more of it. The fury of the FHA’s response shows that he’s onto something. … – WSJ Opinion
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Groups Ask CFPB for More Transparent Appraisal Forms – BY: ABBY GREGORY – Do appraisal forms and documents need more transparency? At least one trade group says yes. The Appraisal Institute joined together with other organizations to petition the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau for stronger buyer communication when it comes to information about appraisal costs and settlement forms. – The M Report
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(thoughtful has good charts) Reinventing Japan’s economic lost decades in the United States: Seven charts tracking the parallels between the lost decades in Japan and our approach to a first lost decade. Young adults moving back at home reflecting societal changes experienced in Japan. – Dr. Housing Bubble
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Home sales contracts are falling apart 2X as fast as last year – Mandleman Matters – In a rare moment of semi-lucid disclosure, the National Association of Realtors (“NAR”) reported that home sales contracts are falling apart TWICE as often as they did last year, according to the numbers released at its annual convention in Anaheim, California.

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For Rob Chrisman’s latest daily post, click here.

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Loan Originator Compensation–The Regulatory Examination

The easy part is over. Now the real fun begins.

 

Commentary: Jonathan Foxx *

Lenders Compliance Group

 

Since April 6, 2011, the mortgage industry has been required to implement the new loan originator compensation rules (Rule). The Rule applies to closed-end transactions secured by a dwelling where the creditor receives a loan application on or after April 6, 2011. The Rule placed restrictions on residential mortgage loan transactions in order to protect consumers against the unfairness, deception, and abuse that can arise with certain loan origination compensation practices, generally prohibits payments to loan originators based on loan terms and conditions, eliminates dual compensation to originators by consumers and any other person, and prohibits “steering” consumers to loans to receive greater compensation.

 

I have extensively explored the features of this Rule, unraveling its complexity in articles, newsletters, presentations, and panels. Indeed, I have even published a compendium of analysis, called the FAQs Outline – Loan Originator Compensation, which, as of this writing, consists of over 400 FAQs and reaches to over 130 pages. These are deep and narrow waters, and considerable caution is needed in order to navigate their many demanding twists and turns.

 

The development of these rules, from a regulatory perspective, stretches back to August 26, 2009, when the Federal Reserve Board (FRB) published a Proposed Rule in the Federal Register pertaining to closed-end credit; to July 21, 2010, when the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank) enacted Title XIV into law, which amended the Truth in Lending Act (TILA) to establish certain mortgage loan origination standards; then to August 16, 2010, when the FRB published its Final Rules amending Regulation Z (TILA’s implementing regulation); on through September 24, 2010, as the FRB issued final rulemaking and official staff commentary with respect to the loan originator compensation rules and anti-steering provisions (Rule); and finally coming to a virtual full stop on January 26, 2011, when the FRB issued its “Compliance Guide for Small Entities on Loan Originator Compensation and Steering.” After that, the FRB offered some conference calls, a webinar – which cleared up some confusion, while causing still other confusion – and occasional updates of the oral, rather than the written, official variety.

 

When April 6, 2011 arrived, the mortgage industry was still scrambling to understand the Rule, how to implement it across various origination channels, and, most importantly, how to integrate it into operational, logistical, and financial components. Vendors provided considerable updates and integration features. Nevertheless, for months afterward the Rule continued to perplex and frustrate, particularly with respect to properly implementing disclosures and compensation plans. It still causes considerable consternation.

 

As we all know, generally there is no regulation issued – whether the statutes are at the federal or state level – that does not have a corresponding regulatory examination to assure enforcement. And so it goes: on October 6, 2011 – exactly six months to the day when the Rule became effective – the first examination guidelines for loan originator compensation were promulgated.

 

 

* Jonathan Foxx is the President and Managing Director of Lenders Compliance Group

 

LENDERS COMPLIANCE GROUP is the first and only full service, mortgage risk management firm in the country that specializes exclusively in residential mortgage compliance. The firm provides risk management outsourcing to the mortgage industry, offering a full suite of hands-on and automated services in residential mortgage banking.

Mortgages and Housing: AGs Without CA, Realtors Blame Banks, REO Decreased, Shadow Inventory 45 Months, Defending Sin in the Game, Break-In Case, Zillow Forecast, Bob Corker on GSEs, Jumbo FHAs for the Rich, 80 is the New 65, QE3 Coming

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States moving on smaller U.S. mortgage probe deal – (Reuters) – States are crafting a scaled-back mortgage abuses settlement with top U.S. banks that would exclude California, one of the states hardest hit by foreclosures and falling home prices. The smaller settlement would mean that the big banks would pay less in fines. The proposed $25 billion deal could come down by as much as a quarter without California, according to people familiar with the discussions. But it would also keep the banks exposed to legal claims in that state’s large, distressed market.

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realtors blame banks for failing to inflate a replacement housing bubble – by IrvineRenter – Irvine Housing Blog

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(great charts) FDIC-insured institutions’ 1-4 Family Real Estate Owned (REO) decreased in Q3 – by CalculatedRisk – The FDIC released the Quarterly Banking Profile today for Q3. The report showed that 1-4 family Real Estate Owned (REO) by FDIC insured institutions declined to $11.9 billion in Q3, from $12.1 billion in Q2 – and from a record $14.76 billion in Q3 2010. … Of course this is just a small portion of the total 1-4 family REO. Here is a graph showing REO inventory for Fannie, Freddie, FHA1, Private Label Securities (PLS), and FDIC insured institutions. (economist Tom Lawler has provided some of this data). …
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S&P: 45 months to clear shadow inventory – by KERRI PANCHUK – Housingwire
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(about QRM) DEFENDING SKIN-IN-THE-GAME IN THE MARKET FOR RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGES – by Vishal Mahadkar – Fordham Corporate Law Forum
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Federal Judge Refuses to Dismiss Bank Break-In Case Against JP Morgan, Lender Processing Services – Yves Smith – … One case that got national attention was that of Nancy Jacobini. A company hired by JP Morgan to manage properties broke into her home while she was inside even though the property was not in foreclosure: And to add insult to injury, the bank broke in a second time, after Jacobini had filed suit in Federal court. The lame excuses made, that she was not paying her utilities and had abandoned the house, were simply untrue. … – Naked Capitalism

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Zillow Forecast for Case-Shiller House Price Index – by CalculatedRisk – The Case-Shiller Home Price Indices for September will be released next Tuesday, November 29th. Zillow chief economist Stan Humphries put out a forecast for the Case-Shiller HPI yesterday: Zillow Forecast: September Case-Shiller Composite-20 Expected to Show 3.2% Decline from One Year Ago
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Opinions: Moving beyond Freddie and Fannie – By Bob Corker – …  But we have come to a point where continued inaction impedes the ability of the private market to take over a function the government has completely mismanaged. We must move beyond Fannie and Freddie, immediately. This task will not be politically easy.  … – Washington Post 

and
Washington Post Helps Senator Corker Spread the Big Lie on Fannie and Freddie – Dean Baker, CEPR – Business Insider Politix
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(on jumbo conforming loans to high income people) The nation’s housing: FHA takes on a new role – By Ken Harney – … What ultimately emerged from the legislative scrum was the current compromise penalizing Fannie and Freddie, while boosting FHA. House Republicans weren’t enthusiastic about helping FHA, either — the agency faces its own financial challenges — but unlike Fannie and Freddie, FHA is subject to congressional appropriations and closer oversight. Republican critics held their noses and voted for the plan. … – Chicago Daily Herald

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(link to study, lots of facts) Wells Fargo: 80 is the New 65 for Retirees – by Alyssa Gerace – The idea—and age—of retirement keeps getting pushed back as people find themselves financially unprepared to stop working, especially as many Americans find it very important to retire without mortgage debt, according to an annual Wells Fargo & Company Retirement Survey. – Reverse Mortgage Daily
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Fed Minutes: Bernanke Firmly In Control Of FOMC, QE3 Coming – Agustino Fontevecchia – Forbes

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Why Has the Mortgage Modification Program Fizzled? – by Jack Guttentag

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“Who or what is responsible for the failure of the Government’s mortgage modification program to make a sizeable dent in the volume of foreclosures?”

Many factors are involved in this complicated story, but in my view, there are two major factors.

The Deserving Borrower Mindset

From the beginning, the operating premise of the Government’s modification program has been that only deserving borrowers should be helped. The programs require that borrowers be suffering from financial hardship, and that their mortgage payment exceeds 31% of their income. Balance reductions as a modification tool are discouraged or prohibited because they constitute a permanent benefit that can’t be retracted when the borrower is no longer suffering hardship. And borrowers who don’t occupy their homes as their permanent residence are ineligible because they are investors looking for profit. Never mind that they are also major purchases of foreclosed homes.

The Government is not always so discriminating in who they help. When it rescued AIG from impending failure, for example, it also protected major wall-street firms who were creditors of AIG from the losses they would have incurred had AIG been allowed to default – losses these creditors richly deserved.

This difference in treatment between Wall Street and Main Street reflected the difference in the challenge faced by policy-makers. In the AIG case, they confronted a potential financial crisis that had to be dealt with immediately to avoid a catastrophe. Even if it were possible to design a plan that would have imposed losses on AIG’s major creditors while preventing a contagious loss of confidence generally, which is not at all clear, there wasn’t time to do it. The Government couldn’t avoid benefitting the undeserving creditors of AIG.

Foreclosures, in contrast, have been viewed as a major problem, but not a crisis. Time was available for planning and deliberation, and out of that process emerged the rules designed to prevent undeserving borrowers from benefitting. This had the effect of disqualifying many borrowers, which was the purpose. But it also made the programs more complex to administer, aggravating dysfunction in the mortgage servicing industry, which resulted in many deserving borrowers not being helped.

Had the foreclosure problem been viewed as a crisis, the remedies fashioned would have been much simpler, implementation would have been much faster, and many undeserving borrowers would have benefited. But more deserving borrowers would have benefited as well, and the total impact could have been large enough to do the job.

Causes of Servicing Dysfunction

The firms servicing mortgages have been unable to cope with the enormous volume of modification requests that they have received. The results are well known to the borrowers and their advisors who have tried to get their loans modified. Borrowers have faced endless delays, an inability to reach the employee with whom they had their previous contact, conflicting stories from different employees who have been involved with their case, lost documents that don’t get reported back to the borrower, and on and on. The service is less terrible now than two years ago, but still terrible.

Servicer dysfunction in connection with modifications has its roots in the prior history of the industry. The evolution of the industry was implicitly based on the assumption that the financial crisis, and the ensuing decline in home prices and rise in foreclosures, could not happen.

Separation of Servicing and Ownership: At one time, mortgages were serviced by the firm that owned them, but today a very large proportion is serviced by firms under contract with the owner. This separation permitted servicing firms to reduce servicing costs by increasing volume, but it made Government efforts to increase modifications more difficult because there were two parties involved instead of one. In general, under their contracts with owners, servicers are barred from taking any action that is not in the financial interest of the owners.

In attempting to encourage modifications, the Government has necessarily dealt with servicers, but has had to take account of the servicers’ obligations to owners. This led the Government to develop a net resent value (NPV) rule which servicers apply to every modification. If the application of the rule indicates that the mortgage will have a higher NPV to the owner with modification than without it, the servicer’s obligation to the owner is met. But the NPV rule is a complex step in an already complex process. Furthermore, because the NPV is calculated by the servicer and uses some servicer-specific information, there is no way for borrowers to know in advance if they will qualify for a modification.

Rationalization of Servicing: The development of mortgage servicing as a separate line of business was accompanied by process changes designed to enhance efficiency. In general, this involved automating everything that could be automated, and simplifying functions that could not be automated so that they could be performed by relatively unskilled (and lower-paid) employees.

But modifications require a higher level of skills, which few servicer employees had. Of equal importance, servicers did not have the systems they needed — for handling and routing in-bound calls and faxes, for tracking files, for compiling and recording documents received from borrowers, for allocating responsibilities among staff, and so on.

In effect, servicers were on the beach with no protection when the modification tsunami hit them.

Jack M. Guttentag, now Professor of Finance Emeritus, formerly Jacob Safra Professor of International Banking, at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Earlier he was Chief of the Domestic Research Division of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, on the senior staff of the National Bureau of Economic Research, and managing editor of both the Journal of Finance (1974-77) and the Housing Finance Review (1983-89).

A Good Reason Not To Join A Condo Board – Nom de Plumber’s Thought of the Day

   Nom de Plumber is a Nom de Plume.

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FHA now requires condo boards to certify against borrower default risk.

http://therealdeal.com/newyork/articles/new-fha-rules-cause-condo-headaches
 
“………, according to other critics, the new rules put board members into legal jeopardy by requiring them to sign certifications attesting that the condo documents comply with all local statutes and that they have no knowledge of situations that could cause any unit owner to become delinquent at some later date. The mandatory certification carries a maximum penalty of $1 million in fines and 30 years imprisonment if found to be incorrect. Large numbers of condo boards have balked at this requirement, critics say, leading to the drastic drop in certification requests and condo eligibility…….”

Thought from NDP:

This changes nothing. Condo board certification is as useless as lender risk retention. Borrowers will not care anyway and continue to default unless they have more skin in the game (higher downpayments).

Thank you.

2 Scary Articles: Biggest Buyers of US Treasuries and Fed Made $7.7 Trillion Secret Loans

How much do you trust our financial system?  After reading these 2 articles, I might trust it a little less. – BC

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This first article blew me away.  The biggest buyers of US treasuries (to finance the deficits) are interest rate swap dealers – who do not have to mark them to market.
 
The Hallmark of the Fed is Duplicity, or, What’s Risky is Safe – By: Rob_Kirby – Market Oracle      read it all  http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article31768.html

… Five of the six of the referenced banks just happen to have derivatives books ranging from 53+ Trillion to 78+ Trillion in notional. More than 80 % of these outstanding derivatives are interest rate contracts.  Hundreds of trillions of these are interest rate swaps, with maturities of 3 – 10 years, which have physical U.S. government bond trades imbedded in them.  This provides the ‘cover’ for these banks to purchase an unlimited amount of U.S. Government debt. Because the bonds serve as “hedges” for said swaps – they are not subject to ‘mark-to-market’ accounting.  …

and

… Let us also remember that Morgan Stanley – a bank holding company with a 25 billion market cap – strapped on 14 Trillion in derivatives in the most recent 6 month reporting period [Dec. 2010 – June 2011].  The lion’s share of that “add” was in int. rate swaps.  These instruments require reciprocal credit lines between counterparties.  To think that the American banking industry – in total – would have credit lines for Morgan Stanley – in a credit starved environment – to support a 14 Trillion “add” to their book in 6 months is as likely or believable as a grade four student winning 8 million dollars at school recess pitching bubble gum cards. …

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Second article:

REVEALED: More Details On The Fed’s Breathtaking $7.7 Trillion In Loans To Large Banks – Julia La Roche – While most people know about Congress’ $700 billion TARP program, the Fed’s secret emergency loans to banks during the financial crisis remains shrouded in mystery.. A new Bloomberg Markets report shines more light on this lending … – Clusterstock at Business Insider

Mortgages and Housing: Lona Limits Summary, FHA Bailout, Freddie on HARP, Ed DeMarco Insight, EHLP Not Help, Barry Ritholz, Unable to Move, OCC Engagement Letters, HomeSteps Winter Program Grows, Kyle Bass Video, Who Pays Taxes

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(great summary and charts) FHA Loan Limits Rise, Conventional & VA Mortgage Limits Stick – By Peter G. Miller – Ourbroker.com
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Maximum Conforming Loan Limits to Remain Unchanged in All Counties But One in 2012 – FHFA Press Release 

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(big post) FHA will be the next taxpayer bailout – by IrvineRenter – Irvine Housing Blog
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(good charts) Existing Home Sales in October: 4.97 million SAAR, 8.0 months of supply – by CalculatedRisk

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FHA: Plenty of Mortgagors Could Refi – But They Won’t – By Brian Collins – An estimated 1 million homeowners with Federal Housing Administration-insured loans could benefit by refinancing at today’s low rates — but the government’s mortgage insurer doesn’t think it will happen. … In short, these borrowers have had previous opportunities to refinance and haven’t done so. … – National Mortgage News

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Freddie: HARP changes to boost originations nearly $300 billion – by JON PRIOR – Changes to the Home Affordable Refinancing Program could add between $200 billion and $300 billion mortgage originations over 2012 and 2013, according to Freddie Mac Chief Economist Frank Nothaft. Assuming a $200,000 loan balance, it would equal roughly 1.5 million mortgages. – Housingwire
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(worth reading) Ed DeMarco Offers Insight Into The Future Of Housing Finance – MortgageOrb

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HUD Admits $1B EHLP Was Not Much Help – BY MORTGAGEORB.COM – The $1 billion Emergency Homeowners’ Loan Program (EHLP) to assist distressed homeowners helped less than 12,000 people, mostly in three states, and more than half of the program’s budget was not spent. The program was designed to help homeowners in 32 states and Puerto Rico by offering up to $50,000 in no-interest loans, which would be forgiven if recipients stayed in their homes five years. EHLP was administered by the U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
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October Existing Home Sales Conclusion Result Is Wildly Misleading – Barry Ritholz – (seasonal adjustment games?) – Big Picture Blog
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50% of mortgage holders are unable to move without a short sale – by IrvineRenter – Irvine Housing Blog

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(has link to letters at OCC) Banks dark on previous work with foreclosure reviewers – by JON PRIOR – The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency posted the actual engagement letters Tuesday between the major mortgage servicers and their third-party consultants hired to perform reviews of foreclosures that took place over the past two years. … But when it comes to any potential conflict of interest, the OCC and the 14 major servicers are keeping the public in the dark. … – Housingwire

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Six More States Added to Freddie Mac’s HomeSteps Winter Program – Shirley Allen – Freddie Mac announced that it is adding six more states to its HomeSteps Winter Sales Promotion which started on November 15, 2011 and runs through January 31, 2012, bringing the total number of active states to 33 and the District of Columbia. The HomeSteps Winter Sales Promotion is being offered nationwide and provides closing cost assistance for the buyer and a bonus for the selling agent in selected states. – Loan Rate Update

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(UVA Darden School video – more Kyle Bass) The 2011 University of Virginia Investing Conference was held November 10th & 11th at the Darden School of Business. This year’s theme was "The Political Cycle, Political Change and Investing. – Youtube
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Who Pays the Taxes in Your Neighborhood? – Sober Look Blog – Here is an interesting exercise. Download the 2008 tax spreadsheet from the IRS website for your state to see who files returns along with amazing amount of other information – dependents, mortgages, deductions, etc. – NarrowTranche

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For Rob Chrisman’s latest daily post, click here.

To subscribe to Joe Garrett’s news letter, send an email to  jgarrett at garrettwatts  dot  com

Mortgages and Housing: Cashflow Matters, Arizona better?, GSE Scapegoats, Slow in 2012, DC Decides, DQ Charts, FICO Predicts Walkaways, Kamala Harris, NY is 10% DQ, Raise the Price, 6.3mm Past due Mortgages

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(great presentation) Cashflow property rental income now counts toward qualification – by Irvine Renter – In a signifant change in lending standards, underwriters are now counting rental income toward income qualification. Since Las Vegas properties are all cashflow positive, it means you only need a down payment and a 700 FICO score to buy an income property. – Irvine Housing Blog

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(AZ turning around? – charts too) Foreclosures Crashing In Arizona – John Wake – The number of bank-owned homes listed in the Phoenix MLS is only one-third of what is was a year ago. – Seeking Alpha
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Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae: Scapegoats for the Housing Crisis? – By Roland Li | – International Business Times 
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(by using special servicers) BofA Deal Could Break Mortgage Market Logjam, BlackRock Says – By Al Yoon – hattip Natalie Lauer – DOW JONES NEWSWIRES – NASDAQ 
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Fannie Mae Sees "Woefully Slow" 2012 – BY JANN SWANSON – … Single-family mortgage originations are projected to decline to $1.30 trillion in 2011 from an estimated 1.69 trillion in 2010.  Fannie Mae expects that originations will decline still further in 2012 to $988 billion as an expected reduction in refinancing offsets increases in purchase applications. … – Mortgage News Daily
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DC picks winners; we lose – Jonathon M. Trugman – … MF Global was the type of behemoth-firm collapse that Dodd-Frank was supposed to protect the taxpayer against. … Dodd-Frank was passed in July 2010 and claimed to be able to prevent this sort of thing, yet in practice all it has really done is restrict the consumer. This is not “how failure is supposed to work.” In reality, Dodd-Frank has actually made it extremely difficult and far more expensive for consumers and small businesses to get responsible credit if they can even qualify. Once again, Washington has chosen to pick winners and losers … – NY Post 

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(great charts and graphs) Mortgage Delinquencies by Loan Type – by CalculatedRisk

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(great charts, jumbo walkaways?) FICO Now Predicting Mortgage Walkaway Likelihood – Owe more than your house is worth?  Is your credit otherwise good?  Do you have few credit cards but pay them on time? Congrats.  You’re a likely candidate for strategic default, according to FICO – Burbed.com
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Kamala Harris, deal breaker – By Harold Meyerson – California state Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris refuses to let five big banks get off easy in the mortgage mess. – LA Times
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NY home loan woes hit 10% mark – By CATHERINE CURAN – Ten percent of New York state homeowners are seriously delinquent or in foreclosure — and the crisis destroying the American dream hasn’t even hit the halfway mark. The pain is not equally shared. Nearly one-quarter of loans in foreclosure in Nassau and Suffolk Counties on Long Island are held by Latinos, and 22 percent by African-American borrowers. Low-income neighborhoods in New York City, White Plains, and Wayne, NJ had just 3 percent of the area’s home loans, but now have 16 percent of the mortgages more than 60 days delinquent or in foreclosure. These sobering findings come from the Center for Responsible Lending, which analyzed 27 million US mortgages made between 2004 and 2008. – NY Post
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House Won’t Sell? No Problem, Simply Raise the Price by 78%; It’s Different in Bizarro World – Michael Shedlock – It’s different in Vancouver says a reader in response to Vancouver Real Estate Bubble in Pictures; Presenting the $1,050,000 "Livable" House . – MISH’S Global Economic Trend Analysis

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Past Due Mortgages = 6,298,000 – BY: CARRIE BAY – There were 6,298,000 mortgages going unpaid in the United States as of the end – DS News

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For Rob Chrisman’s latest daily post, click here.

To subscribe to Joe Garrett’s news letter, send an email to  jgarrett at garrettwatts  dot  com

2012 NMLS Streamlined Renewal Process

 

The Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System & Registry (NMLS) has provided a status of the 2012 NMLS Streamlined Renewal Process.

 

According to the NMLS, this year over 16,000 companies and 115,000 state licensed mortgage loan originators – holding licenses from one or more of the 58 state agencies using NMLS – are eligible to renew their licenses for 2012.

 

Additionally, over 10,000 institutions and about 250,000 federally registered mortgage loan originators are eligible to renew their federal registration. At this time, approximately 100,000 Mortgage Loan Originators are already registered through the end of 2012.

 

Renewals

 

In the first three weeks of the renewal period, a significant number of state licensees and federal registrants have completed the process.

 

The renewal period ends December 31, 2011, but several state agencies have earlier deadlines for licenses.

 

The percentage of companies and individuals who have submitted their renewal request as of November 19, 2011 is shown below.

 

Chart of Renewals
November 22, 2011

 

 

Assistance

 

For more: go to the NMLS Annual Renewal: State or Federal.

 

Professional Assistance

 

If you need assistance with S.A.F.E. Act compliance – such as policies and procedures, compliance audits and due diligence, and examination preparation:

 

 

LENDERS COMPLIANCE GROUP is the first and only full service, mortgage risk management firm in the country that specializes exclusively in residential mortgage compliance. The firm provides risk management outsourcing to the mortgage industry, offering a full suite of hands-on and automated services in residential mortgage banking.

Mortgages and Housing: Securitize Previous DQ Mortgages, 10 FC States, What is Private Way, New Graduates, LPS and Robo, NV AG, Genworth and HARP2, FHA Mod Re-defaults, Las Vegas Ordinance?, Realtors on 20% Down, Freddie on SS Fraud

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Freddie Mac to Securitize Previously Delinquent Mortgage Loans That Have Been Reinstated to Performing Status – Mortgage loans from company’s mortgage-related investment portfolio will be pooled into new Freddie Mac PCs – PRNewswire – Sacramento Bee

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(slide show) 10 States Where Foreclosures Are Severely Undercutting Home Prices – Mamta Badkar – U.S. foreclosures rose 7% in October from the previous month, and frequently these foreclosures result in sales that depress home prices. A new report for RealtyTrac points out 10 states with highest foreclosure savings in October – Money Game at Business Insider
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(interesting) Fannie Mae and the private way – Posted by Rona Fischman – Do you know what a private way is? (Yeah, It’s the opposite of a public way.) A public way is land owned by the municipality that the public uses for a thoroughfare; in short, a road. A private way is also a road. But, the owner of the house owns half (or sometimes all) of the road in front. Towns will plow private ways so police and fire can get through. In towns that have garbage and recycling pick-up, the pick-up includes private ways. The difference is twofold: … – Boston Globe

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(stifling economic growth) As New Graduates Return to Nest, Economy Also Feels the Pain – The New York Times – Jay Bouvier makes $45,000 a year after taxes, but is living with his mother, Nancy Bouvier, in Bristol, Conn., to save money. – By CATHERINE RAMPELL – NY Times

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In Response, LPS Admits to Robo-Signing Deficiencies for Indicted Ex-Employees – By: David Dayen – Responding to the indictment of two of its employees in a mass robo-signing scheme, Lender Processing Services, a mortgage document processing company, appeared to admit to flaws in its foreclosure documentation process. – hattip Yves Smith -  FireDogLake

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(Nevada and LPS – just the start?) Matt Stoller: Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto Cracks Open the Financial Crisis – Learn the name Catherine Cortez Masto, because she just took a big leap in front of every public servant in the country in terms of restoring faith in government. As Nevada AG, she actually indicted someone for blowing up our housing system. Specifically, she handed down 606 counts of felony or gross misdemeanor indictments on robo-signing against two employees of big bank subcontractor Lender Processing Services. – Naked Capitalism

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Genworth Financial Makes Changes to Support Expanded HARP Initiative to Help More Homeowners Refinance at Today’s Low Mortgage Rates – PRNewswire via COMTEX – hattip Alfred King – Genworth Newsroom
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30% of FHA mortgage modifications redefault within a year – by JON PRIOR – More than 30% of the nearly 282,000 modifications completed on Federal Housing Administration mortgages in 2010 redefaulted within a year, according to an independent study sent to Congress this week. It’s not great news, but it is down from last year’s statistics. – Housingwire

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(another one?) Las Vegas City Council to vote on vacant property rules – by ANDREW SCOGGIN – A proposed Las Vegas ordinance that would make lenders maintain vacant properties in default or foreclosure will go up for vote as soon as Dec. 7. – Housingwire
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(really?) Realtors think 20% down is too high – By JEFF COLLINS – THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER http://www.ocregister.com/articles/realtors-327765-phipps-gavel.html
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Freddie clamps down on short sale fraud – by JON PRIOR – Freddie Mac will force parties involved in a short sale to sign affidavits making them liable for their negligent or intentional misrepresentations in the deal, an effort to be sure it’s an arms-length transaction, according to guidance released Friday. – Housingwire

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