?All objects lose by too familiar a view.? ~ John Dryden Sometimes you?re so close to something that you forget that not everything is obvious. Recently I was asked some questions about the data in our report, what it means and where it comes from. So I thought that I?d start the New Year with …
“Mommy! Make Them Stop!” Many things to be keeping an eye on these days . . . The new Consumer Finance Protection Bureau (CFPB) is testing forms. We?ve seen a number of versions of a combined Good Faith Estimate and Truth in Lending disclosure. In November, we saw a combined Settlement Statement (f/k/a HUD-1) and …
?Silent gratitude isn?t much use to anyone.? ~ Gladys Brown Instead of using this space for ranting again about misguided efforts to regulate and stimulate the housing market, I want to say ?Thanks!? September has been a terrific month for us at John Bethell Title Company, Inc. Record low mortgage interest rates (yet again) are …
This morning I read my weekly ?Outside the Box?newsletter from financial analyst John Mauldin. He discussed in some detail the history of the mortgage crisis and the benefits to the average citizen that refinancing would bring?especially the additional disposable income that could be spent and thus stimulate the economy. He pointed out that Fannie, Freddie, …
?Three Rules of Work: Out of clutter find simplicity; from discord find harmony; in the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.? ~ Albert Einstein ? ?During the last three years we?ve been introduced to many new concepts. Mortgage modifications, robo-signers, qualified residential mortgages, Appraisal Vendor misManagement firms, mortgage backed security put backs, TARP and HAFA immediately …
?Good news and bad news in the May numbers. Commercial lending is slowly showing improvement. There were twelve commercial mortgages securing loans in excess of one million dollars recorded in May. More broadly, there were thirty mortgages over $500,000 recorded in April and May of this year. Last year in April and May there were …
?The four basis premises of writing: clarity, brevity, simplicity, and humanity.? ~ William Zinsser ?? This week the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau released two samples of its proposed combination Good Faith Estimate (GFE) and Truth in Lending Disclosure (TIL). I must say that I?m surprised and impressed. Each of the two page samples are huge …
?For every problem there is a solution which is simple, clean, and wrong.? ~ H. L. Mencken Banks and other mortgage investors are still struggling with the effects of a bad business model. A model where more than ten percent of the people they were lending money to are not paying them back. For some …
?To simplify complications is the first essential of success? ~ George Earle Buckle The Good Faith Estimate (GFE) mandated fourteen months ago is in my opinion creating more and not less uncertainty for consumers. The GFE just doesn?t tell them what they want to know. The form tells them what the lender is going to …
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