Monthly Mortgage Market Share Archives

?Bureaucracy defends the status quo long past the time when the quo has lost its status.?

~ Laurence J. Peter

Thank?you?regulators!?This?month?s?commentary?is?dedicated?to?all?the?fine?state?and?federal?regulatory agencies?whose?actions?kept?me?from?worrying?about?a?decline?in?the?mortgage?market?the?first?two months?of?this?year.

Comparing?the?first?two?months?of?2010?to?the?same?period?of?2009?is?surprising.?Dollar?volume?of mortgages?with?a?stated?loan?amount?between?$50,000?and?$500,000?(mortgages?that?typically?represent first?mortgages)?declined?a?whopping?46?percent?from?$123?million?to?$66?million.?That?s?significant. In?fact,it?s?the?slowest?first?two?months?since?the?year?2000?when?only?$50?million?in?mortgages?were?originated.
(see?charts)

Yes,?the?bureaucrats?made?sure?that?I?was?busy,?even?if?the?market?was?off.??If?the?mental?energy?expended on?compliance?issues?could?be?harnessed,?the?U.S.?Defense?Advanced?Research?Projects?Agency?would?not
need?a?LOTS?of?Energy?program.

Had?it?not?been?for?the?regulators,?I?d?be?sweating?bullets?worrying?about?silly?little?inconveniences?like payroll?and?rent.?So?instead?of?begging?my?employees?to?bring?back?office?supplies?from?home,?I?m?trying?to
understand?and?explain?new?RESPA?rules?and?learn?the?new?software?acquired?to?comply?with?them. Closing?statements?are?being?done?twice?one?way?for?RESPA?and?then?another?way?for?Truth?In?Lending.

The?Title?Insurance?Division?(that?s?the?TIEFF?fee?funded?regulator)?of?the?Indiana?Department?of?Insurance is?weighing?in?on?a?myriad?of?customary?title?industry?practices.?Clair?Voyant,?our?vice?president?of?things we?don?t?know,?is?busily?staring?into?her?crystal?balls?trying?to?predict?what?s?coming?from?that?direction.

The?names?and?license?numbers?of?all?the?professionals?that?do?work?on?each?residential?file?that?we?close must?now?be?entered?into?a?temperamental?online?state?licensing?data?base?(INREAL).?It?s?supposed?to
eliminate?mortgage?fraud.?We?ll?see.

Who?d?have?thought?that?I?should?be?worried?about?the?market!?So?here?s?a?big?shout?out?to?the?regulators. Thanks?so?much?for?the?distractions!

~John?Bethell

?Any change, even a change for the better, is always accompanied by drawbacks and discomforts.? ~ Arnold Bennett

Many of us are directing an enormous amount of energy towards understanding and complying with the new RESPA rule changes. The new rule is over 100 pages long. The Department of Housing and Urban Development, the RESPA regulator, has issued about 60 additional pages of questions and answers in an attempt to help us. We understand the new rule better than we did six months ago. Even so a lot of uncertainty exists. Further clarification by HUD is needed.

I?ve followed RESPA implementation through on line resources and by attending seminars with a regional or national make up. I?ve talked with colleagues from around the country. The clamor from both sides of the closing table that the sky is falling is loud and often repeated in many markets. I guess when you do something one way since 1974 this reaction to change is not surprising.

In Bloomington, the lenders we deal with have taken a contrary and refreshing approach to RESPA. They?re not worrying about what they don?t like about the changes. They are successfully focused on serving their clients while balancing the competing interests of RESPA and Truth in Lending. My personal observation of the process with our closings is that lenders are striking a good balance. So congratulations to all our lender clients! Finding ways to work with the new rules will win you business and set you apart. We appreciate the opportunity to work closely with you to help develop procedures that allow us to meet the needs of parties in the transaction.

~ John Bethell