Perhaps We Should Consider Eliminating The GSEs?
WORD ON THE STREET: Federal housing policies related to the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, have proved costly not only...
Servicers Need To Pay Extra Attention To Quality Control
REQUIRED READING: The servicing industry is caught up in a whirling maelstrom of change. Whether it's from the 300-plus new standards set out...
Putting Lender-Placed Insurance In The National Spotlight
REQUIRED READING: For many years, lender-placed insurance attracted very little attention outside of the financial services world. That changed dramatically last year, with...
Eddy Perez On The Mortgage Industry’s Future
PERSON OF THE WEEK: Abraham Lincoln once remarked, 'The best thing about the future is that it comes only one day at a...
Ten Questions For Richard Cordray
BLOG VIEW: Last Tuesday, Richard Cordray appeared before the Senate Banking Committee in search of the long-elusive official confirmation to become the director...
Going Right In The Wrong Direction
WORD ON THE STREET: We are clearly in the midst of the slowest and weakest recovery in the postwar era, notwithstanding what we...
Getting Rid Of ‘Too Big To Fail’ – Part II
REQUIRED READING: It seems to me that efforts by U.S. and global regulators to fight 'too big to fail' are generally on the...
Getting Rid Of ‘Too Big To Fail’ – Part I
REQUIRED READING: I would like to discuss 'too big to fail' and the ongoing work since the financial crisis to end it. More...
Robert T. Chasteen-Scheer: Keeping The Customer Happy
PERSON OF THE WEEK: During the past several years, the mortgage banking industry has faced more than a few unhappy customers. But the...
Edward DeMarco And The Harlem Shake
BLOG VIEW: Anyone who loves to waste time online is probably familiar with an Internet meme called the Harlem Shake. This involves a...
The Time Is Right For Tax Reform
WORD ON THE STREET: Winston Churchill once said, 'However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results.' The need to overhaul...
A New Era For Women In Mortgage Banking?
REQUIRED READING: After attending the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) Annual Convention in October 2012, I was heartened to make a bold assertion: 2013...
The Challenges Of Hedging Enterprise Interest Rate Risk
REQUIRED READING: When lenders think about their company-wide - or enterprise - interest rate (IR) risk, they often compartmentalize the sources of risk,...
Vernon Hill: Creating Fans, Not Customers
PERSON OF THE WEEK: Vernon Hill is no stranger to growing a financial services business. In the U.S., he was responsible for taking...
Ten Questions For Elizabeth Warren
BLOG VIEW: Since returning to Washington in January as the junior senator from Massachusetts, Elizabeth Warren has resumed her campaign of making high-profile...
How To Encourage Economic Growth
WORD ON THE STREET: There is an ongoing debate about the extent to which the causes of weak labor markets are structural or...
Is The Flat-Free Model Flat-Out Unsustainable?
REQUIRED READING: As the default servicing landscape continues to evolve, it is clear that the long-term repercussions of the foreclosure crisis are far...
Looking Beyond The FICO Score
REQUIRED READING: Like it or not, the mortgage industry has entered an era of risk management and more careful underwriting. For some, this...
Virgil Brannon: The Problem With Federal Priorities
PERSON OF THE WEEK: More than four years after the 2008 financial crash, the U.S. economy remains fairly weak. For Virgil Brannon, the...
Responsibility? What’s That?
BLOG VIEW: Way back during my early days as a chubby toddler, I spent my summers at my grandparents' home. One sunny afternoon...