Which Is Scarier: Mortgage Banking Or Horror Movies?
BLOG VIEW: For the past eight years, I've pursued a second career as an actor in horror movies. These productions are low-budget efforts...
Deleveraging In Today’s Economy
WORD ON THE STREET: The country is in the ninth quarter of a disappointing and frustrating recovery. We at the Fed were hopeful...
Revamping Refis: Marginal Or Meaningful?
BLOG VIEW: As the Obama administration and the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) examine ways to remove refinancing hurdles for underwater borrowers, the...
The Future Of Servicing In Private-Label RMBS
REQUIRED READING: In the face of steadily rising loan delinquencies, nationwide home-price depreciation, housing shadow inventories that may take years to work out,...
Newt Gingrich: Repeal The Dodd-Frank Act
PERSON OF THE WEEK: As part of his campaign to seek the Republican Party's presidential nomination, Newt Gingrich has made the repeal of...
Now About The FHFA…
BLOG VIEW: The recent news that the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) is suing 17 financial institutions in regard to their securitization procedures...
The Fall And Rise Of The Housing Market – Part Four
SPECIAL REPORT: Lewis Carroll once wrote, 'If you don't know where you are going, any road will take you there.' This might be...
The Fall And Rise Of The Housing Market – Part Three
SPECIAL REPORT: In ancient Greek mythology, Sisyphus was a king who was eternally condemned to roll a boulder up a steep hill, only...
The Fall And Rise Of The Housing Market – Part Two
SPECIAL REPORT: During the summer of 2007, as the housing market began to show significant signs of fraying, then-President George W. Bush did...
The Fall And Rise Of The Housing Market – Part One
SPECIAL REPORT: In March 2007, the Ohio Housing Finance Agency (OHFA) announced that it was issuing $100 million in taxable municipal bonds. On...
Origination Protections Empower Hispanic Home Buyers
WORD ON THE STREET: Homeownership has long been the primary asset for most Americans, steadily building modest wealth that can leverage education, entrepreneurship...
Taking Government Out Of Housing Finance
REQUIRED READING: The housing finance market, like other U.S. industries and housing finance systems in most other developed countries, can and should principally...
Ask (Correctly) And You Shall Receive
REQUIRED READING: If you are like most financial services executives, when it comes down to it, you are downright scared of being direct...
Cleveland Fed’s Stephan Whitaker Analyzes Foreclosure-Related Vacancies
PERSON OF THE WEEK: In a recently published paper titled 'Foreclosure-Related Vacancy Rates,' Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland research economist Stephan Whitaker concluded...
Our Foolish Fed
BLOG VIEW: The Federal Reserve's questionable policies were the subject of a pair of recent news items. One story presented the central bank...
A Breakdown Of The Fed’s Supervisory Activities
WORD ON THE STREET: Currently, the Federal Reserve supervises more than 5,000 bank holding companies and 825 state-chartered banks that are members of...
What Constitutes A QWR Under RESPA?
REQUIRED READING: A recent 7th Circuit Court of Appeals decision regarding the scope of qualified written requests (QWRs) under the Real Estate Settlement...
Easing The Acrimony Between Agents And Servicers
REQUIRED READING: An influx of short sale activity over the past two years has stretched thin many a servicer-Realtor relationship, bringing to a...
Chris Sorensen: How To Calm The Agitated Housing Market
PERSON OF THE WEEK: To borrow a line from Thomas Paine, 'These are the times that try men's souls.' A fragile economy and...
Wait A Minute, Mr. Postman!
BLOG VIEW: The U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is facing its greatest financial problem ever, and part of its drastic cost-cutting efforts includes the...