Making A Bad Situation Worse: The GSEs’ Continued Risks
REQUIRED READING: Given the central role of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the financial crisis, the need for reform should be beyond...
Stuck Between A Rock And A Hard Place
REQUIRED READING: Even though homeowners hold more than 40 million mortgages in the U.S., it seems that relatively few of us are aware...
Jay Miles Brings Mortgage Banking To YouTube
PERSON OF THE WEEK: For many people, YouTube is the ultimate leisurely time-waster, where one can find amusing videos of cranky babies, misfit...
HUD’s Dismal Father’s Day Present
BLOG VIEW: I was always under the impression that the departmental acronym 'HUD' stood for 'Housing and Urban Development.' But no one at...
The Role Of Orderly Liquidation Authority
WORD ON THE STREET: Before the Dodd-Frank Act, the government did not have the authority to unwind large, highly leveraged and substantially interconnected...
The Curious Timing Of HAMP Enforcement
BLOG VIEW: Why now? That's the question that confronts the U.S. Treasury Department following its announcement last week that it is halting HAMP...
What’s Next For The FHA?
REQUIRED READING: In the period prior to the September 2008 collapse of the U.S. economy, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) had been marginalized...
The Strain Of Regulatory Overdrive
PERSON OF THE WEEK: The mortgage industry is beset by well-intentioned - and potentially calamitous - regulations, and the servicing sector has been...
Making Sense Of The New IPO Parade
BLOG VIEW: You may remember the opening line of Charles Dickens' 'A Tale of Two Cities': It was the best of times, it...
Correcting The Flaw In The Rating System
WORD ON THE STREET: There is a fatal flaw in the rating product and process: It created a market that was too good...
Potential And Potholes Emerge Within Correspondent Lending
REQUIRED READING:Â Within correspondent lending, there is good news and not-so-good news. The positive aspect is that the liquidity tap continues to flow....
Supreme Court OKs BK Document Changes
REQUIRED READING: On April 26, the U.S. Supreme Court adopted bankruptcy rule changes that are designed to prevent the presentation of claims for...
Attorney Adam Feinberg Breaks Down The False Claims Act
PERSON OF THE WEEK: The False Claims Act has quickly become a top legal concern for mortgage companies that do business with the...
Paul Is Dead, Housing Is Recovering And Other Inane Hoaxes
BLOG VIEW: Last year, I wrote a review for the online cinema site Film Threat on a strange little movie called 'Paul McCartney...
Examining Lien-Position Conflicts
WORD ON THE STREET: Large, first-lien servicers have significant ownership interests in second liens and often have no ownership interest in the corresponding...
GSEs Shuffle Attorney Lineups
REQUIRED READING: On Feb. 10, Fannie Mae announced to servicers that it was terminating its relationship with Fort Lauderdale, Fla.-based Ben-Ezra & Katz...
Today’s Automated Underwriting Systems Require A Significant Tune-Up
REQUIRED READING: There are many technologies on the market today that purport to be automated underwriting systems. These systems may be very good...
Tony Bruschi Considers The State Of Mortgage Insurance
PERSON OF THE WEEK: As the mortgage banking industry continues to reinvent itself, the state of mortgage insurance (MI) remains in a state...
The Need For National Mortgage Servicing Standards
WORD ON THE STREET: The recent crash of the housing market and the rise of unemployment led to a historic surge in serious...
Will The Mortgage Banking Industry Be Hiring Again?
REQUIRED READING: On Jan. 31, the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry began accepting federal registrations from residential mortgage loan originators employed by...