Corker Amendment Removes 5% Risk Retention
Sen. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., has introduced an amendment that would direct federal regulators to establish minimum loan underwriting standards and eliminate the 5%...
You’ve Got To Have (Good) Faith When Negotiating
REQUIRED READING: So you have a customer who has fallen behind on his or her mortgage payments, and the normal customer-service collection efforts...
David St. Pierre On Changing Investment Strategies
PERSON OF THE WEEK: This week, MortgageOrb spoke with David St. Pierre, president of private-equity firm Legacy Capital Partners. The Lyndhurst, Ohio-based company...
Delinquencies Fell In Q1, TransUnion Says
The national 60+ day delinquency rate decreased to 6.77% in the first quarter of 2010 after steady increases for 12 consecutive quarters, TransUnion...
MBA Report Predicts A Rough Recovery
The slow economic recovery and the lack of substantial job growth could cause negative, lasting effects on the housing markets, according to a...
A New Tax On Big Banks?
BLOG VIEW: Last week, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner was back on Capitol Hill with yet another display of what appears to be an...
Looking Ahead To The Next Decade In Housing
REQUIRED READING: John K. McIlwain has seen the future of housing - and it doesn't look anything like the past. McIlwain, a senior...
Senate Votes Down GOP Amendment
On Thursday, the Senate rejected by a 61-38 vote a Republican-crafted alternative to the consumer protections included in the financial regulatory reform bill....
CRE Finance Update, Part III: Survey Says… We’ve Reached Rock Bottom
After many months of increasingly disturbing statistics and equally dire predictions for the commercial real estate (CRE) market, we may have reached a...
Fed Survey Shows Easing Lending Standards
Large banks have, on balance, eased lending standards for both prime residential mortgages and home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) over the past...
A New Green Hue Via Electronic Data Management
REQUIRED READING: In 1970, when Charles Reich wrote 'The Greening of America,' the term went way beyond the obvious and into the shifting...
Strategic Default Is Rising, Researchers Say
The number of homeowners willing to default when the value of a mortgage exceeds the value of their house, even if they can...
The Mortgage Movie Competition
BLOG VIEW: Today begins a new chapter in the history of filmmaking: a mortgage banking film festival. Shore Mortgage, based in Birmingham, Mich.,...
Fannie Mae Changes ARM Criteria
Fannie Mae has announced new standards for the purchase and securitization of adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) products. The company says it is changing its...
Voice-Mail Messages: A Hobson’s Choice
REQUIRED READING: Thirty-two years ago, in 1978, Congress - faced with 'abundant evidence of the use of abusive, deceptive and unfair debt collection...
Geithner: Servicer Compliance Under Review
The Treasury will soon publish much more detailed performance data on Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) servicers, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner told a...
The State Of The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit Market
There is currently no county in the U.S. in which a full-time minimum-wage worker can afford a one-bedroom apartment at fair-market rent. This...
It Is Time To Revisit Financial Education Strategies
REQUIRED READING: The past year has been tumultuous for our nation's financial system, for our economy and, of course, for many of our...
CMBS Delinquencies Could Rise To 9% By Midyear
The delinquent unpaid principal balance (UPB) for commercial mortgage-backed securities (CMBS) climbed to $51.05 billion in March - a $3.23 billion increase over...
Dan Green In Mortgage Banking Cyberspace
PERSON OF THE WEEK: Do you Tweet? Are you blogging? How many Facebook friends do you have? Are you even using the Internet...