Regulaions

Existing-home sales dropped off considerably in November to the slowest pace in 19 months, but the National Association of Realtors said some of the decrease was likely due to the “Know before you owe” or the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosures rule (TRID), which took effect October 3. The rule requires lenders and service providers to provide binding estimates and final accounting ... Read More »

A study by a company that analyzes appraisals to reduce lender risk found that 39 percent of more than 300,000 appraisals contained property quality or condition ratings that conflicted with previous ratings of the same property. Conflicting property condition and quality ratings cause delays that generally range from one day to several days—a costly and risky setback for lenders concerned ... Read More »

In 2005 five companies controlled about 92 percent of the national market for title insurance.  Ten years later, only four title insurers now control 86.9 percent of the title insurance business.  In all but five states, only five companies account for 80 percent of more of premiums paid. Despite the introduction of online insurerers a federal policies encouraging consumers to ... Read More »

Anybody who works with young home buyers today knows the definition of heartbreak.   It’s when young couples with good jobs and dreams of homeownership can’t overcome the barriers to getting financing that have been erected since 2006. Of all the players still on the field today—lenders, politicians, regulators, brokers, GSEs—they are the only innocent ones.  They were in high school ... Read More »

Lack of understanding, inexperience and uncertainty about the process of applying for a mortgage is keeping large numbers of potential homebuyers out of homes because lenders often fall short in providing advice and guidance. Some 58 percent of prospective home buyers in a recent J D Powers surrey were first-time home buyers. Lack of experience among these customers and uncertainty ... Read More »

FHA’s share of home-purchase financing fell to its lowest level in at least five years in September, according to the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey of real estate professionals. Mortgages guaranteed by the FHA accounted for financing on 18.2 percent of home purchases in September, based on a three-month moving average. That’s the lowest market share for the ... Read More »

A survey of “mortgage industry leaders” by the Collingwood Group, a consulting firm led by several Washington insiders paints a grim picture for the mortgage industry in the year to come. One cause lost business is lending standards that have remained stubbornly high as a result of increased regulation and compliance requirements that have actually served to decrease loan volume ... Read More »

A new report from two Federal Reserve economists says lenders have been applying strict underwriting conditions to keep borrowers who can’t afford a large down payment out of the Federally guaranteed program that is designed to make it possible first time and mid to lower income applicants become homeowners. The report sets down in black and white what has been ... Read More »

  The combination of tough new rules denying qualified mortgages to applicants without the ability to repay and soaring study loan debt may be doing more than anything else to shut an entire generation out of homeownership. First-time buyer market share has fallen to 27 percent in recent months.  Rising prices, thin inventories of starter homes, rising down payment requirements ... Read More »