FHA Condo Approval Expiration Dates

12/28-2010 FHA Announces New Staggered Dates for Condo Approval Expiration

• Approved 1972-1980: Expire 12/31/10

• Approved 1981-1985: Expire 12/31/10

• Approved 1986-1990: Expire 05/31/11

• Approved 1991-1995: Expire 07/31/11

• Approved 1996-2000: Expire 08/31/11

• Approved 2001-2005: Expire 09/30/11

• Approved 2006-2008 (Sept): Expire 03/31/11

Click here: https://entp.hud.gov/idapp/html/condo1.cfm to look up the expiration date of the FHA approval of a specific condominium project.

The requirements and process for recertification are set forth in HUD Mortgagee Letter 2009-46 B. There are two approval process options: the HUD Review and Approval Process (HRAP) and the Direct Endorsement Lender Review and Approval Process (DELRAP), which can only be used by lenders who have unconditional Direct Endorsement authority from the FHA and staff with knowledge and expertise in reviewing and approving condominium projects.

12/27/2010 FHA Mortgagee Review Board Censures 2 Lenders - Mortgage Originator

HUD Fines WR Starkey, Seeks $750,000 Reimbursement

Its Mortgagee Review Board has fined WR Starkey Mortgage $223,000 for violations of Federal Housing Administration lending requirements, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

12/27/2010 - FHA Takes Action against Cambridge Home Capital

In the new era following the subprime-lending disaster most mortgage lenders are looking more carefully at the implementation of their underwriting and quality control criteria including the Federal Housing Administration. Citing "serious" underwriting standard violations the FHA Mortgagee Review Board has permanently withdrawn FHA approval of Cambridge Home Capital LLC and is also seeking a monetary penalty of $182,000.

FHFA's Backwards Looks at Rates Shows how low Rates Went

Washington, DC – The Federal Housing Finance Agency today reported that the

National Average Contract Mortgage Rate for the Purchase of Previously Occupied Homes by Combined Lenders, used as an index in some ARM contracts, was 4.42 percent based on loans closed in November. This is a decrease of 0.07 percent from the previous month. This Contract Rate series can be found at http://www.fhfa.gov/Default.aspx?Page=251

FTC Launches Website and Blog for National Consumer Protection Week 2011.

On December 21, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced the launch of a website and blog for National Consumer Protection Week 2011, which will be held March 6-12. The annual event is hosted by the FTC and approximately 30 other government agencies, consumer groups, and national organizations. The new National Consumer Protection Week website, which can be found at www.ncpw.gov, offers information and resources to help consumers protect their privacy interests, manage credit and debt, avoid identity theft, understand mortgages, and recognize frauds and scams.

Loan Officer Selling: I HATE Cold-Calling

My Marketing Plan - Week 2 - Is there a way I can avoid cold calling?

You know the drill.  You pick up the phone and start calling agents, CPAs or builders. You don't get through.  You get voicemail.  Or, worse, you get your prospect on the phone and they don't want to talk to you.  "Tom, thanks for the call.  But I already have a loan officer.  (Click)."  And that's a civil one.  A few rejections like that, and I start to question what I am doing.  In my mind, before I even dial I am getting rejected. 

Boy.  That's what I want to do today.... NOT!

Triggering Call Reluctance

What I just did was trigger my own call reluctance.  Now I am afraid or unwilling to make further calls, even though I know that this is the ONLY way I will start creating new relationships.  We are told we HAVE to push out of our comfort zone.  Most people I know, including myself, don't want to do this and will avoid it.  The result is predictable - sales failure.

Comfort Zone Selling

The key to pushing out of your comfort zone is to take small steps to creating new comfort zones around your prospects.  For me the first step in getting over call reluctance with new prospects is to NOT MAKE COLD CALLS.  Instead, I make "follow-up" calls.  I send my prospect a very short letter saying I think I have something to offer them.  Then I tell them that I will follow up with them within the next couple of weeks. 

PRESTO!  No cold-calls!  When I pick up the phone and call to try and get a face to face meeting, I am following up on the letter I sent. 

The intro letter is just the first in a series of between 6 and 10 letters I'll send designed to allow me to follow up.  

The next step?  Making the calls! 

These are part of the value package I have at my use in The Loan Officer's Practical Guide to Marketing

11/23 - Some Banks Flush with Cash - Others Just Flushing: FDIC Report

FDIC-Insured Institutions Earned $14.5 Billion in the Third Quarter of 2010, Up from $2 Billion a Year Ago
Lower Loan-Loss Provisions Were Key Factor in the Year-Over-Year Improvement - FDIC

November 3, 2010, the United State Department of Agriculture (USDA) provided an update on its Rural Development Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program; Funding is now available for fiscal year 2011. Purchase type loans will be subject to a 3.5 percent upfront guarantee fee and refinance type loans will be subject to a one percent upfront guarantee fee. Prior to the supplemental bill, the fee was two percent for purchase type loans and 0.5 percent for refinance type loans. Source: Mortgage Bankers Association

Freddie Mac to Raise Fees on Riskier Loans
Washington Post (11/23/10) P. A12
Freddie Mac will hike fees for lenders selling riskier home loans starting March 1. It plans to raise some upfront fees by as much as 0.75 percent of loan balances and add costs for consumers using additional mortgages as part of their borrowing. The changes will help ensure that Freddie Mac is adequately compensated for providing liquidity to the mortgage market and is able to support affordable lending, according to the firm's Patricia McClung.

"Foreclosure detectives" are in growing demand. They sift through loan documents for errors that could compel banks to buy back shaky loans - and pay back investors the difference between the loan's original value and the amount recovered in foreclosure. Banks are resisting detectives' efforts, and many loan disputes wind up locked in stalemate.

Cambridge Chronicle: The Cambridge, Mass., city council passed a policy order Monday that called for a moratorium on new banks.

The Federal Reserve Board on Tuesday announced the execution of the following enforcement actions:

America's Community Bank (35 KB PDF), Blue Springs, Missouri
Written Agreement dated November 17, 2010

Cadence Financial Corporation (26 KB PDF), Starkville, Mississippi
Written Agreement dated November 17, 2010

Orient Bancorporation and Bank of the Orient (46 KB PDF), San Francisco, California
Written Agreement dated November 16, 2010

Viking Financial Services Corporation (24 KB PDF), Seattle, Washington
Written Agreement dated November 19, 2010

11/22/10 - News Flash - Borrowers HATE Loan Originators

2010 U.S. Primary Mortgage Origination Satisfaction Study
Mortgage borrowers are less satisfied with the origination process, according to the J.D. Power and Associates Among the findings from the report were that new compliance requirements are making the loan process take longer, more applications are being submitted online and fewer borrowers ever meet their loan officers.Responses from 3,401 new borrowers were used in the report.www.mortgagedaily.com/OriginationSurvey111910.asp
HUD Thinking Warehouse Lending is Subject to RESPA

On November 16, HUD posted a notice on its website soliciting comments regarding changes in warehouse lending structures that have occurred since HUD's previous regulations on table funding and secondary market transactions were issued in 1994. Comments will be due not later than 30 days after the notice is published in the Federal Register, which is still pending. For a copy of the notice, please see http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/rmra/res/warehouselending.pdf.

FTC Issues Final Mortgage Assistance Relief Services (MARS) Rule.

On November 19, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a final version of its Mortgage Assistance Relief Services (MARS) Rule to regulate mortgage relief companies. Chiefly, the new rule prohibits mortgage relief companies from collecting fees until they have provided consumers with both (i) a written offer from their lender or servicer that the consumer deems acceptable and (ii) a written document from the lender or servicer describing the key changes to the mortgage that would result if the consumer accepts the offer. Additionally, the rule restricts the advertising practices of mortgage relief companies, requiring them to disclose in all advertisements and communications directed at consumers that (i) they are not associated with the government, (ii) their services have not been approved by the government or the consumer's lender, (iii) the lender may not agree to change the consumer's loan, and (iv) if the company advises the consumer to stop paying on the mortgage, they could lose their home and damage their credit rating. The rule also mandates that mortgage relief companies provide disclosures explaining the total fees the companies will charge and that the consumer will not pay a fee unless they accept an offer from their mortgage company/servicer. Finally, the rule prohibits mortgage relief companies from making certain false or misleading claims. All provisions of the rule except the advance-fee ban will become effective December 29, 2010. The advance-fee ban provisions will become effective January 31, 2011. For a copy of the rule, please see http://www.ftc.gov/os/2010/11/R911003mars.pdf.

FTC Cracks Down on Mortgage Relief Operations. Recently, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced that two fraudulent mortgage relief operations posing as government programs had been shut down and that seventeen marketers were banned from selling mortgage modification and foreclosure relief services. With respect to the two mortgage relief operations, the FTC shut them down for claiming they were part of a "Government Mortgage Relief Program" that could, in return for a large up front fee, reduce consumers' monthly mortgage payments and lower their interest rates. The FTC alleged that consumers would pay a fee without receiving anything in return and would not get refunds. The companies failed to respond to calls or emails and eventually changed the name of their business. The FTC also announced settlements with a number of companies charged with similar practices in 2009. For a copy of the announcement, please see http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2010/11/mortgage.shtm.

Two New Jersey Defendants Plead Guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Mortgage Fraud.

On November 15, 2010, Edivaldo dos Santos and Rosa Damasceno pleaded guilty in federal court to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and admitted that they forged and attempted to use false documentation and information to obtain a loan on a client's behalf. The defendants admitted to providing false income information in support of an application for a loan intended to return money to the buyer at closing, and to creating fraudulent W-2 forms. Charges against dos Santos and Damasceno were originally brought as part of the prosecution of 28 defendants accused of mortgage fraud schemes in New Jersey in a joint prosecution involving the Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force. The defendants face up to 30 years in prison and a fine of $1 million, or twice the gain or loss from the conspiracy, at sentencing. For a copy of the press release, please see http://www.stopfraud.gov/news/news-11152010.html.

Inflation fears rekindled

The Times' Floyd Norris writes that fears of deflation were rekindled as the core rate of inflation fell to a record low in the U.S. last month. "Since the collapse of the housing market in the United States and the beginning of the global financial crisis, the Federal Reserve has made avoiding deflation a major priority, recalling the experience of Japan after its bubble burst in the early 1990s. The Fed has set an annual inflation target of 2 percent or a little lower, but is not getting it."

Three more small banks failed Friday, bringing the tally of seized depositories for the year to 149.

11/19 - Conforming Limits to Remain Unchanged

Maximum Conforming Loan Limits to Remain Unchanged in the First Nine Months of 2011

FROM HUD - New Mortgagee Letter Clarifying Eligibility

Mortgagee Eligibility Requirements and Clarification of FHA’s Electronic Annual Certification Requirements and Procedures 11/19 - http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/hudclips/letters/mortgagee/