National Association of Mortgage Fiduciaries

A Critical Analysis of the New Good Faith Estimate

With this blog post I’d like to introduce a new contributing author on the NAMF blog. Bradley Allen, CFP, of Coast Capital Management has been at the forefront of the fiduciary movement for mortgage brokers and loan originators in Washington State. His comments and ideas articulate a future vision of the mortgage brokerage industry where higher […]

DFI Speaks Out on Loan Modifications

From the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions:
DFI Advises Homeowners To Verify The Licenses Of Anyone Offering Loan Modification Services Before Hiring Them
OLYMPIA – The Washington State Department of Financial Institution’s Consumer Services Division advises homeowners who are delinquent on their mortgage to be cautious about using the services of someone offering to help them […]

The Milgram Experiments

During the subprime meltdown of 2007, many mortgage brokers and LOs defended their decision to sell subprime loans saying “The lenders were the ones that provided the loans. We were only selling what we were told to sell.”  As wholesale lenders fell, the blame shifted to Wall Street. “It was Wall Street’s fault for creating […]

Informed Consent for Mortgage Lending

In Part 4, of a 6-part series, the Mortgage Professor states, as follows:
“In sum, regardless of why borrowers refinance, the question of whether they receive a net benefit from it is for borrowers alone to answer. Loan providers do not have the information needed to second-guess them.”
He goes on to say that
“on the other hand, borrowers […]

MILA’s Bankruptcy

The bankruptcy trustee in charge of MILA’s Chapter 11 case says there is evidence that MILA’s founder and CEO allegedly collected $32 million from MILA during the years before its demise, “improperly draining the Mountlake Terrace company’s assets as its fortune declined.”
From the Seattle Times:
“I think the executives at MILA knew by 2004 that this bubble was bursting and […]

From CR: Fraud in the 2008 Vintage

From Calculated Risk:

If you haven’t yet had a chance to read this article by John Gittelsohn in the Orange County Register about a real estate sale that was financed by Wells Fargo in January of this year, please do so now. And if you were, like most people, working on the assumption that lenders and […]

Mortgage Fraud Part 3: Recent Developments

Before we use to rely on automated underwriting systems and credit scores we had humans who would carefully underwrite mortgage loan files. During the caveman human underwriter days, loan originators and loan processors knew that underwriters could make or break a file. An underwriter had god-like power to grant or deny the American dream. They […]

Mortgage Fraud Part 1

Fraud is generally defined as the “intentional misrepresentation of the truth in order to deceive another.” Chris Swecker, Assistant Director of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division, defines mortgage fraud as any form of material misstatement, misrepresentation or omission relied upon by an underwriter or lender to fund, purchase or insure a loan.
Before 9/11, mortgage fraud […]

Loan Modification Fees: Is it Justifiable for a Fiduciary to Charge for a Free Service?

Mortgage brokers and loan originators have become curious in learning about loan modifications. When I ask why, they say that they’re hearing there’s good money to be made doing loan mods.  What? Wait a second. I thought loan modifications were done by the lender for free.
More and more spam is popping up in my spam bin targeted at LOs and […]

FHA Training Resources

I’ve been fielding many calls this summer asking for ideas on how to train staff on originating FHA loans.  Here’s my advice:
If you’re newly approved by FHA, your very best option is to take the class taught by HUD called “FHA Lender Training.” These classes are typically three full days: Day 1 Processing, Day 2 […]

Indymac Wholesale

ML Implode is reporting that there’s an announcement forthcoming tomorrow morning about the fate of Indymac Wholesale and it doesn’t sound good.
Surely no one reading this blog will be surprised but it does eliminate a player in the wholesale lending game.

Distressed Property Law

Mortgage Brokers and Loan Originators are exempt from becoming a “Distressed Home Consultant” when helping Distressed Homeowners refinance, unlike real estate agents who are subject to increased liability under the new Distressed Property Law.  My question is, SHOULD mortgage brokers and loan originators be exempt?  Please read this blog post and share your opinion.  I […]