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To the Students from the 20 Hr Prelicensing Class at Firstam Yakima March 2010

Hi Everyone,
Here’s the follow up Q&As from today
 Here is the updated Credit Suisse chart.
There was a question as to whether or not a church can gift the funds for closing on an FHA loan. Here is a link to the HUD manual….
“An outright gift of the cash investment is acceptable if the donor is…
•the borrower’s relative
•the [...]

4Mar2010 | mf | 1 comment | Continued

To the Students from the Feb 16-18 SAFE Pre-Licensing Class at UoPhx Bellevue

Hi Students;
Day 1 follow up:
Here’s the link to the Neighborhood Watch website where you can check on the status of a company’s FHA delinquencies. Follow the link that says “Early Warnings.”
There was a question about the use of the word “firm” in the WA State law Escrow Registration Act. Here’s the link to the definitions [...]

17Feb2010 | mf | 0 comments | Continued

To the Students from the Jan 19-21, 2010 Pre-Licensing Class

Hi Everyone,
Here’s the follow up from Day 1:
Ken Harney’s column regarding LOs using worksheets to provide a pre-GFE in order to attempt to escape quoting fixed costs on the new GFE.
Link to the Neighborhood Watch website where we can check on the FHA default rate of various companies.  And a related story from the Seattle [...]

20Jan2010 | mf | 2 comments | Continued

Case Study: NAACP v. Novastar

Novastar and its mortgage broker Bell South Mortgage (Bell) conspired to maintain a policy of denying all loans secured by row houses in Baltimore and discouraged the referral of such business. Over a period of time, HUD sent shoppers to Bell/Novastar who were repeatedly treated differently based on protected characteristics of race, color, racial composition, [...]

24Nov2009 | mf | 26 comments | Continued

To The Students From the Nov 12, 2009 Comprehensive Class

Hi Everyone,
Here’s the follow up Q&As from our class last week:
Here’s the Neighborhood Watch website where you can see the WA State (well, actually all 50 states) list of the lenders and brokers with the highest default rates on FHA loans.
More concerning news on FHA’s capitalization problems. We should all be prepared for, and be an [...]

19Nov2009 | mf | 0 comments | Continued

To the Wa Financial Group Students

Hi Everyone,
Thanks for a thoroughly enjoyable class today and all your kind words in the evals.  Here’s the follow up:
Q: Where can I find out what interest rate the Fed will use so I can figure out if I have a high cost loan?
Here’s some insight from a great article by Blank Rome:
“…the measuring stick is the “average prime [...]

12Nov2009 | mf | 0 comments | Continued

To My Very Fun Students from the Nov 10, 2009 8 Hour LO Comprehensive Class

Hi Guys,
Here’s the follow up from today.
There’s a “general business day” definition which we use when sending out our EARLY disclosures and there’s a “precise business day” definition which we will use when counting the days after we’ve had to re-disclose prior to signing. See page 8 of this MBAA PDF.
Q: Where can I find [...]

11Nov2009 | mf | 0 comments | Continued

To the Students from the Oct 20, 2009 LO Comprehensive Course at Metro MGI Everett

Hi Everyone,
Thanks for coming to class. Here’s the follow up:
There’s a “general business day” definition which we use when sending out our EARLY disclosures and there’s a “precise business day” definition which we will use when counting the days after we’ve had to re-disclose prior to signing. See page 8 of this MBAA PDF.   Wells [...]

25Oct2009 | mf | 1 comment | Continued

To the Students from the Oct 5 WAMP 8 Hour LO Comprehensive Class

Hi Everyone,
Here’s the follow up from class.
Q: Do we have to resubmit our fingerprints?
A: Yes all LOs will be submitting a new set of fingerprints to the NMLS.
Q: Does a designated broker have to retake the LO exam?
A: Yes.
The name of the Northwest Multiple Listing Service Form that George referred to in class is NMLS [...]

23Oct2009 | mf | 0 comments | Continued

To the Students from the Sept 9, 2009 8 Hour LO Comprehensive Class

Hi Everyone,
Here’s the follow up from Wednesday’s class:
There was a question regarding restrictions on prepayment penaltiesin Washington State. Here’s an article that summarizes the key points of SHB 2770, passed in 2008.
Here’s an article I wrote about Paramount Equity and their recent consent order.
Here’s information about the required WA State Disclosure Summary form. Sterling was [...]

10Sep2009 | mf | 0 comments | Continued

NAMF: an Approved NMLS Course Provider

This month, the federal SAFE Mortgage Licensing Act goes into effect and all course providers will eventually be required to become approved by the folks who run the National Mortgage Licensing System (NMLS.)
I am pleased to announce that the National Assoc of Mortgage Fiduciaries is one of the first course providers to become approved by [...]

30Jul2009 | mf | 0 comments | Continued

Voting Results: All Day Classes Winning by a Landslide

The calls and emails are coming in at a rapid pace today.  I asked: How would you like to take your continuing ed classes, three 3-hour classes, a 3-hour and a 5-hour class, or all 8 hours at once?
Here are the results so far:
85%  vote: 8 hours all at once
10%  vote: 3-hour plus a 5 [...]

13Jul2009 | mf | 0 comments | Continued

Summer Continuing Ed for LOs

I’m getting lots of requests now for broker/loan originator continuing ed classes during the summer months. I’m working on opening up two August classes for registration soon. One will be in Bellevue and the other in Renton.  With the passage of the SAFE Mortgage Licensing Act at the federal level, for license renewal this year, [...]

3Jul2009 | mf | 0 comments | Continued

Incliment Weather

With snow forecast for this week, please check our schedule page for updates to our continuing ed class schedule.  We may decide to move our City University classes to another location if City U closes or opens late.  Students who are prepaid will receive an email update the day before. Check this website the day [...]

17Dec2008 | mf | 0 comments | Continued

Informed Consent Process

This UW link provides a brief explanation of the informed consent process in medicine.  Is it possible to use these elements to build an informed consent process for the practice of mortgage lending?
From the UW: 
What are the elements of full informed consent?
the nature of the decision/procedure
reasonable alternatives to the proposed intervention
the relevant risks, benefits, and uncertainties related [...]

19Oct2008 | mf | 19 comments | Continued

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 [...]

16Sep2008 | mf | 47 comments | Continued

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 [...]

3Sep2008 | mf | 62 comments | Continued

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 [...]

31Jul2008 | mf | 0 comments | Continued

S.A.F.E. Mortgage Licensing Act

Today I’m following the passage of bill HR 3221, the Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2008. I believe from this point, it will go back to the House for their approval of the Senate’s revisions. There are a lot of provisions inside the bill, but this one caught my eye:
Inside is a provision for the S.A.F.E. [...]

10Jul2008 | mf | 1 comment | Continued

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.

7Jul2008 | mf | 0 comments | Continued

Are Mortgage Loan Originators Professionals?

When I ask the question “Are loan originators professionals?” to a group of loan originator students in ethics classes, almost everyone says “yes.”  Anyone can do their job in a professional manner (adjective,) but not everyone is a Professional (noun.) Is your barista at Starbucks or the person who bags your groceries a professional? If [...]

13Jun2008 | mf | 60 comments | Continued

Interesting insight on defaults of downpayment assistance program loans from the recent FHA training

I attended an FHA training this week sponsored by the Washington Mortgage Lenders Association. There were about 100 people in the training. A large percentage of the audience was not from the greater Seattle area. People had come from as far away as eastern Washington, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, California, New Mexico, and even Guam. [...]

7Jun2008 | mf | 2 comments | Continued

Consumers now have access to wholesale mortgage pricing

Inman news is doing a three part series on a group of websites devoted to providing consumers with wholesale mortgage rate pricing.
Part 1 reviews LendingArt.
Part 2 reviews RateWindow and Mortgage Marvel which are widgets that run on other websites. Part 3 will review MortgageGrader.

6Jun2008 | mf | 0 comments | Continued

Hello world!

Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!

23Apr2008 | mf | 1 comment | Continued