Cuomo’s Crossing: an outsider’s appraisal of the new HVCC by Martin Andelman
Martin: I read your article the other day. It wasOUTSTANDING!!Clearly the best depiction of the issue I've seen from any writer.
Thanks, Marc S. Savitt, CRMS, Immediate Past President Vice Chair-Government Affairs Committee
National Association of Mortgage Brokers
We’re happy you enjoyed the article Marc, how ‘bout making us the “unofficial” magazine of NAMB?
Fabulous article about the HVCC crisis! I couldn't agree more with your interpretation! Being in this business for 12 years, I am amazed at the stupidity of this system.Thank you for making me feel like someone is listening!!
I remember when I learned what the word “hubris” meant and I’ve considered it a very good word ever since. As a writer, you sort of collect good words, carry them around with you, waiting for the chance to insert them into a sentence, thus rendering that sentence more powerful, or at least more complete. Like a cherry placed atop the whipped crème on a hot fudge sundae. Ta da.
Well, less than two weeks ago, as I listened with great interest to the testimony before Congress of one Mr. Edward L. Yingling, the President and Chief Executive Officer of the American Bankers Association, I discovered that I had never even considered hubris’ true potential before. When he was done, I stood up and exclaimed: “Why, shave my head and call me baldy!” And that’s not something I find myself exclaiming all that often, truth be told.
I was talking with a very good business acquaintance of mine, Suzanne Crandall, who lives in Chicago and is a top-producing real estate agent in the high net-worth suburban areas of Chicago. She was scurrying through some marketing evolutions, under a time crunch, as she explained how she added value to her services offered for the clients she represents.
“This is called an Absorption Rate. What I do is search a specific area/town and with each search, I look at all the homes that have sold in different price points for the last six months to date and all the currently active listed properties on the market in a range of price points.…” she went on to describe. “For example, suppose you were selling a home in the Barrington Suburban area, here are my findings for you:
In the $650,000 to $700,000 price range; 11 homes have sold: I divide that by 6 (for 6 months) = 1.8 homes per month sold.
Point, Click – Sign! Paperless Loan Documents Are the Reality of Now
In 2002, entrepreneur Henry Davidson identified the need to streamline the mortgage closing process and founded Express Notary Service, Inc. in Irvine, California, a nationwide network of Notary Signing Agents. To facilitate this simplification, he created an industry leading, web-based ordering and tracking platform to provide borrowers and customers with live updates during their closing process. Now working in conjunction with more than 7,000 notaries nationwide, Davidson and his team have positioned themselves in line with the innovative solution to make what was once a daunting task even simpler – eSign.
There were 13 major updates from June to July 2009, affecting loan originators, processors, underwriters and managers/owners.
If you don’t read anything else, you need to read and understand the 3 biggies:
Mortgage Disclosure Improvement Act – Effective July 30, 2009
Reg Z Definition of High-Priced Mortgages – Effective October 1, 2009
Re-approval process of most FHA condos – Effective October 1, 2009
Mortgage Disclosure Improvement Act – Effective July 30, 2009
Disclosure, uniformity and comparison-shopping are the basis for this act—in fact, it defines and consolidates the information from TILA, HOEPA, HERA, EESA and Reg X and Reg Z with MDIA.
It seems like as much as things have changed in the mortgage business they stay the same. It never ceases to amaze me how the products we used to use are making a come back in today’s lending environment. Mortgage Credit Certificates (MCC’s) are such a product.
An MCC is a dollar for dollar tax credit on a borrower’s federal tax return. This credit is used to offset a tax liability. That means in order to get the full benefit of the credit your client must have a tax liability at the end of the year. This liability is “washed” away by the tax credit.
Most borrowers create a tax liability by changing their withholdings out of their paycheck. That means more money in every paycheck. Because the amount of tax withheld from the borrowers check is decreased, this should lead to a tax liability at the end of the year. The tax liability is able to be washed away dollar for dollar by the MCC credit.
Although I did not realize it at the time, my first exposure to Web 2.0 technologies came along with a discussion about the prevalence of pedophilia. Our daughter was about eleven years old at the time, and she wanted to be allowed to join her friends who were using MySpace. We, her parents, immediately envisioned our home on Dateline NBC with Chris Hansen, as some sick child predator was being led to the police car in handcuffs.
“No,” my wife said before I was done imagining beating the predator to death with a baseball bat… oh my… did I just say that out loud? I’m sorry. Anyway, we did what any strong, rational, confident and concerned parents would do in that situation… we ignored it as long as we could, and then called other parents to see what they had to say about it.
It all worked out just fine in the end, but for a few weeks all the parents were talking about it… until we discovered that you could keep a MySpace page private… or maybe it was just that the other parents gave in, so we did as well… I honestly can’t remember which.
The playbook for banks has disappeared. Why? The Federal Reserve Bank, under the directive of the new presidential administration, infused mind-boggling capital at the speed of light to shore up a crumbling economy. With that came an ambiguous borrower’s agreement between the institution and the Feds. With more questions than answers, the rules continue to change daily. In less than five months, no one, especially the federal government, could have possibly performed the due diligence necessary. The rules of the game are in flux. Lack of clear direction whether to loan or to invest, have created confusion. Is it any wonder there is volatility and angst in the marketplace?
Waukesha, Wis., August 27, 2009 – Despite a down market and struggling economy, Inlanta Mortgage is finding 2009 to be a very good year, the company announced recently. Inlanta, a mortgage banker since 1993, opened 10 new branch offices this year – including Annandale, MN; Indianapolis, IN; Carmel, IN; Waterloo, IA; Baxter, MN; Sterling Heights, MI; Cedar Springs, MI; Sarasota, FL; Brookfield, WI and Milwaukee, WI.
“Because we have always operated conservatively and avoided unnecessary risk, we’re now in the position of having the financial resources necessary to expand,” said Jean Badciong, Chief Operating Officer at Inlanta Mortgage. “Plus, we have an A+ Better Business Rating. For buyers and originators alike, this level of stability is the reassurance they need that their loan(s) will be approved within a reasonable time frame.”
Charlotte, N.C.—Grandbridge Real Estate Capital LLC announces the addition of Senior Vice President Gordon R. White, III, as the company’s Senior Credit Risk Officer. Grandbridge, with a servicing portfolio in excess of $24 billion, is one of the nation’s largest full-service commercial and multifamily mortgage banking firms. As a wholly owned subsidiary of BB&T, the company maintains 26 offices nationwide.
Mr. White has a diverse background in sales, finance and credit with more than 20 years of experience in executive roles with both private and public companies. He is responsible for the balanced performance (quality, profitability and growth) of the company’s loan portfolio and leadership of the co-approval, loan review and loan administration processes.
Mr. White previously served as the founder and president of Atlantic Capital Partners LLC, a boutique investment banking and consulting practice providing debt and equity advisory services and commercial mortgage banking to middle market businesses. Prior to his tenure at Atlantic Capital, he served as CFO of a multidiscipline engineering and construction firm. He was also formerly a vice president for BB&T where he graduated from their commercial leadership development program and led teams in loan administration, retail management and commercial lending.
Mr. White is a graduate of North Carolina State University and the North Carolina School of Banking Advanced Management Program.
Charlotte, N.C.-based Grandbridge, one of the largest full-service commercial and multifamily mortgage banking companies in the nation, has a broad investor base that includes insurance companies, pension fund advisors, commercial banks, and capital markets investors, as well as a proprietary lending platform. Grandbridge is a Fannie Mae DUS® (Delegated Underwriting and Servicing) lender, a Freddie Mac Program Plus® Seller/Servicer and Targeted Affordable Housing lender, and an active participant in FHA-insured loan products as a MAP-approved (Multifamily Accelerated Processing) and LEAN-approved healthcare lender.
The company arranges permanent commercial and multifamily real estate loans; services loan portfolios; and provides asset and portfolio management and real estate brokerage services. Grandbridge has a servicing portfolio in excess of $24 billion representing nearly 100 capital providers.
With $152 billion in assets, Winston-Salem, N.C.-based BB&T Corporation is the nation’s 11th largest financial holding company. Founded in 1872, it operates more than 1,500 financial centers in 11 states and Washington, D.C. More information about BB&T Corporation is available at BBT.com.
A lot of people don’t...
