Archive for February, 2010

Reverse Mortgages Get Special Attention from Federal Investigators

Friday, February 26th, 2010

Posted To: Voice of Housing
The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), an arm of the Treasury which generally tracks drug money and terrorist funding has now apparently added Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) fraud to their efforts. In a recent Miami Herald article titled, “ Crooks Misusing Foreign Trade ,” James H. Freis, director of (FinCEN), said, “FinCEN has seen a big problem recently with home equity conversion mortgages….regulators are also seeing seniors duped into buying financial products not in their best interest as an outright theft of proceeds from reverse mortgage proceeds.” Although I applaud FinCEN, the HUD Inspector General and all other law enforcement agencies who try and protect us from predatory practices, I am afraid statements such as these are not qualified…(read more)
Forward this article via email:  Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to read it.

Brought to you by for [...]

Original post by Joe Murin

Brought to you by for Todays Mortgage News

MBS MORNING: Existing Home Sales Falls Short Of Expectations

Friday, February 26th, 2010

Posted To: MBS Commentary
AT A GLANCE MBS up 4 ticks on the day at 101-03 (tough resistance at 101-04) 10yr Tsy up a tick with mid to high 3.62 yield (tough resistance at 3.62) Existing Home Sales at 5.05 mln vs. consensus of 5.5 mln Chicago PMI at 62.6 vs 60.0 consensus, highest since April 2005, but internals mixed Consumer Sentiment Slight Miss at 73.6 vs 74.0, inflation expectation slightly lower, other internals slightly weaker, all bond friendly resistance levels in MBS and Tsy's will be tough to break, but S&P at 1106 could cap stocks as well, allowing bonds to maintain support With the next raft of data out, the outlook in the benchmark 10yr note remains exceedingly narrow and without a whiff of volatility as it bounces in the days main range roughly between 3.62 and 3.63. Decisive moves out of that…(read more)
Forward this article via email:  Send a [...]

Original post by Matthew Graham

Brought to you by for Todays Mortgage News

Lenders Preparing for Fed’s Exit; Foreclosure Ban in Process?; FDIC Banking Profiles and CRA Requirements; More GFE

Friday, February 26th, 2010

Posted To: Pipeline Press
"Talk is cheap, because supply always exceeds demand". For the week that just ended for the Fed, their MBS purchases totaled $17.6 billion, and they sold $6.6 billion, netting out that magical $11 billion weekly total. They are right on target to end this in about a month. After March 31st, the program ceases. People will still buy homes, mortgages will continue to be originated, but will some of the dire production predictions come true? Everyone in the business is hoping not, but the large investors would prefer not to wait to find out. Big investors have cut profit margins and prices, resulting in some very good (relatively speaking) mortgage rates for borrowers. Investors, account executives, production managers may be already worried that they won't hit their numbers for…(read more)
Forward this article via email:  Send a copy of this story to someone you know that may want to [...]

Original post by Rob Chrisman

Brought to you by for Todays Mortgage News