Equifax Breach – Is Your Information Safe?

From my friends at CAG Group – Yesterday Equifax announced that it had been breached back in July and as many as 143 million US consumers are impacted. The company is offering free credit monitoring for those impacted by this breach. I checked my personal information – took 45 seconds – and determined it […]

CFPB fires a warning shot! Realtors and Lenders Beware!

The CFPB is beefing up its ongoing investigation into Zillow for possibly violating RESPA. Full article here from my friends at HousingWire You’ve been warned: CFPB puts Realtors, Lenders on RESPA violation watch

Hey TRID, why is my client paying 69.45% interest??

Here’s something ‘exciting’ (note: sarcasm) that your clients will be seeing going forward. It’s appropriately called the TIP! What is TIP? It’s the Total Interest Percentage – basically it’s the total amount of interest they’ll pay over the life of their loan expressed as a percentage. Now, that doesn’t seem to threatening, right?? Well, what […]

IRS Blames Budget Cuts for Lengthy Turn Times on Tax Trascripts – Will Your Closing be Delayed??

Let’s play a little IRS Tax Transcripts Jeopardy Answer: Because the IRS is ‘underfunded’ thanks in part to massive federal budget cuts Question: Why in the HECK are Tax Transcripts taking forEVER to process???? Update from one of the larger Third Party Validation Services explains why these transcripts, which lenders require to process a home loan, […]

FHA Loan Limits Increased! And other FAQ’s

Great news friends – homebuyers in the DFW metro (and surrounding areas) will see increased purchasing power thanks to FHA’s decision to increase loan limits beginning January 2015. Currently the max loan amount for DFW area is $287,500 which means buyers may buy a $297,900 home by putting the very minimum down. However, as of […]

USDA Fees to Increase…..tomorrow!

Fiscal Year End Conversion Process Due to Increase in Annual Fee On October 1, 2014 the annual fee for both purchase and refinance loans will increase from .4% to .5%. This change is required to maintain a neutral cost of the program. The USDA annual fee is paid monthly as part of your USDA mortgage payment. […]

ABILITY TO REPAY and QUALIFIED MORTGAGES: The new challenges for homebuyers (and their agents)

On Jan. 10, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) rolled out new rules governing how mortgage lenders originate loans. The regulations are designed to prevent shady or predatory lending and otherwise protect consumers. Financial institutions have been preparing for the changes for months. The big fear is that potential homebuyers will be blindsided. What do […]

Fannie Mae’s G-Fee? What is this and what will it do to interest rates?

Earlier this week we learned that Fannie Mae (and Freddie Mac) plan on increasing their Loan Level Pricing Adjustments (LLPA) beginning April Fool’s Day 2014. This will, without doubt, impact interest rates for loans to those with even the most pristine credit. My friends at The National Real Estate Post put out a layman’s article […]

Fannie Mae making loans more expensive April 1, 2014…hip hip….ugh

Fannie Mae wants you to know that the home you’re looking at right now will be more expensive in 60 days – this is NO April Fool’s Joke! Fannie Mae is implementing NEW and IMPROVED upfront fees which will impact interest rates – even for the most prudent credit conscious consumers. Beginning on or around […]

Are 3% down payment loans gone?!?!?

As the ‘ol saying goes…what goes down must go up….er….uhm….wait a minute….do I have that backwards? Apparently I’m not the only one who has that backwards. Fannie Mae, one of the nation’s largest mortgage giants, will be discontinuing it’s 3% down payment loan. How does Fannie Mae’s decision affect your local mortgage lenders? Fannie is the […]