Implode-Explode Heavy Industries news feed

What Ever Happened to That Obama Mortgage Modification Plan?

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:00:59 GMT

" One year ago this month President Obama announced a plan to help alleviate the housing crisis. Part of that plan included incentives for banks and lenders to renegotiate mortgages with homeowners who were struggling to make payments."

Scariest Chart EVER: Loss Severity, Subprime First-Lien

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:54:11 GMT

"This chart shows the loss severity for subprime first-lien mortgage loans in the tri-state area (New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut)."

US Prime Jumbo RMBS delinquency rate could top 10% as early as next month

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:15:36 GMT

"U.S. prime jumbo loan performance continued to weaken in January as serious delinquencies rose for the 32nd consecutive month, according to Fitch Ratings."

Bill Calls For Public Transparency Into Fannie, Freddie Operations

Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:08:47 GMT

"U.S. Representative Judy Biggert introduced new legislation Thursday designed to ramp up congressional oversight of the government-controlled mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and disclose the intricacies of the two companies’ businesses to taxpayers"

Ottawa says housing bubble not a concern

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:46:16 GMT

" Finance Minister Jim Flaherty appears to have no immediate plans to tighten Canadian mortgage rules despite the advice of senior bankers concerned about surging home prices."

Productivity Is Killing the Middle Class

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:42:40 GMT

" "Now Main Street's whitewashed windows and vacant stores Seems like there ain't nobody wants to come down here no more They're closing down the textile mill across the railroad tracks Foreman says these jobs are going boys and they ain't coming back to your hometown..." "

New Year, No Improvement as U.S. Prime Jumbo RMBS Delinquencies Approach 10%

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:39:20 GMT

" "The new year has brought no relief from declining jumbo loan performance," said Managing Director Vincent Barberio. "The trend line for delinquencies indicates the 10% level could be reached as early as next month. "

Affordable housing 'bleaker than ever'

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:29:51 GMT

" The prospects of getting an affordable home are looking bleaker than ever for millions of people, housing associations have warned."

U.S. Economy To Be Hit By Second Wave of Mortgage Defaults

Mon, 08 Feb 2010 13:52:52 GMT

"As we have been forecasting for the last two years, the second wave of mortgage defaults and foreclosures will hit the economy this year. Not only will we have failure in prime loans and option-arm loans, but we are faced with a new crop of subprime and ALT-A loans put into motion by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Ginnie Mae and FHA. In addition, we find it of great interest that the FHA is changing the rules to purchase homes. That, of course, means less homes will be purchased."

Your Neighbor is being foreclosed on but you don’t know it

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 23:37:07 GMT

``First, you will need a household income of $154,000 (nearly twice the average for the city) to qualify for the loan. Next, your monthly housing payment (PITI) is going to come out to be $3,600. But did you notice that the above rental is going for $2,150? ''

How To Spot A Loan Modification Scam Before You Are A Victim Of It.

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 18:17:48 GMT

" The media has been rife with horror stories of scam artists preying on one of the most vulnerable sectors of our population, troubled homeowners and their families. However, many homeowners just haven’t got the message so we shall revise a few of the signs that can help us spot a loan modification scammer."

mortgage bankers association sells headquarters at huge loss

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 16:25:49 GMT

" The Mortgage Bankers Association sold its Washington D.C. Headquarters at a multi-million dollar loss to commercial real estate firm CoStar Group, according to the WSJ. The bankers group apparently parted with the property for $41.3 million, well below the reported $79 million paid back in 2007, while it was still under construction."

Mortgage Bankers Association “Walks Away” from HQ

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 14:41:09 GMT

CoStar Group buys downtown Washington building for $41.3 million, far below the $79 million the trade group said it paid in 2007.

...

In an interview late last year, Mr. Courson said he believed mortgage borrowers should keep paying their loans even if that no longer seemed to be in their economic interest. He said paying off a mortgage isn't only a matter of personal interest. Defaults hurt neighborhoods by lowering property values, Mr. Courson said. "What about the message they will send to their family and their kids and their friends?" he asked.

...

The MBA will move out of the building and rent elsewhere in Washington, the spokeswoman said. She added that a new space hadn't yet been found.

FTC Considers Wrong Approach to Protecting Homeowners from Loan Modification Scams

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 14:39:11 GMT

``If you want to get rid of bootleggers, you put a liquor store on every corner in town… presto… no more bootleggers. If you want to get rid of the loan modification scammers, you certainly don’t reduce the number of legitimate attorneys and mortgage professionals that are available to help, you let people know where they can get legitimate help beyond calling their bank or standing in line at HUD. Because those options have long since proven themselves to be less than adequate for hundreds of thousands of people, and that’s the fact… no matter how badly you may want then to be, they’re not.''

No resemblance between subprime and reverse mortgages

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 22:51:39 GMT

" He calls himself “The Mortgage Professor,” stemming from varying roles as a teacher at the University of Pennsylvania (finance) and as a professional in the home loan market for many years. So, when Jack Guttentag’s essay appeared recently in the Washington Post – disputing the often-made connection between reverse and subprime mortgages – readers took notice."

After the Bursting of the Bubble, What Does Responsible Homeownership Look Like?

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 22:49:36 GMT

"While the burst of the housing bubble recedes into the past, its echo continues to reverberate throughout the economy and in communities across the land. The U.S. housing market remains a mess. Home values remain down and defaults and foreclosures remain up. Looking back in hindsight, it seems many that too many irresponsible actors were allowed to operate without supervision. They inflated housing prices and pushed people into loans they had no chance to maintain. The challenge now is to craft a more responsible housing policy. "

No Turning Back on Fannie, Freddie, Lockhart Says

Sat, 06 Feb 2010 22:48:29 GMT

"The U.S. investment in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may be too deep to effectively transition the mortgage-finance companies out of government control and back into the hands of private investors, their former regulator said."

The second lien sticking-point

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:52:10 GMT

Normally second lien mortgages rank subordinate to the first mortgage (first lien). In principle, that means if the property is sold or the borrower defaults, the first lien lender is first in line to get the resulting money, followed by the second lien lender.

When mortgage modifications like Hamp come into play, that traditional priority order is reversed. The borrower is paying the Hamp-modified (i.e. lower) first lien amount, and the full second lien amount, so the second lien effectively becomes senior to the first.

Radiation Safety Group Says Naked Body Scanners Increase Risk Of Cancer

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 14:50:11 GMT

"An influential international radiation safety organization has warned that the naked body scanners currently being rolled out in airports across the world increase the risk of cancer and birth defects and should not be used on pregnant women or children."

Why The IRS Is About To Set Off A New Wave Of Jinglemail

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 14:02:30 GMT

``While speeding up the debt relief process for some, the form is likely to wake up many Americans to the fact that refinancing is not an option. Some will refuse to share their tax history with the bank. Some will realize they earn too little to qualify for debt relief; and others will realize they earn too much. The last group will be the most likely to default, as these are middle class Americans who finally recognize that their over-ambitious mortgage is costing more than it's worth. ''