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By Dennis Norman, on April 17th, 2011 Over the past year or so there have been dozens, if not hundreds, of stories questioning the manner in which lenders were handling the servicing of their loans, particularly those of underwater borrowers, as well as the foreclosure practices of many including “robo-signing” of foreclosure affidavits. Next came the lawsuits and now, this week, the [...]
By Dennis Norman, on February 15th, 2011 Much has been written (including by me) about the negative impact foreclosures and other distress sales have on home prices so this is no new issue. In fact, most readers have probably seen (or felt) the impact of this in their own neighborhood.
The charts below which show the percentage of mortgages that were 90 [...]
By Dennis Norman, on February 14th, 2011 This past Friday Federal Reserve Board Governor Sarah Bloom Raskin spoke at the 2011 Midwinter Housing Finance Conference about the powerful impact the housing and mortgage markets have had on the nation’s economy recovery.
Governor Raskin began by point out that, “speaking strictly in an economic sense, the recession that emerged in 2008 is over.” [...]
By Dennis Norman, on November 12th, 2010
Speaking at the National Consumer Law Center’s Consumer Rights Litigation Conference in Boston, Federal Reserve Governor Sarah Bloom Raskin delivered some sobering news about the Fed Reserve’s expectations for the housing market.
Raskin discussed how foreclosures on residential properties soared from about one million in 2006, the “peak of the boom”, to 2.8 million [...]
By Dennis Norman, on September 3rd, 2010
Dennis Norman
Reverse mortgages have become increasingly popular over the past few years with seniors that find themselves with a large amount of equity in their home, but short on cash, or struggling to pay for the upkeep of the home, property taxes, insurance or other living expenses. A reverse mortgage allows people in [...]
By Dennis Norman, on August 25th, 2010 Dennis Norman
Over the past couple of years lawsuits have been filed against several lenders over “yield spread premiums” that were paid by the lenders to mortgage brokers originating loans on their behalf. These suits brought a lot of attention to a common practice in the mortgage industry which was to compensate the companies [...]
By Dennis Norman, on April 6th, 2010 Dennis Norman
At the Federal Open Market Committee meeting on March 16th it was suggested that “economic activity expanded at a moderate pace in early 2010″. Unfortunately, when it came to the housing market, the news was not as good and it was noted that “housing activity remained flat and the nonresidential construction section [...]
By Dennis Norman, on March 22nd, 2010 Dennis Norman
The Federal Reserve announced it will stop purchasing mortgage-backed securities by the end of March.
In November, 2008, the Federal Reserve announced, in an effort to help the housing market, it would purchase mortgage-backed securities. Then, in March, 2009, the Fed increased the total amount of money they would invest in [...]
By Dennis Norman, on August 3rd, 2009 Dennis Norman
Late last week the Federal Reserve Board proposed significant changes to Regulation Z (Truth in Lending) intended to improve the disclosures consumers receive in connection with home mortgages and home equity lines of credit.
These changes are just proposed at this point and are being offered for public comment for 120 days [...]
By Dennis Norman, on August 1st, 2009 Dennis Norman
By: Dennis Norman
Buying a home should be a dream come true not a nightmare of worry and stress. A new Federal Reserve Board publication, “5 Tips for Shopping for a Mortgage,” will help consumers avoid potential pitfalls and make well-informed decisions when choosing a home loan. Financing the purchase of [...]
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