Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs) and private reverse mortgages gave birth to a new asset class, but the sharp financial minds on Wall Street missed this seminal event for almost a decade. Then in 1998, Lehman Brothers tapped a young investment banker to start its reverse mortgage business, the first on Wall Street.Read more

The National Association of Mortgage Brokers (NAMB) is attempting to link valuation fraud to the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC). I wish NAMB would give up the ghost on trying to stop HVCC because it is depleting NAMB’s resources. As a member of NAMB, I would rather see NAMB place its efforts on membership, training/certifications, and fight proposed legislation like HR 4173, Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act.Read more

For good reasons, it is open season on Wall Street, bankers and their sidekicks in the mortgage-lending food chain, but Americans still value balance and fairness in their public discourse. That is why I believe “Sub-Prime Revisited,” the ‘report’ released on Oct. 6 by the National Consumer Law Center, is a one-sided editorial with a regulatory policy agenda built on generalizations and extrapolations.Read more

The U.S. House of Representatives will take up HR 4173 within days. The measure provides for the long awaited reform of Wall Street and creates the Consumer Financial Protection Agency (CFPA). The legislative team of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers (NAMB) worked hard in protecting the ability of consumers, at their option, to finance agreed upon mortgage broker compensation in their mortgage rate thereby preserving a long-standing important option for consumers. Such language was included in the manager's amendment to the bill.Read more

Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray has filed a lawsuit against Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch, three national agencies that are responsible for providing accurate credit ratings of investments. The lawsuit, filed in United States District Court for the Southern District of Ohio on behalf of five Ohio public employee retirement and pension funds, charges the rating agencies with wreaking havoc on U.S. financial markets by providing unjustified and inflated ratings of mortgage-backed securities in exchange for lucrative fees from securities issuers.Read more

NewOak Capital announces the appointment of Jay Lown as managing director and senior member of the financial institutions group. He will be responsible for coordinating all activities relating to the U.S. government-related mortgage lending programs through Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and the FHA, as well as developing mortgage advisory solutions and focusing on the bank advisory and recapitalization at NewOak Capital.Read more

What do you do when the phone stops ringing? When wholesale lenders fold? Guidelines are tightening to unbearable levels? When home prices plummet? When government regulation is agonizing? For the last several years, it has been a broker’s market. If you opened an office and provided good service, the phone rang and you earned a nice living. Well, Mr. and Mrs. Cleaver … Wally and the Beav are losing their home in Mayfield!Read more

Provided exclusively to National Mortgage Professional Magazine by David Beadle, president of BestInfo, Inc., home of the BestRates cell, pager and e-mail rate alert service for mortgage industry subscribers. A reading of "1" has the lowest impact on rates, while "10" has the highest. Although carefully verified, data are not guaranteed as to accuracy or completeness. BestInfo, Inc. cannot be held responsible for any direct or incidental loss or liability incurred by applying any of the information or opinions in this feature.Read more

United States President Barack Obama has announced the reappointment of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke to a second term at the helm of the Federal Reserve Board. "I would like to express my gratitude to President Obama for the confidence he has shown in me with this nomination and for his unwavering support for a strong and independent Federal Reserve," said Bernanke on news of the reappointment. "It has been a particular privilege for me to serve with extraordinary colleagues throughout the Federal Reserve System.Read more