How many ways can a borrower get absolutely hit over the head with fees in the loan process? If you think about it, it is amazing how many fees are involved with the lending process. I mean you have fees such as the “document preparation fee;” the “email fee” (a fee some mortgage brokers will read more

Ben Stein — the droll actor and financial columnist — had a remarkable story in the business section of the Sunday New York Times.

There are any number of reasons for the mortgage meltdown, and also why FHA mortgage standards make so much sense in their present form. On the other side of the street, read more

Given all the claims made by HUD regarding it’s efforts to save American borrowers from foreclosure, it’s revealing to see what their own statistics say.

We now have in hand the official six-month report from the FHA — the government’s fiscal year starts October 1st so now read more

The rumor mill is churning in Washington, suggesting that the White House will veto two mortgage reform bills should they pass on Capitol Hill — H.R. 5818: The Neighborhood Stabilization Act of 2008 and read more

In my Realty Times column the question is asked: Should The FHA Own Part Of Your Home?

When I first saw the proposal by Rep. Barney Frank (R-MA) to create an FHA program that would assist homeowners (and thus lenders) who are in trouble I was read more

On Friday, March 14, 2008, the Department of Housing and Urban Development released its proposed rule additions and amendments to the Real Estate Settlement Procedure Act (RESPA). The proposed rules, if adopted, would alter RESPA in several material respects. Most notably, the proposed new rules would require for a uniform Good Faith Estimate (GFE) to be distributed read more

Cat writes and asks: “My home that is in danger of foreclosure due to an adjusted ARM that just happened raising my payment 218.00 more per month. The home is a rental property in Ohio, and I live in TN now. Can I get help with an FHA read more

President Bush as named Steve Preston to be the next HUD Secretary. Preston, Administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration since July 2006, was previously the executive vice president of strategic services with the ServiceMaster Company and, prior to that, senior vice president and treasurer with First Data Corporation.

Preston will have his hands full. read more

A entirely new approach to FHA financing has just been introduced by Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee.

The Frank measure, H.R. 5830 contains a provision rarely seen in a federal program.

According to the official summary read more

Below is part of the statement before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs by Arthur J. Murton, Director, Division of Insurance and Research for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

A number of commentators have suggested that the housing market read more

Alan Sloan, the financial writer, makes an interesting point regarding the new and higher FHA loan limits for 2008.

Under the Economic Stimulus Package, the maximum conventional loan rose from $417,000 to as much as $729,750. Sloan points out that the bigger loans will be helpful to people in high-cost areas because with the bigger loans now defined read more

With the national mortgage industry on the forefront of the news today there has been much debate about the infamous yield spread premium (“YSP”). As you may now know, YSP is the cash rebate paid to a mortgage broker based on selling an interest rate above the wholesale par rate that the borrower qualifies for. read more

The Washington Post has come out with a lengthy, detailed front-page story blasting outgoing HUD Secretary Alphonso Jackson.

“In late 2006,” says the paper, “as economists warned of an imminent housing market collapse, housing Secretary Alphonso Jackson repeatedly insisted that the mounting read more

Mario writes and says:

“I HAVE BEEN IN A CHAPTER 13 FOR 36 MTHS. AND COMPLETED IT ON TIME WITH NO LATES PAYS,THE PROBLEM I HAVE IS THE FESABILTY PROBLEM WHICH IS 8000.00 I TRYED TO GET MY HOUSE REFI. WITH FHA. THEY WILL NOT DO IT BECAUSE OF 2 read more

One of the governors of the Federal Reserve, Randall S. Kroszner, spoke before the Congress yesterday and outlined the current mortgage situation as he saw it.

You ought to read this document, it will explain in large measure how we got where we are — and why things have not gotten better.

Gov. Kroszner read more