I have been spending time recently kicking the tires of a new Web site, MortgageGrader.com, which has excellent credentials. It has been developed by Jeff Lazerson, an experienced mortgage broker who didn't much like the way most brokers did business.  more...

(This is Part 3 of a three-part series. Read Part 1, "New mortgage underwriting rules will be tough to enforce," and Part 2, "Rebates to mortgage brokers rile regulators.")

Two previous articles examined the Federal Reserve Board's proposals for tightening underwriting requirements and for limiting broker charges to borrowers. These are longstanding areas of board concern.  more...

(This is Part 2 of a three-part series. Read Part 1, "New mortgage underwriting rules will be tough to enforce.")

Last week, I criticized the Federal Reserve Board's proposed rule to prohibit lenders from making loans that were not affordable, and to require lenders to verify the information on which they base loan decisions. These rules are too vague to be enforceable, and it is too late for them to do any good even if they were enforceable.  more...

(This is Part 1 of a three-part series.)

On Dec. 18 of last year, the Federal Reserve Board released its long-awaited proposals for curbing abuses in the home mortgage market. In this set of three articles, I examine board proposals to curb lax underwriting rules, unfair practices by mortgage brokers, and abusive practices by loan servicing agents.  more...

"I am perplexed at what appears to be a nomenclature problem that the mortgage industry has created with its definition of 'simple-interest mortgage.' Aren't most monthly payment mortgages simple interest?"

They are, and I agree with you that the existing nomenclature can be confusing to borrowers.  more...

Five years ago, I wrote an article on Internet mortgage referral sites, six of which I examined with some care. In 2007, Loan.com joined the group, claiming a unique distinction: All the loan providers on its site have to abide by a borrower bill of rights. The question is whether this provides any substantive benefit to borrowers, or is it just another species of hype?  more...

(This is Part 2 of a two-part series. Read Part 1, "Mortgage market recovery hinges on investors.")

The first article in this series indicated that the current stringency in the mortgage market will ease when investors regain their confidence, which won't happen until they can see a floor in house prices and a peak in foreclosures. Neither is yet in sight.  more...

(This is Part 1 of a two-part series. Read Part 2, "Subprime relief plan's major flaw.")

The financial crisis we are currently in will probably enter the U.S. record book as the second worst in the last 100 years. The worst was in the early 1930s when thousands of banks failed and the mortgage market shut down entirely.  more...

Many borrowers would like a mortgage on which the monthly payment would drop following a large payment to principal. They may have highly irregular income, or they may anticipate coming into a large sum of money from a bonus, bequest or insurance settlement.

Mortgages fall into four categories with regard to how responsive they are to this need. Standard fixed-rate mortgages (FRMs) are the least responsive.  more...

Rent versus buy

"I am a 48-year-old divorced female. I have been renting for the last 10 years. My friends keep telling me that renting is 'throwing your money away.' But if I buy, my monthly housing costs will probably double. I wonder if at my age I would not be better off putting the difference into a retirement account?"

Rent versus buy is a perennial issue, and a very complicated one. The decision is not properly made by looking at monthly costs – there would be few homeowners around if that is all they looked at.  more...

In the wake of the subprime crisis, the market has turned against all except "cream-puff borrowers" -- those with no weaknesses. The cream-puffs can borrow today on pretty much the same terms as before the crisis. But borrowers with blemishes on their applications are paying much higher prices and face a much higher risk of being turned down altogether.  more...

(This is Part 2 of a two-part series. Read Part 1.)

YSP abuse, as explained in my first column, arises when mortgage brokers steer borrowers into high-rate loans on which the broker collects a rebate from the lender, without the knowledge of the borrower. To eliminate it, I suggested a simple and easily enforceable rule that would help the naive as well as the informed borrower. The rule is that lenders must credit all rebates to borrowers.  more...

(This is Part 1 of a two-part series.)

The Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act of 2007 (HR 3915) is now winding its way through Congress. According to the bill's sponsor, Rep. Barney Frank, D-Mass, one of its important objectives is to prevent mortgage brokers from steering borrowers into higher-cost loans.  more...