"I am 58 and just purchased the home in which my wife and I plan to spend the rest of our lives. We paid points to reduce the rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage to 4.75 percent.

I am feeling very insecure. The payment is affordable now, but I plan to retire in seven years and my income will drop. At that point, my property taxes will almost certainly be higher as well.  more...

"According to the National Mortgage News of July 9, 2007, 'Several Democratic senators want to impose a fiduciary duty on mortgage brokers so they are obliged to serve the best interests of the borrower and can be held accountable for violations of that trust.' I assume you support this effort?"  more...

Providing small loans at affordable prices has always been a challenge. The core problem is that the cost of originating and servicing a loan is much the same for a small loan as for a large one but the interest return, based on the loan amount, is smaller on the smaller loan. The obvious remedy, a higher interest rate on the smaller loan, makes it costly and perhaps unaffordable.  more...

With one important exception, lenders price loans on the assumption that borrowers will include taxes and insurance premiums in their monthly mortgage payments. These payments are placed in an escrow account under the lender's control. On a payment date, the amount due is paid by the lender.  more...

Borrowers who don't know how to deal with mortgage brokers waste their own time as well as that of the brokers. Borrower ignorance also encourages brokers to be hustlers rather than professionals.

In general, borrowers should view brokers as providers of professional services for which they are paid a fee. That fee is the only price brokers control, and it is the only price that borrowers using brokers should shop.  more...

There is much to admire in Bank of America's new No Fee Mortgage Plus (NFMP) program for home purchasers. NFMP collapses all lender fees into one combination of interest rate and points, eliminating the myriad of separate lender "junk fees" that confuse shoppers. Junk fees are also a source of abuse by less scrupulous lenders who may raise them at the 11th hour.

BofA is not unique in eliminating junk fees.  more...

(This is Part 2 of a two-part series. Read Part 1, "Tighter lending rules could backfire.")

A widespread view held by bank regulators, community groups and some legislators is that all home mortgages should be "affordable," and government should do what is necessary to bring this about.

Last week, I looked at one concrete proposal designed to ensure the affordability of adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs).  more...

(This is Part 1 of a two-part series. Read Part 2, "Sky-high loans get borrowers out of trouble.")

Case histories of subprime loans that have gone to foreclosure often generate righteous indignation. With benefit of hindsight, many if not most of them look as if they never should have been made.  more...

(This is Part 5 of a five-part series. See Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4.)

Previous articles in this series emphasized that the subprime market remains open for business, with more realistic underwriting rules than before the house-price bubble broke.  more...

(This is Part 4 of a five-part series. See Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 5.)

The federal government is presently under enormous pressure to "do something" about the subprime crisis.  more...

(This is Part 3 of a five-part series.  more...