Jason Berman

• Manage |RSSTechnology, Tools and Tidbits

Stefan, check out "Ego" in the iTunes App Store. Cheers, JB

Derek, How does a net worth requirement help the consumer? Net Worth requirements raise the cost of doing business, which in turn reduces competition. Rates go up, fees go up. It costs more to buy a home. That hurts home values. Econ 101. Go back and look at the biggest mortgage fraud cases. They were perpetrated by mortgage banks. Not mortgage brokers. Search Iowa. There is a reason why Countrywide, ABC, & those of similar ilk were the first to fall. The answer shouldn't be to fix HVCC. HVCC is structurally broken. The answer is to kill HVCC and then go about understanding the problem before we try to fix it. For example, how many people are aware of the actual number of appraisers that lost licenses or were reprimanded for inflated valuations in 2004, 2005, & 2006? It's minuscule. The entire appraisal industry was complicit. Blaming another industry for pressure? Doesn't add up. Appraisers caved. It takes two to inflate. One to pressure, One to comply. Let's look at bureaucracy in action, the small business appraiser has been decimated. The cost of an appraisal has gone up 50% the last three years. A middleman is now carving up the pie to the detriment of homeowners & frustration of real estate professionals everywhere. Loans are taking longer, costing consumers more money. Some would argue the quality of appraisals has declined. No, changing HVCC isn't the answer. Getting rid of it is the answer. Tough enforcement of existing laws. Creating uniform national standards for competency, education, & background checks for loan originators. Getting appraisers to enforce the rules and kick out the bad apples. Put banks on an even footing with their competition. Get real estate agents out of the financing function. All these things will help. Not some backdoor rule designed to strong-arm FNMA & FHMLC into enacting guidelines that squash small business and eliminate competition.

This was a timely article for me Teresa, thanks. I've been messing around with themes and haven't gotten around to getting my contact information back up. Thanks for the reminder.