While there are many opinions about the holders of subprime mortgages, including that contingent which simply states that people who fell prey to them basically “should have known better,” there are some pretty clear indications that minority groups of blacks and Hispanics were targeted by lenders for these loans, according to the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC). According to the study, Read full article »
Archives for April, 2010
Were Minorities Targeted for Risky, Subprime Loans?
category: Editorial
tags: Borrowers, Community Reinvestment, Contingent, Credit Risk, Foreclosure, Government Agency, Hispanics, Home Loans, Inception, Independent Consumer, Loan Brokers, Loan Type, Minorities, Minority Groups, National Community Reinvestment Coalition, Regression Analysis, Samplings, Subprime Loans, Subprime Mortgages, Supervisory Agency
House Committee Approves FHA Reform, Overlooks Changes to Minimum Down Payment
On Tuesday, April 27, 2010, the House Financial Services Committee approved legislation that the lawmakers say will keep the FHA viable and enable it to continue insuring mortgage loans. The FHA’s continued viability came into question after rising defaults caused the federal agency’s reserves to fall below 2 percent, the minimum amount required by law. However, the new legislation will enable Read full article »
category: Real Estate News
tags: Borrowers, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Economic Climate, Fannie Mae, Fannie Mae And Freddie Mac, Fha Insurance, Fha Loans, Financial Services Committee, Freddie Mac, Furor, House Committee, House Financial Services Committee, Mortgage Fha, Mortgage Loans, New Legislation, Noncompliance, Regulatory Affairs, Reporting Systems, Risk Management, Viability
Agents Listing Short Sales Work Around Bank Negotiations
In Nevada, real estate agents are reporting that they are streamlining the short sale process by listing properties on MLS far below market price to elicit multiple offers. They believe that this streamlines the negotiation process with the bank or other lending entity because it gives them many different offers to work with and heightens the homeowner’s odds of getting Read full article »
category: Real Estate News
The Politics of Real Estate
Few industries are as profoundly impacted by the political machinations in Washington as the real estate industry. Whether it's old legislation like Jimmy Carter's Community Reinvestment Act or Barack Obama's massive mortgage bailouts, the U.S. political machine has a huge impact (usually bad) on the business of real estate.
Ideally, we could ignore politics. But here at the Bryan Ellis Real Estate Letter, we insist on seeing the world with clarity - including the reality of Washington's aggressive involvement in every facet of our business, from mortgage lending to real estate sales license; from loan modification regulations to appraisal requirements... every piece of our business is profoundly impacted by politics. So rather than stick our heads in the sand and ignore reality, readers of the Bryan Ellis Real Estate Letter choose to be informed and prepared.
Mortgage Industry News
Few things change more rapidly than the mortgage market, and with the increasing dominance of GSE's Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac over the mortgage business, it's more important than ever to keep up. Here are a few recent mortgage news updates:
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Mortgage News
- HAMP Success Tally Slowly Growing
- Western States Working Through Foreclosure Backlog Quicker than Eastern
- Biggest Down Payments in the Country Found in New Jersey
- President Bypasses Congress, Appoints Director of the Consumer Protection Bureau
- Federal Reserve Recommends Expanding GSEs to Turn Housing Market Around
- Mortgage Rates Likely to Remain Low for a While Longer
- Top Former FDIC, Wells Fargo Execs Say Fannie and Freddie Must Go
- FHA Continues to Extend Anti-Flipping Waiver
- More Homeowners Using Delaying Tactics to Slow Down Foreclosures
- Now that It’s Passed: The True Cost of the Payroll Tax Cut
About Bryan Ellis
Bryan Ellis is an Atlanta-based real estate analyst and publisher of the widely read newsletter "The Bryan Ellis Real Estate Letter". With over 200,000 subscribers - including real estate investors, agents, brokers, appraisers and other real estate professionals - the Bryan Ellis Real Estate Letter is among America's largest sources of unbiased coverage of politics and public policy for the real estate industry.
Bryan Ellis serves as editor in chief for the Bryan Ellis Real Estate Letter and is assisted by an extraordinary staff of writers, researchers and editors who are each real estate experts in their own right and who assure that the news we report is well researched, factual, and highly relevant to today's real estate industry.
Bryan is very happily married and has two wonderful daughters. He makes his home in the suburbs of Atlanta, Georgia. You can contact the team at the Bryan Ellis Real Estate Letter here.