From the monthly archives:

January 2008

If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!SunTrust is planning on closing their Denver, Dallas and Richmond wholesale branches within the next 60 days according to a highly reliable source.
From the SunTrust Web site:
SunTrust Mortgage, Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of SunTrust Bank – a $180.3 [...]

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Mortgage Rates are…. UP!

by Morgan on January 31, 2008

You heard it right folks.  For those of you playing roulette trying to game the mortgage interest rate market in light of recent Fed activity let this be a good lesson.  The Fed cuts and mortgage interest rates go higher.  Don’t be fooled in to believing that the interest rates you pay on your mortgage [...]

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Jobless claims surged and sent stocks plummeting in the opening minutes today as traders worried about the possible onset of the credit/housing-bust led recession.  First time claims rose by 69,000 to 375,000 smoking estimates of a smaller rise of jobless claims to 320,000.
Even factoring in for seasonal volatility the number came as a shock to [...]

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Citing a weakening economic environment the Federal Reserve cut interest rates 50 basis points in an attempt to soften the impending economic crash landing.  In other news the dollar was seen shooting glares of jealousy at its friend the Euro.
From the Fed statement:
 ”Financial markets remain under considerable stress, and credit has tightened further for some [...]

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Market Watch is reporting that the FBI is scrutinizing 14 companies related to the mortgage industry at all levels of the securitization process as part of their investigation in to the mortgage meltdown.
 Agents are looking into allegations of fraud in several stages of the mortgage securitization process, in which home loans are packaged up by [...]

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We’re picking up speed in the Presidential campaign and with the California primaries fast approaching I thought it would be worthwhile to take a look at how some of the candidates stack up when it comes to mortgage reform and their position on the mortgage mess.
We’ll look at all of the front-runners: Clinton, Obama, Edwards, [...]

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Countrywide reported that it lost $422 million last quarter while watching loan production sink nearly a third from $90 billion to $61 billion.  This comes on the heals of an expected B of A takeover; the plans of which are to be unveiled today by Bank of America.  Many believe that a poor performance by [...]

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Stated income has always been laughable to me.  For the most part the way that it’s been implemented in the industry is as outright fraud – pick a number that makes the loan work and find a way to justify it to the brain-dead underwriting team that is just trying to hit their numbers.  Now, [...]

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A BIG, heartfelt THANK YOU!

by Morgan on January 28, 2008

I just wanted to take a minute to say thank you to those that have contributed to Blown Mortgage over the last couple of months.  Tom, Chris, Graeme, Matthew, Ricardo and Sean. I greatly appreciate your effort, expertise and insight that you have brought to Blown Mortgage.  Thank you deeply for your support and contributions.
I [...]

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Conforming Loan Limit Increase in Jeopardy

by Morgan on January 28, 2008

Put away the champagne folks – the conforming loan limit increase seems to be in jeopardy.
According to Inman News:
But an increase in the conforming loan limit faces opposition in the Senate, where Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., is sticking with the position previously held by the Bush administration: that any increase in the conforming loan limit [...]

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