Friday November 21, 2008

 

New Standard Good Faith Estimate Effective January 2010

Posted by Justin McHood on November 12th, 2008

Today it was announced that HUD has adopted a new 3 page Good Faith Estimate as part of its RESPA reform package that will be standard among all lenders and go into effect in January of 2010.

The new standard Good Faith Estimate is part of a RESPA Reform package that has been in the works for years.  Before the announcement, HUD reviewed approximately 12,000 comments and in considering these comments made changes to what was going to be a 4 page Good Faith Estimate.

According to Brian Montgomery, HUD’s Assistant Secretary of Housing:

“We have carefully considered the concerns expressed from every corner of the mortgage market in developing this rule. I am convinced that we successfully balanced the needs of consumers with those in the business of homeownership. None of us can lose sight of the fact that millions of Americans simply don’t understand all the fine print of their mortgages and this, in many respects, is at the heart of today’s mortgage crisis.”

Personally? I think it is a good idea. It will help standardize information that the consumer is getting from different lenders so that the consumer can make an informed choice and more easily match up the Good Faith Estimate with the Final HUD-1.

See the new Good Faith Estimate Form.

See the new HUD-1 Settlement Statement Form.

November 12, 2008 | Filed Under Government, Mortgage Guidelines, The Business of Mortgages | Leave a Comment 

 

Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 - House Votes “NO” But Debate Rages On

Posted by Justin McHood on September 29th, 2008

We mentioned (in jest) late last week that “On tap for next week: the world is coming to an end” and after today, I have to wonder.

Today, the House voted “no” to the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 and the markets responded by promptly going in the tank and posting the largest-single-point-drop-in-one-day-in-history.

But wait.

According to Bloomberg, Secretary Paulson is working with Congress to salvage the “Bailout Bill” after the House rejected it.

Said Paulson:

“We need to work as quickly as possible; we need to get something done, we believe that our plan, and the plan that we developed with congressional leaders and worked so hard, is a plan that works. And we need a plan that works.”

Yep.  That was well said.

WE NEED A PLAN THAT WORKS.

Now if only it was that cut-and-dry…

Stay tuned for more developments as they happen.

September 29, 2008 | Filed Under Government | Leave a Comment 

 

Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 - Draft

Posted by Justin McHood on September 28th, 2008

Love it or hate it, the “bail out bill” goes to a vote in the House on Monday and the Senate on Wednesday.

It is still in DRAFT form, but I think it is safe to expect some form of this bill to pass into law this week.

For all those of you who like reading the fine print of your tax forms, you can see a summary of the bill as well as the a full draft of the bill in it’s proposed form.

(Hat Tip Phoenix Real Estate Guy for making these easy to find…)

Just in case you needed to see it again — this is what a TRILLION dollars looks like in numerical form:

$1,000,000,000,000

September 28, 2008 | Filed Under Government | Leave a Comment