Discussing Loan Reviews with Andy Hall  – John Clapp – MortgageOrb chats with Andy Hall, CEO of Hall Underwriting and Consulting LLC, this week to get his thoughts on how to catch fraud earlier in the lending process.

————

Home loan rate flat after Fed cut and headed lower – … Rather than the Fed’s rate cut, which more directly impacts shorter borrowing costs, fixed mortgage rates would drop because “the Fed did announce some important and expanding supports for other markets and mortgage markets especially,” said HSH vice president Keith Gumbinger, in Pompton Plans, New Jersey…. Reuters UK 
————

Wanted: Super-human technocrat to run New York Fed – … As one former Fed economist put it: “With the challenges what they are — you almost need two people.” … – Reuters

————

A long, cold winter – Posted by Prieur du Plessis – This post features a recent Barron’s interview with Stehanie Pomboy. … Pomboy is bearish and of the opinion that it will take consumers at least five years – and probably more – to recover from the credit crisis. She is convinced that a long period of paltry US economic growth is in store – akin to what happened in Japan in the 1990s. Her views and forecasts, as expressed in the Barron’s interview, are shared below. – Investment Postcards from Capetown

————

Fannie Mae Transitions Reverse Mortgages To Live Pricing – John Yedinak – In November Fannie Mae announced it was  making the move to “Live Pricing” for reverse mortgages, which allows lenders to obtain reverse mortgage commitments ranging 2 to 90 days.  Prior to the change, FNMA only priced reverse mortgages in 60-day forward negotiated … – Reverse Mortgage Daily

————

Tom Brown is not happy – TARP Oversight Panel’s First Report: Unfortunately, Just What We Expected  Elizabeth Warren seems determined to not give the banking industry a break – bankstocks.com

————

MOD SECTION:

FHFA ANNOUNCES IMPLEMENTATION PLANS FOR STREAMLINED LOAN MODIFICATION PROGRAM  – Press Release

Links to Briefing Materials:
Freddie Mac’s Bulletin with program guidelines 
Fannie Mae’s Announcement with program guidelines 

GSE’s Loan Mods Fall, as Loan Reinstatements Rise- Kelly Curan – …  A new report, released Tuesday by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, highlights the role of one perhaps slightly under-mentioned program at Fannie Mae that has clearly become a staple in loss mitigation efforts among servicers. The report showed that while loan workouts, which include repayment plans and modifications, have risen steadily, the number of loan modifications across both GSEs has continued to fall steadily  … – Housing Wire 

Loan Modification Process: It’s Still Not Making Sense – Posted By: Diana Olick – While I applaud the effort, I notice, once again, in the “modification options” section, that a real principal write down is not included in modifications. There is a principal forbearance option, but the borrower still has to make a balloon payment when the loan matures. … These options may help some borrowers, but certainly not the bulk of borrowers who are underwater on their homes. Some of the options put off the inevitable… -  CNBC

MR Mortgage is not a big Fan of the GSE Loan Mod Program – he gives his reasons why at Fannie/Freddie – Come Get Your Loan Mod & Pay For Life 

————

FDIC: Highlights from the 2008 Summary of Deposits Data – By Robert E. Basinger – Each year, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Office of Thrift Supervision (OTS) survey all FDIC-insured institutions to collect information on bank and thrift deposits, and operating branches and offices. The resulting FDIC Summary of Deposits (SOD) is a valuable resource for analyzing deposit market trends and measuring concentrations nationally and at the local level. This article highlights some preliminary conclusions from the 2008 SOD data.

————

Accounting:  Everything We Learned about the Financial Crisis, Again – Tim Reason and Marie Leone – The nation’s top accounting guru gets back to basics with a list of financial lessons we must remember not to forget. -   CFO.com