Up until recently I lay awake at night, wondering if I got cheated when I had to make my standard mortgage payment in February, since it only has 28 days. A California appellate court has rejected a class action lawsuit by Julie and Kenneth Puentes claiming Wells Fargo unfairly treated customers in its calculation of monthly interest rates for February (the shortest month of the year) as “unfair” and entitling plaintiffs to “overpayments.” The plaintiffs had argued that because the industry’s calculation of a month represented 30.4 days—and because February has only 28 days—that the calculation unfairly charged them for February and they were entitled to a refund of their “overpayment,” plus damages. The attorney said that “The Puenteses conveniently ignored the fact that longer months like August or October were also treated as 1/12th of a year, a bonus to consumers.” Had the plaintiffs succeeded, it could have undermined not only how mortgage companies calculate interest rates, but also the uniformity of the secondary market as a whole. And folks wonder why there are so many attorneys out there.

The FHA, who lost $4.6 billion last year, may be losing their ability to accept down-payment assistance program money. Nearly 79,000 people last year took advantage of them, where nonprofit groups provide buyers with money for down payments and home sellers then reimburse the organizations and pay an administrative fee. The FHA said seller-funded down payments present the single biggest challenge to its solvency. Borrowers who take part in these arrangements go to foreclosure at nearly three times the rate of borrowers who put their own money down, according to the agency. The Senate version of the housing bill would have banned them but the House version would not. At this point a compromise bill has backed the Senate’s version on this, which also is supported by the Bush administration.

Got an Alt-A loan, maybe a jumbo? Well, cross Wachovia wholesale off of your list. “Wachovia Mortgage has evaluated its business model and decided to reposition its mortgage business. Going forward, we will primarily focus on customers who have relationships with the bank, and who are located in geographies where Wachovia branches are located. As a result of our new strategic focus, Wachovia Mortgage has decided to discontinue lending through third-party, or wholesale, mortgage brokers. This decision will be effective July 25, 2008, which will be the last date on which Wachovia Mortgage will accept loan applications from brokers.” One wholesale employee told me, “Ah yes, I still remember seeing the HR videos over the last year saying ‘welcome aboard we’re so glad we bought you’.