Mortgage brokers are threatening massive layoffs of loan officers if a new federal rule takes effect April 1 that prohibits them from earning a larger commission on mortgage loans with high interest rates. The regulation is part of the Truth in Lending Act and Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act aimed at protecting consumers from [...]

Republican members of the U.S. Congress are questioning the participation of the newly formed Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) in ongoing mortgage settlement talks with leading mortgage servicing companies. Although the federal consumer bureau was established by Congress to protect consumers’ rights and improve regulation of the consumer financial services industry, most Republicans opposed its [...]

Things are heating up in the U.S. House of Representatives as Republicans introduce legislation that would do away with mortgage modification programs aimed at helping homeowners avoid foreclosure and assisting local governments with addressing foreclosed properties. With a 33-22 vote, the House Financial Services Committee passed the bill that would end the Home Affordable Modification [...]

Several U.S. states think it’s high time kids start learning about personal finance; and they believe the place for such learning is in school. The Virginia General Assembly has introduced a bill that would make a personal finance course a graduation requirement for high school students. And in North Dakota, lawmakers have proposed a bill [...]

Expect to see a slow demise of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The much anticipated report from the U.S. Department of the Treasury and U.S. Housing and Urban Development released Friday paints a dim picture for the future of the two mortgage finance giants. The Obama administration’s recommendation for housing finance reform is to downsize [...]

The new website of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is up and running and ready to take consumer comments on how financial institutions can make their financial products and services easier to understand. “We have the opportunity to create a brand new consumer agency from the ground up. This agency will put a cop [...]

You’ve heard the news. In fact, you may be living the news. Since the summer of 2008, almost everybody who owns a home has seen its value dramatically decrease. Some have lost more than half of the value of their home and because of that, the nation and the world has seen the overall economy [...]

If you’ve ever signed for a mortgage, or any other loan for that matter, you may be familiar with the 3-Day Right of Rescission. It’s a right granted to all borrowers to change their minds after the loan papers have been signed. There are limits of course, but the goal is to give the borrower [...]

Below are links to some of the major laws that govern financial institutions and protect individuals in their financial dealings. You can find more information at http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/complaints/complain2.htm.

On July 30th, 2008, President Bush signed into law the Homeownership and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, also known as HERA, that put into effect a number of changes to the way the mortgage system operates. Licenses Required for Mortgage Originators For the first time, mortgage originators are now required to be registered and licensed [...]

With all the turmoil in the mortgage industry these days, a number of our readers have been wondering what happens if their mortgage lenders go belly up. Will the terms of your loan change? Will you have to renegotiate the loan with another lender? Well, most of what goes on in the secondary mortgage market [...]

The Mortgage market is tough right now; foreclosures are on the rise, there is a glut of homes on the market, and no end in sight. President Bush has recently unveiled his FHA program to bail out homeowners in need. The program he plans to roll out is called FHA Secure and is supposed to [...]