“Too many people bought too much house for too many years.

Yes, the financial system almost collapsed because mortgage bankers and brokers told lies about loan terms and loosened standards in dangerous ways, and investment bankers packaged those loans into bonds that were far more toxic than ratings agencies predicted.

But the roots of the mortgage contagion lie with all of us and our desire to own just a bit more house…”

Read the article: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/12/your-money/mortgages/12money.html?_r=1&em

“If you’re applying for a loan to purchase a primary or secondary home, or planning to refinance, you should be aware of a little-publicized new set of federal consumer-protection rules that takes effect July 30. Among other key changes, the new Federal Reserve guidelines require lenders to give you initial disclosures of your mortgage costs within three business days of your loan application. If you don’t get them, you can pull the plug…”

Read the article: http://bit.ly/12q2vA

“After reviewing recent unemployment data and market fluctuations, plus patterns of mortgage fraud, Fannie Mae is making major mortgage guideline changes for the first time in more than 6 months. The changes are broad, impacting 15 separate areas of the mortgage approval process as detailed in Fannie Mae’s official announcement.

Across-the-Board Guideline Changes:

• Credit, income and asset documentation can’t be more than 90 days old. The former guidelines allowed for 120 days.
• Lenders must compare actual federal tax returns from the IRS to a borrower’s supplied income documentation. Previously, this review step was at the lender’s discretion.
• “Tip” income must be verified.
• Trailing secondary wage earning is now prohibited. This means that P&G employees relocating to Cincinnati can’t use a spouse’s “expected” Cincinnati income until that spouse actually has a job.
• Stocks, bonds and mutual funds get assigned 70% of current market value. Formerly, this was 100%.
• Retirement assets get assigned 60% of current market value. Formerly, this was 70%.”

Read the article: http://bit.ly/e0q8F