The agency is proposing a ban on mortgage companies from charging origination fees, which can fluctuate with a loans amount, The New York Times reports. The fees can often get confused with upfront discount points that borrowers often pay in order to obtain a lower interest rate on a loan.
The agency is also looking at implementing a new rule that would require lenders to offer a reduced interest rate when a borrower chooses to pay discount points on a loan upfront. Lenders would then be required to offer a loan option that does not include any points.
“Mortgages today often come with so many different types of fees and points that it can be hard to compare offers,” Richard Cordray, the director of the consumer bureau, told The New York Times. “We want to bring greater transparency to the market so consumers can clearly see their options and choose the loan that is right for them.”
The proposed rules will need to go up for public review and a special panel before being formally proposed this summer. The agency says that if the new rules win approval they hope the rules will take effect by January.
Source: “New Rules May Curtail Some Fees in Mortgage,” The New York Times (May 9, 2012)
By Jared James
I was thinking about our culture recently in this time of voicemails, emails, and social media, and it appears that everyone has a greater desire to communicate, but a lesser desire to actually have conversation.Believe it or not, communication and conversation are two completely different things. The actual definition of the word “communicate” is the activity of conveying information, while the definition of the word “conversation” is the spoken exchange of thoughts, opinions, and feelings; talk. The key difference between the two is the word “exchange,” which occurs during communication. Communication is a one way street, while conversation runs both ways.
We have gotten to a point where we love to communicate through emails, text messages, and social media, as long as we don’t have to actually hold a conversation with someone because that may actually require us to invest a little bit of our time in the present and not in the future at a time when we deem possible to respond. This infatuation with communication over conversation has reached such levels even on our cell phones — a device which was solely created with mobile conversation in mind— that we actually have an app called slydial that allows us to go straight to people’s voicemails…because God forbid they pick up the phone and respond to what we have to say. That would be way too inconvenient.
Now let me say that if there were a line for the guilty in this battle of communication vs. conversation, I would be at the front of the line. Shoot. I would be the spokesperson. But I also understand that almost every good thing can be a double-edged sword. If you are beautiful, you have to watch out that you don’t allow vanity to creep in. If you are in love, you have to be careful that it doesn’t blind you to the obvious. And in this world of the digital age where everything is supposed to be quicker and allow for more connection and engagement than ever before, be careful not to allow it to turn you into a great communicator that completely avoids conversation. Because in the end, the more things change, the more they stay the same. People work with people who they like and feel comfortable with, and posting on somebody’s facebook wall, shooting them a tweet, or blasting out an email doesn’t create connection, it only conveys information.
Conversation is the single greatest way to engage and connect with your audience and with your family and friends. Use today’s tools for what they are worth, but don’t allow them to rob you of your greatest asset in this world — and that is yourself. I look forward to your responses and I will try to respond as soon as I have some time to communicate back to you. — J.
Willow Tufano is a 14 year old who lives in Florida. One thing that differentiates her from her friends is that she just bought her first house, a rental property. She bought it with her mother, but anted up her fair share with money she saved for over a year by selling free items she had previously found and fixed up.
The area was hard hit by the housing crisis and Willow and her mother were able to buy the home which was once valued at $100,000 for just $12,000. Why would a 14 year old even consider buying a property?
She is using her half of the rent they charge ($700) to pay back her mom for the second half of the house and the renovations they put into the house. Willow says she’ll have it all paid off in six years. Then she’ll keep the house as a source of income.
“It was definitely a lot of inspiration from my mom and my grandma,” Tufano said. Her mom is a successful real estate agent who owns several investment properties.
A short sale, in most instances, is a complex transaction. However, there are two very simplistic characteristics that every qualified short sale possesses:
It is the second characteristic that we would like to touch upon in this blog post.
One question that we answer frequently is “My house is underwater. Is this an acceptable hardship?” Unfortunately, the answer is always “No.”
The simple fact that a homeowners mortgage obligation is in access of their house value is not an acceptable hardship. A Short Selling bank will entertain a short sale when and only when there is a hardship that will, now or in the future, affect the borrower’s ability to pay their mortgage.
The following is a list of acceptable hardships that may be used when submitting a short sale package:
As always, should you have questions as to the acceptability of a hardship scenario, you should seek advice from an expert that has been trained in the short sale field.
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