High profile mortgage industry lawsuits will continue for some time and I’ll continue covering them. Here are three lesser known suits that have bubbled up. (1) Taylor, Bean & Whitaker: the gift that keeps on giving. Most, if not every, mortgage company has an accounting firm. In what could be a very closely watched case,
Taylor Bean
Lee Farkas, the former chairman of Taylor, Bean and Whitaker Mortgage Corp., was found guilty on all 14 charges stemming from a seven-year, multibillion-dollar fraud scheme that led to the collapse of his firm and Colonial Bank. Even the photo can make you cringe. At this point Mr. Farkas is probably not interested that Cantor
Fannie Mae Relief For Homeowners Near Oil Spill CitiMortgage will suspend all foreclosure sales and filings for 90 days on its 1st mortgages within 25 miles of the Gulf coast. Fannie Mae said that servicers of Fannie-backed loans may immediately suspend or lower payments on mortgages for borrowers whose income or property were affected by
“Talk like a pirate day” isn’t until this weekend, on the 19th, but lock desks all over the nation are already practicing: “Hello, Lock Desk? You know that loan I locked in two weeks ago? Well, the borrower said that if I don’t get a better rate, she’s going to pull it and go elsewhere.
If your stock portfolio is going up in value, do you save less? Probably. People generally feel wealthier when their stocks are rising, or their house is appreciating: they will spend more and save less. When the reverse happens, they spend less and save more, which is exactly what is happening now, or at least
I am not smart enough to be involved in a mortgage fraud scheme. And I guess the smartest schemers are not caught, unlike the latest “well-known” figure to be apprehended. Eugene Lockhart, who was a Dallas Cowboys football player, and 8 other defendants are accused of running a scheme in which they located single-family residences
When I was growing up, no one that I knew of wanted to be a “purchasing manager”. (Or, for that matter, a mortgage banker, but look where that got us!) Anyway, purchasing managers are surveyed, and the results can make the financial markets move. What exactly is a purchasing manager? Whether for use by their
Once again, things turned grim in mortgage banking. First, Taylor, Bean, & Whitaker went belly up. Not only did this impact their own employees, but its warehouse problems were widespread. In addition to that, it is rumored that hundreds of smaller banks either use/used TBW’s website help in originating mortgages on their website, or sold
I like attorneys, and feel that jokes about them are mean-spirited and unnecessary. (Like, “What happens when you give a lawyer Viagra? They get taller!”) Attorneys are certainly finding fruitful grounds in handling all of the recent mortgage fraud cases. Of course it takes the government a while to prosecute, and thus many of the
Last week, not only did they extend the program, but we found out that the Toyota Corolla became the most traded-in car as part of the “Cash for Clunkers” program. After hearing about it, the C.E.O. of General Motors said, “Oh my God, don’t tell me Toyota makes even a better clunker than we do.”
I guess this is how some borrowers feel when they lock a loan in a volatile market. Or maybe that is how any agent who has a lock with TBW feels. Today is the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, and the date that some are finding out yesterday’s news that a large lender is
I guess this is how some borrowers feel when they lock a loan in a volatile market. Or maybe that is how any agent who has a lock with TBW feels. Today is the anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, and the date that some are finding out yesterday’s news that a large lender is
Well, we haven’t had a well known mortgage company collapse for quite some time, and you can bet that the folks at Taylor, Bean, & Whitaker are hoping that streak continues. Unfortunately they are spending their time in damage control. The latest development is an investigation by HUD after allegedly failing to submit a required
In my spare time I have very little to do, or so my family tells me. So the other day I carried out a little research project. Using the standard key board found on typewriters and computers, how many words can one type using only their left hand (like exaggerate or stewardesses)? I added up
Congratulations to David Stevens. On Friday the U.S. Senate confirmed Dave to head the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). Stevens will take over the agency in the middle of their huge surge in business, and many feel that with the non-HVCC appraisals and the fact that the FHA insures mortgages with a small down payment for
Ah, inflation – at all levels. During the life of a 30-yr fixed-rate mortgage, there are bound to be periods of inflation. It is debatable, in the market of mortgages, whether or not borrowers and lenders take inflation into account. Certainly ARM loans do to some extent. But bond prices (aside from TIP securities, some
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