Severe Changes Possibly Coming For Your Mortgage Broker

Sides are quickly being drawn over a pending bill before the House of Representatives which, if passed, will put in place some stringent new standards for mortgage underwriting and the regulation and compensation of mortgage brokers.

HR 3915 is expected to be voted on by the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday, November 6. Favoring the bill are consumer groups such as the National Center for Responsible Lending, and in strong opposition are industry supports like the National Association of Mortgage Brokers (NAMB) and the Mortgage Bankers Association.

HR 3915, introduced by Representative Bradley Miller (D-NC) and cosponsored by 21 other members of the House, modifies three major sections of Truth in Lending Act (15 U.S.C. 1602), Title I deals with mortgage origination; Title II outlines minimum standards for mortgages, and Title III addresses high cost mortgages.

Here is a summary of the bill as it was submitted to the House.

Title I requires licensing or registration of mortgage originators. The Department of Housing and Urban Development is charged with creating a registry for originators who are not covered by state regulation or affiliated with depository institutions. The legislation appears to assume that those originators who are so affiliated are now appropriately regulated.

This section establishes a "Duty of Care" for mortgage originators which requires that they "diligently work to present the consumer with a range of residential mortgage loan products" that the consumer can qualify for and which are appropriate to his current circumstances and that the originator make full, complete, and timely disclosure to each such consumer which includes the comparative costs and benefits of each product, and nature of the originator's relationship with the consumer and that the originator discloses if he is or is not working as an agent of that consumer. The originator must also disclose any relevant conflicts of interest.

Originators are prohibited from "steering." The proposed law states that an originator may not receive, directly or indirectly, any incentives (and in the most controversial provision, expressly includes yield spread premiums in that definition) that are based on or vary with the terms of the loan.

Title II, which sets minimum standards for residential mortgages states that no creditor may make a residential mortgage loan unless he first makes a reasonable and good faith determination based on verified and documented information that, at the time the loan is consummated the consumer has a reasonable ability to repay the loan under its terms and to pay all applicable taxes, insurance, and assessments. This provision also extends to cases where a consumer has multiple loans against the same property; the originator is charged with taking into account the total payments on these obligations. These determinations about ability to repay must be based on a consideration of the consumers' current and expected income, credit history, other obligations, employment status, debt-to-income ratio and other financial resources other than any equity in the secured property. (The emphasis is ours.)

Under this ability to repay provision, adjustable rate mortgages which defer repayment of principal and/or interest (with the exception of reverse mortgages) must be evaluated on the basis of the payment needed to amortize the loan by its final maturity.

Title II also requires the originator of a subprime loan to determine that any refinancing will "provide a net tangible benefit to the consumer." Conventional loans are presumed to meet this requirement so long as the interest rate does not exceed the rate on comparable Treasury bills by 3 points (5 for junior liens) while subprime loans are acceptable if they are income verified, underwritten based on the fully-indexed rate plus taxes and insurance, are not negatively amortizing, and the creditors debt-to-income-ratio after the loan is funded will not exceed 50 percent. Loans must have either a fixed rate for the first 7 years or have a margin less than 3 percent over its index. Such a subprime mortgage is generally known as a Qualified Safe Harbor Mortgage.

Title II also prohibits subprime prepayment penalties and limits prepayment penalties on conventional loans to 3 years (or 3 months before reset on an adjustable rate loan). It bans mandatory arbitration on any residential mortgage and prohibits class actions against and provides other protections from liability for assignees of loans.

Title III creates special protections for high-cost mortgages which are defined as having points and fees in excess of 5 percent of the loan amount; OR an APR exceeding comparable treasuries plus 8 points (10 for junior liens); or a prepayment penalty above 2% of amount prepaid or extending longer than 30 months into the term of the loan.

The section also defines points and fees and sets rules for yield-spread premiums, prepayment penalties, single premium credit insurance, and other fees already contained in the existing Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act (HOEPA.) The definitions exclude bona fide discount points for conventional rate mortgages.

Title III also prohibits the following on high-cost loans: balloon payments; recommending or encouraging default; excessive late fees; call provisions; financing any points and fees or prepayment penalties; abusive modification or deferral fees and requires pre-loan counseling for high-cost mortgages.

The entire text of the legislation can be read here.

Opinions pro and con the legislation can be found at websites maintained by The Center for Responsible Lending (CRL), Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) and National Association of Mortgage Brokers (NAMB).

Please share your opinions of HR 3915.


-Christopher Rockey

Third Quarter Reportings Shake The Market

Reuters News Service and the Associated Press are both quoting a story in the Wall Street Journal on Wednesday that the controversial CEO of Countrywide Mortgage, Angelo Mozilo, is under an informal investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Countrywide is the largest mortgage company in the country and Mozilo, its founder, is generally credited or blamed for the company's evolution from a mostly conventional lender into one where subprime products dominated.

Along with dozens of other companies Countrywide faced a liquidity crisis several months ago. Because of rising default rates among its loans 61 percent of its capitalization ($15 billion) evaporated during the first eight months of 2007 and its survival was in some doubt until Bank of America stepped forward to invest $2 billion in the company, Countrywide is still casting around for additional investors and a Reuters article on September 12 said that there were large numbers of $10 Countrywide October Puts outstanding. A Put is an option that allows an investor to purchase a stock at that price - essentially a bet that a stock price is going to fall before expiration of the Put. At that time Countrywide was trading at $16 and change. The stock, however, closed yesterday at $17.35. One year ago the stock was selling in the $40 range.




Countrywide has announced plans to eliminate 10,000 to 12,000 jobs - approximately 20 percent of its workforce - and will take a $125 to $150 million pretax restructuring charge resulting from the downsizing.

The SEC is apparently investigating a dozen or so companies, including Countrywide, in connection with the subprime mess but, according to The Wall Street Journal article it is taking a special if informal look at Mozilo.

At issue is the sale by Mozilo of some 130 million of his company's stock in the first six months of 2007. It seems that there is a rather large loophole... ahem, provision, in the rules against insider trading that allows an insider to set up what is called a 10b51 trading plan. Such a plan, once established, allows the insider to proceed with transactions such as buying, selling, or exercising options even if he or she subsequently comes into possession of information that might impact stock prices which is not available to the public.

North Carolina's state treasurer Richard Moore last week asked the SEC to investigate Mozilo's stock sales, claiming that there were changes made to the pre-set trading plans in the months before the company's stock fell. An SEC insider speaking under a guarantee of anonymity, however, said that the informal inquiry into Mozilo's stock activities had been going on for a while.

The SEC had no immediate comment on the report nor did Countrywide, but the agency has previously said it is "looking hard at the general issue of whether executives are illegally trading on insider information and using a preset trading plan to avoid suspicion."

Forbes lists the 68-year-old Mozilo as the nation's seventh most highly compensated chairman with a total compensation package of $141.98 million (approximately $48 million in salary.) Over the last five years his total compensation was $295.73 million. He is listed as the top-ranked executive within Forbes category of Diversified Financials.

Think Your Company Is In Trouble?

Be glad you don't work for one of the following companies. They are subprime
lenders that have been major lending forces in the United States over the last
several years. Every one of them are either out of business or no longer funding
deals. Do any of these match your mortgage statement.

"Imploded" Lenders:
117. Express Capital Lending
116. Deutsche Bank Correspondent Lending Group (CLG)
115. MLSG
114. Trump Mortgage
113. HomeBanc Mortgage Corporation
112. Mylor Financial
111. Aegis (Everything)
110. Alternative Financing Corp (AFC) Wholesale
109. Winstar Mortgage
108. American Home Mortgage / American Brokers Conduit
107. Meridias Capital
106. Fieldstone Mortgage Company
105. Nations Home Lending
104. Wells Fargo Alternative Lending Wholesale
103. Entrust Mortgage
102. Flick Mortgage/Mortgage Simple
101. Alliance Bancorp
100. Choice Capital Funding
99. Premier Mortgage Funding
98. Stone Creek Funding
97. FlexPoint Funding (Wholesale)
96. Starpointe Mortgage
95. Unlimited Loan Resources (ULR)
94. Freestand Financial
93. Steward Financial
92. Wells Fargo (Correspondent)
91. Altivus Financial
90. ACT Mortgage
89. Alliance Mortgage Banking Corp (AMBC)
88. Concord Mortgage Wholesale
87. Heartwell Mortgage
86. Oak Street Mortgage
85. The Mortgage Warehouse
84. First Street Financial
83. Right-Away Mortgage
82. Heritage Plaza Mortgage
81. Horizon Bank Wholesale Lending Group
80. Lancaster Mortgage Bank (LMB)
79. Bryco (Wholesale)
78. No Red Tape Mortgage
77. The Lending Group (TLG)
76. Pro 30 Funding
75. NetBank Funding
74. Columbia Home Loans, LLC
73. Mortgage Tree Lending
72. Homeland Capital Group
71. Nation One Mortgage
70. Dana Capital Group
69. Millenium Funding Group
68. MILA
67. Home Equity of America
66. Opteum (Wholesale, Conduit)
65. Innovative Mortgage Capital
64. Home Capital, Inc.
63. Home 123 Mortgage
62. Homefield Financial
61. First Horizon (Subprime)
60. Platinum Capital Group
59. First Source Funding Group (FSFG)
58. Alterna Mortgage
57. Solutions Funding
56. People's Mortgage
55. LowerMyPayment.com
54. Zone Funding
53. First Consolidated (Subprime Wholesale)
52. EquiFirst
51. SouthStar Funding
50. Warehouse USA
49. H&R Block Mortgage
48. Madison Equity Loans
47. HSBC Mortgage Services (correspondent div.)
46. Sunset Direct Lending
45. Kellner Mortgage Investments
44. LoanCity
43. CoreStar Financial Group
42. Ameriquest
41. Investaid Corp.
40. People's Choice Financial Corp.
39. Master Financial
38. Maribella Mortgage
37. FMF Capital LLC
36. New Century Financial Corp.
35. Wachovia Mortgage (Correspondent div.)
34. Ameritrust Mortgage Company (Subprime Wholesale)
33. Trojan Lending (Wholesale)
32. Fremont General Corporation
31. DomesticBank (Wholesale Lending Division)
30. Franklin Financial (Wholesale Operations)
29. Ivanhoe Mortgage/Central Pacific Mortgage
28. Eagle First Mortgage
27. Coastal Capital
26. Silver State Mortgage
25. ResMAE Mortgage Corporation
24. ECC Capital/Encore Credit
23. Lender's Direct Capital Corporation (wholesale division)
22. Concorde Acceptance
21. DeepGreen Financial
20. Millenium Bankshares (Mortgage Subsidiaries)
19. Summit Mortgage
18. Mandalay Mortgage
17. Rose Mortgage
16. EquiBanc
15. FundingAmerica
14. Popular Financial Holdings
13. Clear Choice Financial/Bay Capital
12. Origen Wholesale Lending
11. SecuredFunding
10. Preferred Advantage
9. MLN
8. Sovereign Bancorp (Wholesale Ops)
7. Harbourton Mortgage Investment Corporation
6. OwnIt Mortgage
5. Sebring Capital Partners
4. Axis Mortgage & Investments
3. Meritage Mortgage
2. Acoustic Home Loans
1. Merit Financial



Just because your mortgage statement has one of the names from the list on it does not mean you shouldn't pay your mortgage. They are all still servicing the loans
in some form or another!

-Christopher Rockey