Rich Sweum's Blog

Richard Sweum:  increasing rates will alter the housing recovery. We are not in Kansas anymore!  Get ready for the "new economic world"...the one where 1+1= whatever the Federal Reserve says it equals.  Rates are on the rise because MBS (mortgage backed securities) investors are getting out of th...

Richard Sweum :  is there a silver lining to the rate increase?   The weekend is here, thankfully!   I’ve been a part of a few football games in which didn’t just lose, but were obliterated.  Sometimes “forgetting” those experiences in football is made easier by a mild concussion!  This week we t...

  Richard Sweum:  CFPB  Findings of Fact Areas for Lender Exams covering new mortgage rules. A coupele of weeks ago, another "tip of the iceberg" announcement came out from the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau regarding the areas that would be evaluated for lending companies related to site vis...

Richard Sweum:  FHA Total Scorecard Basics and Explanation. Frequently, I'll get a call from a realtor or a borrower saying that "because of some FHA Scorecard, their or their borrower's loan was denied, and they want to see the scorecard!"  First of all...it's FHA, and as with anything governmen...

Richard Sweum:  The "Tie" does NOT go to "The Runner!!!" Everyone should be open to instruction now and then, as well as examine their hard held beliefs and core values.  The ability to self-examine and reflect with courage is one of the few things that separate us from other primates.   A signif...

Richard Sweum : Mortgage Rates on the Rise...is it really that big of a deal? Borrower that chose not to heed instruction: "I know that I could save $376 per month, but I really, really want to save $400 per month!  I'll wait for 3.375%"  Wow, trying to predict the bottom of a rate curve is like ...

Richard Sweum : People are still cashing in illegally in Real Estate. Along the lines of the last post, people are still cashing in in Real Estate, not just taking advantage of unsavvy homeowners and borrowers, but there are also folks commiting fraud (misrepresentation of facts) and putting lend...

Richard Sweum : Old Real Estate Scams and Some New Ones -- Watch Out! It is amazing to many of us that regardless of the nature of any crisis some people that were born with the "gene" that enables them to quickly figure out a way to profit as well as prey upon desparation.  Both the real estate ...

Richard Sweum : Ability to Repay Standards (Reg Z)    So, what determines "1" borrowers ability to repay a loan verses another borrower?  If you assign a few actuaries to the task (math nerds who love to make correllations), I think we would run afoul of about every piece of "fairness" legislatio...

Richard Sweum : Qualified Mortgage?  End result, borrowers pay more. Qualified Mortgage?  End result, borrowers pay more...why because of all the people that have to be hired and paid to make sure that all the elements of the QM rule are followed.  Seriously...make the rule complex and the except...