I was on a roller coaster over
the weekend just when
amusement park operator Six Flags declared bankruptcy. Talk about a
thrill.
They said that the company will keep its parks open at least for now
(they had
25 million visitors in 2008) but according to the Washington Post, the
company
is carrying $2.4 billion in debt. That is a lot of borrowing!
As I mentioned Friday, MERS
brought out their InvestorID
program. It was pointed out to me by a couple folks that borrowers may
be
confused by their notice of transfer of mortgage, in that at first
glance the
notice like the one MERS is proposing looks like a payment transfer
notice.
MERS points out that in the last paragraph they state that "this
doesn't
affect your payment address". But it could lead to some confusion which
hopefully they can avoid with some slight revisions. Check out http://www.mersinc.org/newsroom/press_details.aspx?id"3,
or contact your MERS rep if you have questions or comments on the form
or want
to suggest that the form include bold print noting that the form does
not
represent that the payment address is being changed.
Well,
everyone who is thinking about buying a house at a foreclosure sale in
California can take a little break. http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_12585513
The primary
method of foreclosure in California involves what is known as
non-judicial
foreclosure that does not involve court action. When the deed of trust
is
initially signed, it will usually contain a provision called a “power
of sale”
clause, which upon default allows the trustee to sell the property in
order to
satisfy the underlying defaulted loan. The trustee acts as a
representative of
the lender to effectuate the sale, which typically occurs in the form
of an
auction. California's 90-day foreclosure moratorium law goes into
effect today,
as the California Foreclosure Prevention Act, passed and signed in
February,
makes loan servicers prove to the state they have comprehensive loan
modification programs in place – or be denied rights to foreclose on
their own
schedules.
Speaking of foreclosures in
California, the CMBA reports
that after July 1st for the most part it will be illegal to
operate
as a mortgage foreclosure consultant in California “unless the
foreclosure
consultant has obtained from the Department of Justice a Certificate of
Registration as a Mortgage Foreclosure Consultant.” A foreclosure
consultant must complete the application and provide all required
documents to
the Department of Justice, and it is best for existing foreclosure
consultants
to submit their application no later than…today! Check with the
California
Mortgage Bankers Association for more information.
When I first got into this
business in the mid-80’s, rates
were high enough that many borrowers opted for balloon loans. GMAC
Bank
Correspondent Funding told their customers that their FNMA and FHLMC
balloon
products have been discontinued.
Lenders One is a co-op which
seems to be growing. Last week
they launched “Find-A-Lender” on their LendersOne.com website.
It is an
interesting concept that creates a search engine that will allow
mortgage
consumers to locate any of their members in the local market.
Are we (the tax payer) making
any money from the AIG, TARP,
and other government investments?
Uh, kind of. Check out http://money.cnn.com/news/storysupplement/economy/bailouttracker/index.html
Let us return to
the
current market. We did have some additional economic information on
Friday in
the form of the Michigan Consumer Sentiment Survey, which came out less
than
forecast but is still at its highest level in nine months. In addition,
the
markets are already very interested in next week’s Federal Open Market
Committee meeting. Generally, Fed
officials are unlikely to significantly boost
bond-purchase programs but they could make other adjustments if rates
continue
to move higher due to bond supply & demand issues as well as an
improving
economy. It looks like investors’
expectations for an economic recovery, if they continue to push rates
up, could
end up delaying that same economic recovery!
What does this
week
hold for economic news? There is nothing today, and the 10-yr is at
3.76%
and mortgage prices roughly unchanged, but tomorrow we have Housing
Starts
& Building Permits, PPI, and Industrial Production and Capacity
Utilization
The Producer Price Index measures changes in the prices of
"intermediate" goods used by companies to produce finished products. On
the 17th we have the Consumer Price Index (CPI) which
measures the
price change for those finished goods which are sold to consumers. And
lastly
on Thursday we have Jobless Claims, Leading Economic Indicators, and
the
Philadelphia Fed.
A senior citizen
said to his eighty-year old buddy, 'So I hear
you're getting married?'
“Yep!”
“Do I know her?”
“Nope!”
“This woman, is she good
looking?”
“Not really.”
“Is she a good cook?”
“Well, she can't cook too well.”
“Does she have lots of money?”
“Nope! Poor as a church mouse.”
“Well, then, is she good in
bed?”
“I don't know.”
“Why in the world do you want
to marry her then?”
“Because she can still drive!”
Rob
(For archived
commentaries, check www.robchrisman.com,
or to subscribe/unsubscribe write to rchrisman@robchrisman.com)
