Tomorrow, on your day off, here is 3 ½ minutes of a few very clever creative bets that you can win: http://biggeekdad.com/2012/06/10-bets-you-will-win/.

Speaking of clever, a veteran male trader at Chase noted, "Michigan deployed talking urinal cakes to fight Driving Under the Influence. If one of them sounds like my Mother-In-Law I will start wearing Depends." That's darned funny.

The Census Bureau tells us that thirty-one places have “liberty” in their names. The most populous one is Liberty, Mo. (29,149). Iowa, with four, has more of these places than any other state: Libertyville, New Liberty, North Liberty and West Liberty. Thirty-five places have “eagle” in their names; eleven places have “independence” in their names. The most populous one is Independence, Mo., with a population of 116,830. Nine places have “freedom” in their names, one place has “patriot” in its name (Patriot, Indiana), and five places have “America” in their names. The most populous is American Fork, Utah, with a population of 26,263. And you wonder what those folks at the Census do all day...

Occasionally this commentary posts job searches. Today, SunTrust is looking for a seasoned industry veteran after being left at the altar. Must be present to win! Seriously, the MBA announced that instead of assuming the presidency of SunTrust Mortgage, Dave Stevens has agreed to stay on as President and CEO.  "The past few weeks have been extremely difficult for me personally and professionally. After serious thought and consideration, I simply cannot leave the MBA at such a critical time for the industry and the association." Stevens said.  "Frankly, at the end of the day, stepping away now when so much progress is being made and so much still left to be done, did not feel right."

A statement from SunTrust noted, "We have a strong leadership team in place, and continue to execute our business plan and serve the needs of the clients of SunTrust Mortgage." American Banker observed, "SunTrust's mortgage operations are still struggling with credit quality issues and repurchase requests, and the Atlanta bank has been trying to reshape the business. Last month, it appointed Peter E. Mahoney as executive vice president of mortgage strategy and Jack Wixted as executive vice president and chief risk officer."

On the other side of the Atlantic, Barclays CEO Bob Diamond stepped down amid increasing pressures related to investigations of possible Libor manipulation. "The external pressure placed on Barclays has reached a level that risks damaging the franchise -- I cannot let that happen," Diamond said. "I am deeply disappointed that the impression created by the events announced last week about what Barclays and its people stand for could not be further from the truth." Marcus Agius, who resigned as chairman Monday, will take Diamond's spot until a permanent successor is found.

Well, out in “the land of fruits and nuts” they did it: California would become the first state to write into law much of the national mortgage settlement negotiated this year with the nation’s top five banks, and expand it to all lenders, under wide-ranging legislation state lawmakers approved Monday. “Majority Democrats sent the homeowner protection package to Gov. Jerry Brown despite opposition from business and lending organizations and most Republican legislators.” Once again, we see an illustration of the public’s perception, and that of the popular press’s, of an issue being different than that of the lending industry’s. On the surface it sounds great. The legislation would require large lenders to provide a single point of contact for homeowners who want to discuss loan modifications. It would prohibit lenders from foreclosing while the lenders consider homeowners’ request for alternatives to foreclosure. And it would let California homeowners sue lenders to stop foreclosures or seek monetary damages if the lender violates state law. “The protections would benefit all California homeowners, not just those whose mortgages are with the five banks that signed the national settlement in February. And many of the restrictions would become permanent, while those in the nationwide agreement will end after five years. It applies to all owner-occupied residences, but not commercial or rental properties.”

The new law could easily and directly impact the price of mortgages to California borrowers as servicers say, “If these are the new rules, we don’t want the servicing as much, and so let’s pay less for it.” Is the attorney general going to persecute investors who back their prices off due to it? The law lets homeowners sue mortgage providers if they violate state law, but only if there is a significant violation. (What is “significant”?) Homeowners could ask judges to halt pending foreclosures but could collect monetary damages only if the foreclosure took place. It requires lenders to provide a single point of contact for borrowers who want to discuss foreclosures or refinancing, with an exemption for lenders that process fewer than 175 foreclosures per year. It bans what are known as “dual-track foreclosures” by barring lenders from filing notices of default, notices of sale, or conducting trustees’ sales while they are also considering alternatives to foreclosures like loan modifications or short sales. It increases penalties for banks that sign off on foreclosures without properly reviewing the documentation, a process known as robo-signing.

Lastly, under the “things that may increase the price of residential mortgages to borrowers,” banks that are concerned about potential fair lending claims if they refuse to make residential mortgage loans that are not “qualified mortgages” or “qualified residential mortgage loans” should be equally concerned about the new proposed bank capital rules. On June 7, 2012, the Federal Reserve approved for publication three sets of proposed regulations to revise the risk based capital rules for banks to make them consistent with the new international capital standard, generally known as Basel III, and certain requirements of the Dodd-Frank Act. The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation followed suit on June 12, 2012. Conventional residential mortgage loans with loan-to-value ratios in excess of 80%, regardless of the presence of private mortgage insurance, could trigger material adverse capital requirements if the loans are held for investment and do not comply with certain regulatory underwriting criteria. Such loans could present the legal risk of loss under the “ability to repay” rules, the credit risk of loss under the “risk retention” rules and now increased capital charges under the implementation of Basel III:
http://www.klgates.com/proposed-basel-iii-capital-rules-06-18-2012/.

Here are some somewhat recent investor/agency updates, providing a flavor for the environment. They just don’t stop. As always, it is best to read the actual bulletin.

With the Colorado fires, and the hurricane season, it is a good idea for underwriters and secondary marketing staffs to re-familiarize themselves with agency rules for lending in disaster areas. Rather than go into all the ins & outs, Fannie's is https://www.efanniemae.com/sf/guides/ssg/hurrelief/index.jsp and Freddie's is http://www.freddiemac.com/singlefamily/service/disastermgmt.html.

As part of its One Touch initiative, Wells Fargo Funding’s has set a goal of minimum 50% funding for all first time clients, meaning that no more than 50% of such borrowers’ loans could be suspended.

Wells Fargo Wholesale has issued a correction to an earlier announcement about changes to FHA Streamline Refinance mortgage insurance premiums stating that, for base loan amounts exceeding $625,000, the annual MIP paid monthly would increase to 0.25%.  The annual MIP paid monthly for such loans will increase 0.25% (25 bps), not to 0.25%. FHA Non-Credit Qualify Streamline and Purchase Close calendars for the third quarter of 2012 are available via the Broker’s First® website.  The calendars provide the dates by which credit packages, conditions, and documents must be submitted.

The Wells inspection requirement for private sewage disposal systems may not apply to some properties in Iowa as per state requirements.  In cases where a customer states that a transaction is exempt from the inspection, Iowa Senate File 261 (http://coolice.legis.state.ia.us/Cool-ICE/default.asp?CategoryBillInfo&ServiceBillbook&ga‚&menutext&hbillSF261) should be consulted.

Under new rules that will come into effect on June 18th, Wells will be using different credit scores to assess risk.  For loans not submitted via Direct Express, the credit report generated by Wells and ordered from Equifax and/or Credco will be used, while loans submitted via Direct Express will continue to use the information from the credit report generated by Direct Express.

As per agency requirements, construction-to-permanent transactions will not be permitted as Purchase transactions as of June 18th.  Wells will continue to allow construction-to-permanent transactions as Rate/Term or Cash-out refinances.  The LTV/CLTV/TLTV calculation for construction-to-permanent transactions has also been revised such that the value will be calculated using the current appraised value of the property and must comply with the product’s Rate/Term or Cash-out refinance guidelines.  Super Conforming Mortgage Program loans, as they require construction to be complete, are not affected.

The Wells non-branded Consumer Handbook on Adjustable Rate Mortgages disclosure has been updated and should be used for all loans registered after June 25th.  The old CHARM/ARM disclosure should be discarded.

Citibank has updated its Ineligible Originator List, which is posted on the Citi Correspondent website in the elfno section.  The list, which shows brokers, correspondents, and other originators and parties that are not permitted to be involved in the origination of any loan submitted to Citi for purchase, is revised regularly, as is the Appraiser Monitor/Ineligible List (also in the elfno section of the site).

Loans on condos in Georgia that are registered after June 23rd will be subject to Citi’s upcoming LTV/CLTV/HCLTV restrictions.  For borrowers with FICO scores over 740, all of these values will be capped at 70%, while for those with FICO scores less than 740, they will be capped at 60%.

Due to Freddie’s decision to retire the program in August, Citi will no longer accept Freddie Mac Alt 97 Mortgage registrations on or after June 23rd.

All this continues to make the markets, and interest rates, be an afterthought – there just isn’t much going on. Good news of stability, or hoped-for stability, could nudge rates higher, while evidence that our economy is slow tends to nudge rates lower. Yesterday we learned that, for the first time since July 2009, US manufacturing has decreased.  However, the economy has grown for the 37th consecutive month according to the nations' supply executives in the latest Manufacturing ISM Report on Business. And Construction Spending beat expectations, rising to its highest level in almost 2.5 years in May as investment in residential and federal government projects surged.

By the end of the day, the third quarter started off with new record high closing prices set on 30-year FNMA 3.5% through 4.5% coupons as 10-year notes rallied nearly 3/4s of a point to 101-17+ (1.58%) per Thomson Reuters. “The supply/demand dynamics were very strong today with the sell/buy ratio reported at 1:3. Indeed, mortgage banker selling was light at around $1.5 billion, while the weak data contributed to active buying from real money despite the price levels with the Fed, of course, a steady player.” Agency MBS prices were marked higher (better) by over 1/4 point on 30-year FNMA 4.0s to nearly 1/2 point on 3.0% coupons. But will the price improvements make it onto rate sheets?

Today we’ll have May’s Factory Orders (expected higher) and an early close for the bond market – look for liquidity to dry up. Many companies are closing early – do LO’s really expect to lock loans in, and lock desks to be open, at 5PM on the day before a holiday? In the early going our 10-yr is at 1.60% and MBS prices are nearly unchanged.

Very punny, part 1 of 2:
52 cards 1 decacards
1 kilogram of falling figs 1 FigNewton
1000 milliliters of wet socks 1 literhosen
1 millionth of a fish 1 microfiche
1 trillion pins 1 terrapin
10 rations 1 decoration
100 rations 1 C-ration
2 monograms 1 diagram
4 nickels 2 paradigms
2.4 statute miles of intravenous surgical tubing at Yale University Hospital 1 IV League
100 Senators Not 1 decision

If you're interested, visit my twice-a-month blog at the STRATMOR Group web site located at www.stratmorgroup.com. The current blog discusses the issue of the Freddie Mac & Bank of America buybacks, and its potential impact on the industry. If you have both the time and inclination, make a comment on what I have written, or on other comments so that folks can learn what's going on out there from the other readers.