Posted on 03/09/2012 4:19:26 AM PST by IbJensen
Blatant socialist wealth transfer.
Edited for accuracy.
And when this inevitably creates yet another crisis, they will again blame the “free market” and “predatory lending”, and insist that Fedzilla needs still more regulatory powers.
Oh, goodie! More ‘Ninja’ loans for the taxpayer to subsidize!
I'm in a business where I've had to follow the lending meltdown from the very start, and a lot of what you read about it inaccurate or just flat-out wrong.
Two things to keep in mind:
1) Around 70% of foreclosed loans were made by lenders that did not have to comply with CRA (Community Redevelopment Act) requirements.
This was no accident - the large "Countrywide" scale lenders were specifically created to avoid this and a lot of other state and Federal supervision - that's why they were able to write the sort of loans they often did.
And a *lot* of these loans were made to middle class and upper Income borrowers.
2) The lenders that had to comply with CDA were mostly community banks that underwrote loans much *more* carefully than the mega-lenders like Countrywide, and the result is that loans made by CDA compliant lenders actually have a substantially *lower* than average foreclosure rate.
The mortgage melt-down was a perfect storm of greed and self-interest that ran all the way from the street corner offices of the real estate agents, mortgage brokers and appraisers all the way to the corner offices at Countrywide and Fannie Mae and up and down both sides of the aisle in congress and at the regulators.
And if you think that all this happened just because the government forced banks to lend to brown people, you have been had by the very people who got rich running this scan, and you will likely be had again before this is over.
Educate yourself!
A good place to start is:
"All the Devils Are Here: The Hidden History of the Financial Crisis" by Bethany McLean.
B of A had no reason to help you. Why do you need a HARP loan? Any lender can get you 4.00 or better right now. I can....I own a mortgage company.
Not NINJA loans. In order to get a HARP, you must have a history of having been current on your mortgage. Obama the Liar left that little bit of info out of his press conference. Most people will not qualify, as they have had late payments, or even missed a payment along the way.
Well, that was pretty much my point as regards the current behavior of lendrs.
"Why do you need a HARP loan? Any lender can get you 4.00 or better right now. I can....I own a mortgage company".
It's a complicated piece of property: a SF home, an auxiliary building with both a home office and a rental unit, and a two unit apt. building all sitting on a single zoning lot with two different tax PINs, legal-conforming w/ the right to rebuild "in kind", on a lot zoned R2 in a dense urban are - HARP just happened to be the easy way to do it.
(I've refinanced this parcel conventionally in the past, and believe me: you DO NOT want to be the mortgage broker who has to shepherd this through the appraisal and underwriting process. It can be done - has been done several times - but it's a real PIAT.)
” (I’ve refinanced this parcel conventionally in the past, and believe me: you DO NOT want to be the mortgage broker who has to shepherd this through the appraisal and underwriting process. “
OK, you sold me! LOL!
What I read about this program when it was first announced is that there is a hidden 1.5% that is tacked on by the government, that goes to cover the extra risk and low or no qualifying. The 1.5% goes to the government to help pay for the bad Fannie and Freddie loans.
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