CoffeyTalks

FANNIE MAE AND FREDDIE MAC FRIEND OR FOE

2008-04-28T07:18:00.003-05:00

One of the recurring themes I have written about is the elimination of loans for the group of folks who are struggling to get down payment or have credit issues. I think the article below is just more of the same. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been criticized for eliminating affordable housing mortgages. I am not entirely sure of which programs were considered affordable housing mortgages. Each agency had a $0 down loan that did not have as many restrictions as their normal loan programs so I guess that is what the complaint is about. Those were eliminated in the recent flurry of changes that have taken place. I am not sure you would have called them affordable housing mortgages however.

No matter what the argument both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have eliminated programs that helped many buyers and are currently price fixing (my opinion of course) their rates on buyers with lower credit scores. Note the fact I said lower credit scores, not bad credit. I think the price gouge starts on anyone who has a credit score below 700. Maybe Fannie and Freddie should buy some oil company stock; I am sure the oil companies could give them a few more tips on how to take advantage of the consumer.

I don’t know if the criticism below is entirely warranted but believe me Fannie and Freddie should take a good look at their policies, I know the consumer is paying dearly to do business with them.

This article was taken from the Mortgage Banker News;

Fannie Reconsidering AH Changes April 24, 2008
In response to strong criticism from fair-lending groups, Fannie Mae has indicated that it is reconsidering recent moves to tighten underwriting standards on affordable housing mortgages and impose new fees. "We have met extensively with advocates, listened to their concerns, and are considering making some changes to our methodologies," Fannie spokesman Brian Faith said. Freddie Mac has also met with the fair-housing and civil rights organizations that have accused the two government-sponsored enterprises of abandoning their affordable housing mission. "While we disagree with their conclusions, we have had helpful discussions with the housing groups and take their concerns very seriously," a Freddie spokesman said. The GSEs can be found online at http://www.fanniemae.com/ and http://www.freddiemac.com./

MORE OF THE SAME STUFF

2008-04-25T06:25:00.002-05:00

Well anyone who is checking into the Blog of late has not found a lot of activity. I have been looking for something different, perhaps a bit more interesting news, or perhaps some light at the end of the tunnel that might not be a continuation of the same train wreck. To tell you the truth the events and news of the day is just more of the same ole stuff.

Loan programs age going away, lenders are tightening up more and more. The average borrowers who don't have spotless credit are being charged more and more or have no loan funds available at all. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are profiteering any way they can, investors who buy FHA loans are charging more and more and not buying into the Government programs like the FHA Secure loan.

Politicians are still spouting and fantasizing about thinking some investors and lenders who own mortgage paper are going to reduce the amount owed on the mortgage so someone will refinance the loan that no investor will buy.

In the mean time someone from Countrywide called me yesterday, lied about wanting to refinance his loan and then tried to recruit me to go to work for them. I simply laughed out loud and told him he had to be crazy.

More non specifically the beat goes on, the tail continues to wag the dog and this thing is far from over. I wish I knew which round of the battle the industry was now in. We will see.

I am getting requests to do more blogging and I will be back at it hopefully.

More to come

Lonny

CHEATS & TRICKS PART 2

2008-04-02T08:32:00.002-05:00

Enjoy part 2 Cheats and Tricks

Exactly how deeply this attitude was in the business of making loans was revealed by this memo. It involves Zippy, Chase's in-house automated loan underwriting system.

The memo's title: "Zippy Cheats & Tricks."

It provides a rare glimpse into the corporate mentality that has been a key factor in the current mortgage crisis (a Chase spokesperson denied that Zippy Cheats & Tricks was official policy; thus we are reassured that this was only "unofficial policy").

Here's an excerpt from the Oregonian:

"During the boom, it was common for lenders and brokers to get paid more for risky subprime loans than for 30-year fixed-rate loans because the higher-interest loans fetched a higher price on Wall Street.

Chase, the nation's second-largest bank, originates mortgage loans itself but also operates a wholesale arm that underwrites and funds loans brought to them by a network of mortgage brokers. The "Cheats & Tricks" memo was instructing those brokers how to get difficult loans approved by Zippy.

"Never fear," the memo states. "Zippy can be adjusted (just ever so slightly)."

The Chase memo deals specifically with so-called stated-income asset loans, one of the most dangerous of the mortgage industry's innovations of recent years. Known as "liar loans" in some circles because lenders made little effort to verify information in the borrowers' loan application, they have defaulted in large number since the housing bust began in 2007...

The Chase memo is "a perfect example of one of the big five banks out and out telling mortgage brokers to commit fraud," said Todd Williams, a broker with Evergreen Ohana Group in Portland. "And this has been going on for years." Williams and other mortgage brokers gave a copy of the memo to Oregon financial regulators.

Three other facts make this story incredibly intriguing:

1. State regulators recognized signs of fraud early on, but attempts to curtail it were prevented. The White House asserted that it was the Feds -- and not states -- that have jurisdiction over federally chartered banks.

And the Feds? They did nothing until 2008.

2. Tammy Lish, a Portland, Oregon account representative for Chase, accidentally forwarded the memo by email. Chase fired her days after discovering this.

3. Chase no longer makes any stated-income loans; the bank wrote down $1.3 billion in nonperforming mortgages in 2007.

The entire episode is amazing. I expect that more and more of these smoking guns will be finding their way into public view. Perhaps we can ask the Oregonian to make the actual email available online.

Now of course Chase denies this, you decide, good grief.

More to come

Lonny

CHEATS & TRICKS PART 1

2008-04-01T09:17:00.002-05:00

One of the things I have been sure was going to happen was how the big banks are going to be exposed during this time of upheaval in the business. The big boys will try to come off as innocent and not part of the problem but the reality will be once all the dust settles that they (in my opinion) were as much to blame if not more so than anyone else. Sure the originators are just as guilty but the greed motive by the big banks fueled the wreck in my opinion.

I ran across an article written by Barry Ritholtz who is Chief Market Strategist for Ritholtz Research, an independent institutional research firm. He “claims” that JP Morgan/Chase sent out a memo instructing their mortgage brokers on how to get questionable loans approved by their system.

Now if that is a fact it is pretty revealing about the tactics of at least this bank in contributing to the problem we have today. Think about it, a Federally Chartered Bank instructing originators on how to produce fraud in their system. I don’t acknowledge that this is factual but sure looks like it, you decide.

Enjoy part one of two:

3 "handy steps" for getting a questionable loan approved by JPM Chase's (JPM) automatic system:

1. Lump all of an applicant's compensation as the applicant's base income, rather than breaking out commissions, bonuses and tips.
2. Do not disclose use of gifts for down payments.
3. If all else fails, simply inflate the applicant's income. "Inch it up $500 to see if you can get the findings you want. Do the same for assets.

Thus reads an internal memo from Chase that accidentally found its way into the hands of journalist Jeff Manning of The Oregonian. It was the basis for an article titled; Chase mortgage memo pushes 'Cheats & Tricks'.

Fraud has been a frequent theme of ours regarding Housing during the Boom, circa 2001-06. From appraisal fraud to the payola of the Ratings agencies, the entire system has been corrupted. Some will act as apologists for the worst tendencies of the banking industry, and others may debate who is to blame. We long ago reached a verdict as to where the culpability lay.

Anyone with even a modicum of experience in the mortgage industry will confirm the rampant disregard for lending standards and the corner cutting and shortcuts that were all but official corporate policy during the boom years. There was headlong rush to originate, process and securitize mortgages -- and the ability to repay the loans be damned. (Predatory Borrowing my ass!)

Part 2 tomorrow,

More to come

Lonny

FHA Secure Loan Reality

2008-03-31T10:49:00.000-05:00

I want to tell you a story about a recent loan I completed. You may recall part of the President’s economic stimulus package included provisions for a FHA loan called the Secure Loan. It gave a homeowner, who had an adjustable rate mortgage that had adjusted to a level that they could not pay, the opportunity to refinance it into a “safe” FHA loan. Among other things the loan required the borrower to be current when the loan adjusted, as I recall they had to be behind on their loan after the adjustment, and they had to have equity in their home to satisfy the current FHA down payment requirements.

I knew of one qualified borrower that could qualify if FHA raised the loan limits. Believe it or not they actually did raise the limits temporarily under the same stimulus bill. When the FHA loan limits went up I called the borrowers and told them to apply. Let’s call them the Smith’s to keep it simple. The Smith’s applied and met every facet of the requirements to get the Secure Loan in my opinion. There is always underwriting that has to take place but all in all they met the guidelines and we got them approved. They had equity in their home that made the loan solid with an 87% loan to value ratio and their payment was going down after the adjustment by some $800.00 per month. When the President announced the program he perfectly described the Smith’s and their need for help. To put it more simply if it had not been for this loan the Smith’s would have had to sell their home.

What I didn’t expect was that the investors that buy and service FHA loans for the most part would not buy the loan after we closed it. There was one investor that would finally buy the mortgage and so we did get to close it.

Here’s the problem, the President wants to help the people who have these bad loans but the market place does not want to buy the loan as it would be perceived to have more risk. The loan is almost impossible to qualify for and if you do then the capital markets don’t want it.

If the government is going to do any good and stop playing politics they are going to have to change the way HUD does business by giving some incentive for investors to take the added risk on these type loans. As mortgage funds dry up for the people who need loans and who would be good borrower’s things have got to change. An aggressive posture by HUD through FHA would work if it was well thought out and implemented.

Instead we read the news that the secretary of HUD Alphonso Jackson will probably resign today for multiple reasons. Politics as usual is the name of the game….as usual.

More to come

Lonny

ADIOS AMIGO

2008-03-21T14:25:00.002-05:00

Well you might have noticed I have been off for a few days. I have been in Minnesota at a training. It snowed 6 inches while I was there. Just doesn't seem right somehow. I was doing much contemplation and thinking and must admit I did not take care of my Blog very well. I will get back with the program I am confident.

I ran across this article in Mortgage Banker News and thought is was interesting. I was wondering how Countrywide was going to do this. Now we know. Can you say, Adios Amigo???

Robinson Offers Update on BoA Countrywide Deal:
Bank of America has a rigid transition process it uses for any of the acquisitions it has done or is doing, said its president for consumer real estate Floyd Robinson. He was asked during a panel session at the Regional Conference of Mortgage Bankers Associations in Atlantic City to provide an update on BofA's acquisition of Countrywide Financial Corp., Calabasas, Calif. The Charlotte, N.C.-based bank is assigning "hundreds" of associates to the transition process. There has been a 30-day look at the practices of both companies, Mr. Robinson said, and one of the items that resonated with him is the disparity in the two companies' respective direct-to-consumer businesses. BoA has done $168 billion in this channel while Countrywide has $113 billion. Much of Countrywide's production comes from the correspondent and wholesale channels, areas that BoA does not do business in, leading Mr. Robinson to point out Countrywide has a very different business model than BoA does. The different approaches and attitudes between the two, he added, could make this one of the most challenging acquisition integrations for BoA. One business the combination will not do is subprime, an area BoA has not been in for several years. The company will not take an inappropriate risk to its reputation, Mr. Robinson said.

More to come

Lonny

MORE NEWS MORE COMMENTARY

2008-03-17T08:06:00.001-05:00

I read a couple of interesting articles over the past few days. The first has to do with Countrywide’s continued problems with their loan portfolio. It talks about the impending purchase by Bank of America at what I assume is still near twice the stock value. Bank of America is overpaying for problems that have not even completely surfaced yet. Now I am no fool but why would you do that for any cost?

http://www.fool.com/investing/dividends-income/2008/03/14/countrywides-future-is-anyones-guess.aspx

A second article is talking about an announced buyout of Bear Stearns, who went in the tank (so to speak) late last week, by JP Morgan Chase. Unlike B of A deal, J P Morgan Chase is paying a small percentage of the stock value for Bear Stearns. As I recall the value paid is mainly for the value of the assets and no doubt some blue sky value. Now that makes sense to me. Take advantage of a good deal when it presents itself and get a real value in the process.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080317/ap_on_bi_st_ma_re/wall_street

The first article talks about why B of A might still be in the deal and suggests it could just be for press, grandstanding etc. I have made no secret that I have a huge problem with the loan origination tactics of Bank of America. They sell you on the fact they have no closing costs and then charge you a high interest rate so they make their money “on the back side”. My opinion is that this is the purest form of deception and false advertising. A consumer may find this is a good choice but only after understanding all the options they have. I hope they get their deal done with Countrywide for the sake of the employees there but I will assure you if I have to put my money in my mattress they will be the last bank I will ever do business with.

Enjoy the articles and take a deep seat for the ride is really going to be interesting for awhile as the mortgage market and other markets continue to adjust to wherever all this is going to finally land.

More to come

Lonny

NEWS NEWS AND MORE NEWS

2008-03-14T06:40:00.002-05:00

There was just so much news today I just couldn’t resist the chance to do a little of my own commentary. Remember about my opinions, they are not based in fact or intellectual validity. For the record:

Inman news reported that Fitch (who is a rating agency) cut Countrywide’s debt rating to near junk. I am not sure if that is a technical term or just Inman’s opinion. The actual rating they imposed was BBB- which stands for Bad Bad Bad I think. Bank of America’s deal is still on even though good ole B of A has a Rating Watch which is Negative. They may get a rating out of this as DDD. (You decide). Full steam ahead B of A, I am rooting for you.

In other news Henry Paulson (he has something to do with the Treasury Dept and is a forgettable politician for sure) has suggested that all mortgage brokers should be licensed and should be held to strict licensing standards. He must not know that most states already have these standards and they are pretty much worthless as are his suggestions. So here are some questions for Mr. Paulson, what is going to be different than the current laws that were supposed to regulate bad mortgage people? Also who’s going to enforce these great new laws, and do you think it will really do any good when it hasn’t so far. Do you think the crooks are going to stand down? Paulson is typical saying to much way to late with no concept of why things got the way they got. Mr. Paulson, go get oil prices reduced if you want to work on something. With leaders like this no wonder we are in the shape we are in.

Mortgage Fraud is worse than believed. (Are you kidding) (Who would have thunk it) A leader of a company who deals with Mortgage Fraud detection found 42,000 mortgages that had fraud in them and these are the ones they detected. The report said they hoped these loans were not made. (Exquise me) I think Mortgage Fraud being worse than believed is the understatement of the century. Good report however maybe you should send it to Mr. Paulson so he would have something else to talk about.

Now this; FHA reform hopeful of being passed. Problem is the politicians are fighting (among other things) over the maximum loan limits. I will believe the bill will get passed when I see it. This legislation has been in the works since 2006 and I will be shocked if it ever gets passed in the first place and short of loan amounts being increased it will do very little to help us dig out of the hole the industy is in. This is a wonderful commentary on just how worthless the political process can be. My guess it will never get passed, I hope I am wrong on this one.

On the good news it is reported by MARI that Fraud is spread more evenly among the states. We should all be relieved, shouldn’t we? These guys ought to be the opening act for Lewis Black. (He is a comic if you don't know) Lewis could really sink his teeth into this type of dribble.

Enough for now! Good Grief!

More to come

Lonny

BLOG BLOG

2008-03-12T06:34:00.001-05:00

One of the definitions of a Blog might be a bunch of stuff written by a non writer that really has not much to do with anything except an opinion that falls on the ears of few and matters in fact to fewer. So a Blog Blog would be a multiple of that definition if you were into defining things. Some would say a Blog is like a diary of ones happenings and goings on so today you can choose one of the above definitions or choose anything else you like.

I was sitting in The Rail Head Restaurant at Montgomery and I30 yesterday and I was shaken out of my chair when a large explosion rocked the place. I thought something in the kitchen had blown up but actually an older gentleman had backed his car through the wall (I think it was a Town Car) and into the serving line. No one was hurt and if you saw the piece on the news it was reported that several people had to dive for their lives. No one was hurt luckily and from my perspective my day got less exciting after that. The old gentleman looked dazed after the accident and my guess he was dazed before the accident.

I was regrettably out of gas yesterday (in more ways than one I admit) and had the real pleasure of getting hosed at the gas pump. I will tell you I think we are in for a long line of getting hosed with the current trend of the speculators of oil. I keep looking for the upside for the consumer. The traders drive the price up and we have to buy the stuff no matter what. To me this seems like the perfect crime. I asked my X oil buddy Tommy what he thought about it and he theorized it was an attempt by one political party to overthrow the sentiment of the public so they would blame the other party so the vote would go the first groups’ way. Another theory is that the world is using oil like a currency now and with the declining value of the dollar so goes oil prices. I guess choose whatever theory you want and while you do don’t forget to bend over.

According to other news the FBI is investigating 14 other lenders along with Countrywide. This will probably turn into the mass incrimination of anyone associated with the sub prime melt down. I am glad I am not Countrywide. All the big banks will be exposed along with a lot of others before this is over.

Enough for today, I think I will head off to The Rail Head for Coffee this morning and see if I can get my day started off correctly.

More to come

Lonny

MORE NEWS OF THE DAY

2008-03-10T07:15:00.001-05:00

It looks like mortgage originators will be able to make FHA loans up to the new maximums starting as early as this week. The new maximum loan amounts have been posted on the HUD web site and GMNA has agreed to include them in their mortgage backed securities. The thing I am still interested in seeing is if somehow the rates on these loans will be higher. My bet is they will have a higher interest rate. Just a guess but no one gets any breaks these days for sure.

It may not be so bad as both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have defined their next level of price fixing, I mean price gouging, oh my gosh another slip of the tongue. You know I have an opinion about most things. Both Fannie and Freddie have started to increase what they will charge originating lenders based on a combination of down payment and credit scores. That simply stated translates into higher rates and fees for the consumer. Now keep in mind this does not mean you have credit problems, just lower credit scores. Some people with perfect credit have low credit scores that will certainly be in this group of price gouges. Oops said it again, sorry!! It does not mean that you will get to pay less for mortgage insurance, nor does it mean that the groups that have to pay more are among those that spin off more risk to Fannie and Freddie. In my opinion since they can get more they are going to take this opportunity to do so.

What Fannie and Freddie will have to ask themselves (when people like me start using FHA anytime I can rather than even selling conventional loans) is where did all our business go. I guess they think we are all stupid and will just give them their excess profits because we like them. Better guess again. I think the combination of the price gouging, (gosh there I go again) and the increased FHA loan limit is going to kick their collective behinds. I for one am going to send them as few loans as I can.

Oh Countrywide and Mr. Mozolio, their chairman (I think that is the way you spell it) (actually I don't) are in the news again. Something about the FBI opening an investigation into insider trading and securities fraud. Something about Mozolio selling his stock in anticipation of the loans they originated going into the tank. I wonder what they will find out that everyone does not already know. Not to worry Bank of America still is planning on buying Countrywide for 200% of their current stock value. I think B of A is just the group to pull it off too. I bet they won't charge them any closing costs at the closing. Countrywide better watch the rate they get that is all I can tell them.

Things continue to get more interesting and we will see a lot more before all this is finished.

More to come

Lonny

WHY NOT

2008-03-07T05:57:00.002-06:00

I must admit I have spent a lot of time wondering why a plan would not work that would simply give people the ability to buy a home who would agree to do certain things. Namely, as you recall; pay their bills on time for a period of 6 months, agree to counseling/training once a month for 6 months, not take on any more debt, and be otherwise qualified in earnings and employment.

Here is why, (my opinion as usual):

No one sees the magnitude of the problem. A large part of the population can’t buy and that is adding to more foreclosures and bigger inventories. Fewer people can buy homes for sale because they can’t qualify and qualification for mortgages is getting harder every day for a number of reasons. Loan programs are going away and unless I am imagining things more and more errors are on credit reports which in themselves ruin the ability for most to qualify.

It would just make common sense in this day and time to take a chance on people and let them buy a home to help dig housing out of the hole it is in. Problem is Government and common sense is an oxymoron. Most politicians are about themselves and the system is not set up to work it is set up to fail in matters such as these. To many self interests to ever agree on something that is so simple.

Credit scores are taken as gospel. Credit scores are an indicator of the past but are not in themselves an indicator of the future. Credit grantors report credit in error. A credit score can be ruined over night and not fixed for months if at all. Credit scores in many cases are arbitrary and not a good indicator. The credit reporting system is corrupt and riddled with errors.

Politicians think they know best. The two sides of the isle can’t agree on what is best for the consumer but would not bother asking the consumer what they would like to do. A consumer would gladly pay a higher FHA premium to get the chance to buy but politicians think that is bad. Consumers would gladly earn the ability to buy a home but politicians think that is discrimination. Everything is about free, now, and no consequences and no one has the courage to change it.

My plan would work and work well. VA has proved 100% loans work. HUD approved counselors will give you absolute statistics to show counseling does work and works well. Masses of people would jump at the chance to enter the program because their alternative is to live in overpriced rental units.

The reality is this; any program like this it is not likely to happen for the above reasons and a sin of others and that is truly unfortunate.

More to come

Lonny

THE PROBLEM, THE SOLUTION

2008-03-06T05:51:00.002-06:00

The problem with Down Payment Assistance is that HUD does not like it. They blame DPA for creating bad loans that borrowers can’t repay or choose not to repay. There is a higher incidence of default when there is not an investment in the property by the buyer I don’t doubt that, however; it must not be completely valid because VA loans have always been $0 down and have always performed very well.

The solution is to allow $0 down FHA loans and then set up a plan that insures a higher level of success by making the buyer earn the ability to get the 100% loan. This is accomplished through mandatory education and proper discipline during a 6 month period prior to buying the home. That is correct the buyer who wants the 100% financing must earn the ability to get it, it is not a give away and everyone can’t get it.

If the potential buyer wants a 100% loan then they must complete a 6 months training course where they learn such things as budgeting, credit basics, why making their mortgage payment on time is not a choice. At the end of 6 months if they have paid all their bills on time, have taken on no more debt and are otherwise qualified they get to apply for the 100% loan. Credit score would not matter; past credit history does not matter as long as they are not in bankruptcy or had a foreclosure. Sorry this is not for those who have had a foreclosure in the past 3 years. This would also teach the attendees how to stay out of the path of predatory lenders and those sellers who will take advantage of them.

The buyer pays a little higher insurance premium to FHA to offset the additional risk and is encouraged to put together a down payment during the 6 months they are in the training. Buyers would flock to the program to just get the chance to buy a home and there would be a high level of success with the program. Only the people that were serious would go through the program, the folks who want something for nothing or think they are entitled would not apply.

A good plan, I think so, will it ever become reality, I doubt it.

Why tomorrow:

More to come

Lonny

APPRAISALS AND DOWN PAYMENT ASSISTANCE

2008-03-05T07:54:00.002-06:00

Concerning the new appraisal restrictions imposed by FNMA and FHLMC, the Mortgage Brokers Association is considering legal action to stop the impending implementation of the new standards. If you recall this would take the appraisal selection process out of the hands of the brokers. The MBA maintains that the action by Andrew Cuomo amount to “de facto regulatory action” that avoids the proper regulatory process. I am not sure I agree or disagree not being the lawyer type but I will tell you I don’t blame the MBA for taking such action.

Among other things it will put honest and ethical honest mortgage brokers at a competitive disadvantage and will not in itself make the appraisal selection process fool proof. If you have a lender/wholesaler who does not mind breaking the rules it will be easy to create a network of like minded brokers, lenders and appraisers and beat the intent of the regulation anyway. This is just another play by those who would like to see brokers go away when there is still plenty of room for the good ones in the market. It keeps the big boys more competitive and that is good.

In other news, the U.S District Court for the Eastern District of California has ruled against the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s ban on seller funded down payment assistance. A little background if you don’t know. DPA companies who are “non profit” by definition started providing down payment assistance funds by getting the funds from the seller, sending then through their companies charging a fee in the middle and then sending the money to the buyer of the home. It really just makes 100% financing available on FHA loans which HUD does not like. HUD tried to get rid of it, Nehemiah Corp. sued HUD, won the suit and they among otherS sued HUD again this last round and have won again.

In the HUD reform legislation currently pending HUD is once again trying to disallow DPA programs by regulation so the DPA companies will have another battle on their hands. I personally don’t ever think DPA will go away because it makes home loans available to consumers who can’t get the down payment and who would be good homeowners. (That is very politically correct and that is what matters these days as you know). If you take the abuse out of the system, control those who can inflate appraisals because they control or own the appraisers and underwrite the loans properly DPA can and does work. Our problem is not the program it is the fact that HUD does not regulate the bad guys and the bad guys get away with whatever they want. Of course that would be my opinion wouldn’t it!!!

A better solution tomorrow:

More to come,

Lonny

IMPENDING APPRAISAL LAW

2008-03-03T17:21:00.004-06:00

In the fraud infested recent past of the mortgage industry there have been plenty of appraisers who have inflated values and were responsible for creating a lot of the problems we are having today. There has been plenty of talk of creating a system that would make the appraisals less controlled by the loan originators and I saw an article that has done just that.

In New York, (and I guess it is only in New York) Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have signed a settlement with New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo which implements new appraisal standards which go into effect in Jan. 2009. It says basically that anyone selling loans to Fannie or Freddie can’t use in house or affiliated appraisal firms which Cuomo suggests are pressured into hitting the value by the institutions. Countywide for one owns their own appraisal firm as I recall. Mr. Cuomo said the settlement will transform appraisal practices by state and federally regulated banks that had pressured appraisers to inflate appraisals.

It also requires lenders on brokered loans to certify that the mortgage broker did not select the appraiser. I am a bit confused here, if the originating lender can't pick the appraiser then who does. I guess that suggests that the lender who is closing the loan must select the appraiser or God forbid maybe some government agency appraisal system is set up.

"Now national banks have a clear choice: immediately adopt the new code and clean up fraud in the mortgage industry or stop doing business with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac," Mr. Cuomo said.

"For the banking regulators, this is kind of tough to swallow because the practices that they had permitted are prohibited by this agreement," mortgage banking consultant Howard Glaser said.

When I was in the banking business a while back, (what a nightmare) the regulators wanted appraisers chosen on a completely random basis to keep there from being any pressure put on the appraiser by the lender or the loan officer. At that time it was suggested that banks should choose the appraiser from a random list. On the surface this does not sound like a bad idea but it does not address the quality of the appraisal itself or service levels competitive pricing etc. No doubt there are a lot of appraisers who don't mind inflating values but that could still happen in any plan. I fear, however, the reality of this is too allow to many appraisers the ability to control the market rather than the market controlling the market. The market has always existed with a borrower and seller agreeing on the price of the home and that set the market value. Appraisals were ordered so the lender would feel comfortable with the amount of loan given. Appraisers always were aware of the value and did not try to jeopardize the deal if the sales price hit in a comfortable range of value. There have always been those appraisers who thought they were smarter than or above the market and should set the values themselves regardless of what the buyer and seller wanted. These guys are as dangerous in my opinion today as those who would inflate the value.

If the law that was agreed to in New York is not administered properly and then is duplicated in other states I fear it will just worsen the problem of deflating values and that is just what we don’t need.

Honest lenders should be able to hire honest appraisers and those appraisers should regulate themselves and be professional in their practices. If they don't want to loose their independence they better get busy.

This one will be interesting to watch for sure.

More to come

Lonny

WHAT'S UP / WHAT HAPPENED

2008-03-02T10:04:00.003-06:00

The title of today's Blog are the words that were sent to me, (well I changed just a little bit) from my friend Paul who is a reader of the Blog. I actually have two Paul's, not one, that read the Blog regularly. Actually 3 if you count my son who's middle name is Paul. I think the last Blog posting was on Feb. 18th or so. I must admit not much seems to be happening different in the things I tend to watch. I admire reporters who find a way to restate the same thing day in and day out and make it sound different.

Just a quick side bar, I was watching a Hillary ad this morning and I actually liked what it said. No worries, I have taped my mouth shut and my counselor has agreed to see me at 6 AM in the morning. She is concerned, very concerned!!!

Since the last posting rates started going up every day for what at least I think was no good reason and now they have started coming down again for the same no good reason they went up. Oh don't get me wrong there were plenty of reasons, I just don't understand what the relevance is in the reason as it relates to the real problem. Rates should be low in my opinion as oil prices and energy costs continue to gut the consumer from spending their money on things they would rather have. To me that creates inflation of the worst kind because the consumer can't make a choice not to buy. We may see that before long however. Rates today are just about where they were before the Fed. made the initial rate cut. All that flap hoop and holler so a lot of people could trade a lot of interest rate paper to make or lose a lot of money. Far be it from me to understand all that.

The stimulus bill made it possible to make a higher loan limit FHA loan which would help the ailing mortgage industry and a lot of want to be home buyers who have been underwritten out of the ability to own a home or who have been priced gouged because their good credit and average credit score have made it hard to make the inflated payment. But about the limit, mortgage loans are not available yet because of all the wrangling by all the politicians and greedy people trying to see how much profit can be made instead of just making the loans. Just my opinion of course.

I read where the FHA Reform bill was close to passage but a compromise by the Mortgage Bankers is to not challenge allowing Down Payment Assistance programs. That is fine but more buyers will lose the ability too buy a home. Why, 100% loans are becoming available for only the best credit buyers and FHA does not and if I can see the current trend will not allow for a 100% loan. 100% loans can be a reality if FHA would just be careful about it and offer an incentive not to get one. Fat chance if you ask me for that. If you don't think it will work just look at the VA model it has worked very well since day 1. Could FHA be the problem and not 100% loans. DUH!!!

Countrywide is being sued for loan fraud, I am sure the lawyers are licking their chops over that. Merrill Lynch finally dumped First Franklin which was their sub prime company nightmare. RIP sub prime loans, as least as we knew them. Lots of politicians trying to create lots of Predatory Lending laws to make people be ethical and responsible to the customer. Just as well go golfing boys, ain't gonna happen.

Well how bout that, everything is just about the same, or at least so it seems.

More to come

Lonny

WHAT'S NEW

2008-02-16T11:47:00.002-06:00

HMMMM well lets see. I read that Countrywide is posting record foreclosures in fact they were twice as high as January last year. Who said you reap what you sew? I don’t think I have read recently that Bank of America is just so excited to buy Countrywide but I am sure they are. I know I would be if I was the biggest ego bank of the world. Watch out for that reaper!!!!

A lot of big lenders have put a moratorium on foreclosures for 30 days to see if some of the folks who are going to foreclosure could work out some options. I didn’t know you could get a call returned in 30 days. All kidding aside I think the industry sees the benefit of doing whatever it can to slow down the foreclosure snowball. I know a young man who works in that area for CW and tells me that most buyers don’t trust their mortgage company enough to even talk to them. Imagine that?????

The president did sign the economic stimulus bill which is good, I still am not sure how much money I am going to get but I am checking the mailbox everyday for sure. I can’t decide what I am going to do with my money. I think Karren wants a new sink for the kitchen she is fixing to remodel. Maybe she will find the check and spend it before I get the chance. I was thinking about putting it back into the economy where I knew it counted and buying as much beer as I could. I hope my Govt. check is big; I am going to need it if I reach my economic dreams.

One thing the economic stimulus bill did was to raise the maximum loan amounts for regular conventional loans. That won’t be for the Dallas Fort Worth area since we are not a high cost area. Pity!!! Also the FHA limit was raised to just over $271,000.00. Now that would be great for this area and would help plenty with our market but guess what. We can’t make the loans yet because all the greedy folks are now trying to figure out how to make a bigger profit ON them. I am not sure who all oF “them” are but you can bet the politicians and Wall Street is in there for sure. Instead of just saying yes lets do something that makes total sense and could help, “them” is trying to decide that these loans need to be in a different kind of security and all kind of other things so guess what, the price of loans, (the interest rate) will be higher and more profit will be made. Greed all the way baby.

Oh yes if you don't think Hillary is a big enough screw up already, read the following article:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/chi-080217chapman-column,1,4589006.column

Enough for this addition, good grief!!!

More to come

Lonny

CURRENT LEGISLATION

2008-02-12T09:05:00.001-06:00

There has been a lot of legislation of late. Some has past and some has not. I will focus a bit on those that would seem to affect our business and the current issues we are facing.

Mortgage Fraud: The only piece of legislation that seems to have been made into law is that which makes mortgage fraud illegal. The problem is that mortgage fraud was already illegal and there are not enough cops to enforce the current laws we have. There are a lot of people going to jail and there will be a lot more but to simply pass more laws to expand or redefine the definition is not likely to help with the problem. Those criminals who perpetrate mortgage fraud are here to stay just like car thieves and drug dealers.

Predatory Lending: Many well meaning politicians have come to the rescue to try to pass legislation dealing with Predatory Lending. The problem is today as it has been for the last decade is simply you can’t define Predatory Lending to the point that any law would make sense. What is predatory to one group is a business model to another and short of price fixing there will never be any middle ground on this that can be put into an enforceable law. Buyer beware is today and in the future will be the buzz word for anyone entering into the mortgage lending arena. The lawmakers would love to pass laws that would require lenders to all be ethical but it just won’t happen. Most politicians need to understand it themselves in my opinion.

Mortgage Reform: Now this hits on a broad base for sure. Let's take an example dealing with FHA loans. FHA reform was a hot topic and well it should be. FHA was created to help the regular guy get a loan when regular sources were not available and FHA sure needs a new look. The current reform package needs to raise the FHA loan limit, allow for risk based pricing, and redefine what it takes to get an FHA loan. When FHA loans were created people had the ability to get money for down payment and for the most part had good credit or could at least access a system that would help them get it corrected. The politicians have killed anything that might help people buy homes because they just don’t get it, won’t listen, and really don’t care. FHA reform as goes with most smart legislation is gone with the wind.

There is certainly more legislation out there currently and more to come but a focus should be how to get more buyers qualified to buy the glut of homes on the market and those to come. From the looks of things, that just won’t happen.

More to come

Lonny

RATES

2008-02-11T09:29:00.001-06:00

As promised today starts a series of Blogs dealing with what is happening in the mortgage world today. Now don’t confuse this with anything other than what my opinion might be. For instance I know little about interest rates and what makes them do the things they do on a daily basis. My comments will be more directed to how rate changes apply to a borrower who is trying to make sense out of what he or she hears on a daily basis. The one thing I do advise my customers to do is this: If you hear me say rates will go one way or the other then do the opposite of the thing I tell you to do because I am usually wrong.

So what is happening with interest rates? The first thing you need to know is that what the Federal Reserve does has no guaranteed effect on what mortgage rates do. I did ask one person who writes an article to explain it to me one day and in his arrogant way he explained that. If the market perceives a Fed interest rate cut to be non necessary then mortgage interest rates will go up. If the market thinks the Fed made a good decision based on the state of the economy then mortgage rates will come down. Maybe he is correct and maybe not, nothing happens the same in all cases.

Now this is a fact, the rates at my company were lower before the Fed cut the interest rates than they are today. Now remember the Fed has cut rates twice in the recent past. Everyone that I talked to who was trying to make a decision on their loan immediately thought interest rates on mortgages would come down. Not so, and if you ask me what rates will do in the near future I will tell you they may go up, or they may come down, or they may stay the same. Now the smart people tell me that rates could really come down or really go up based on some kind of formula that I don’t really understand.

Remember this, mortgage rates are fairly stable and have been for a long time within a narrow range. Some time ago I thought rates would stay within 1% of 6.5% on the up side and down side and I think if you will look it has been that way for a long time. Maybe just a safe guess, but still accurate all the same. Now is a great time to buy a home, rates are on the low side of the average that I think we will continue to have and home prices are on the low side currently based on the current situation.

More to come

Lonny

NEXT WEEK

2008-02-08T08:45:00.000-06:00

Well I am up to speed technically so to speak and getting fired up again to post more regular blogs. Next Monday I will start a series on where I think the mortgage loan industry is today and where it is headed tomorrow. I can sense the anticipation in you already!!

More to come, I promise

Lonny

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

2008-02-05T17:23:00.000-06:00

My aunt Myrna asked me this morning when I was going to get back to posting my blogs on a regular basis. I must admit I called to tell her happy birthday one day late. I made up a rather lame excuse but as luck would have it she forgave me. As I recall last year I asked her to go to lunch, she did and then I had forgotten my credit card. I can never remember doing that in my life. She paid the bill, (it was a great lunch as I recall). She forgave me for forgetting my card.

The story gets even worse, I told her I would pay it back and I don't remember ever doing that. I hope she forgot so I don't have to be forgiven once again. With all that going against me, today I called a day late to wish her happy birthday. Man I better get with it pretty fast. My luck may be running low. I am not sure how forgivable I am at this stage.

Anyway back to the blog, she encouraged me to keep going with it as she enjoys reading it. May be something to do with the fact that she really is quite supportive of the things I do now and have done in my life.

And for that, this one is for Myrna!!!

With love

More to come

Lonny

WHERE HAVE I BEEN

2008-02-04T15:49:00.001-06:00

You may have noticed that I have been a little non consistent in my posts of late. Really short of turning this into a diary I am looking for something different in the mortgage news or in my personal travels that might be worth blogging about. I am not finding much of late except the status quo seems to be the status quo. My home computer died and we did not ever back it up. Don't make that mistake as I did. My hard drive with years of stuff is gone and can't be recovered for less than $2000.00. OUCH!!

I had a nightmare the other night that Bill Clinton was in fact our new first lady. I woke up with a knife in my hand pressed against my neck screaming it can't be so!!! I guess something could be worse but I can't imagine what. That would be my opinion of course.

I listened to a conservative radio talk show host in the metroplex the other morning go on and on about us part time bloggers who thought we were writers and without really having a clue. That certainly hit close to home.

With all that said be patient, I am convinced there is:

More to come

Lonny

UNFORTUNATE REALITY PART 2

2008-01-30T19:18:00.000-06:00

Part 2, thanks Paul for the contibution,

Nikita Bailey, an activist with the non-profit Center for Responsible Lending, warned that the mortgage crisis could empty the pockets of African-Americans.

"Today the subprime market is poised to bring about the greatest drain of wealth the African-American community has ever experienced," Bailey told AFP. "It is a financial apartheid no doubt about it."

For Cleveland Plain Dealer columnist Phillip Morris, the extent of the devastation is comparable to that wrought by Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans in 2005.
In the hardest-hit suburb of Cleveland, "nearly 24,000 people have lost their homes to Cleveland's Katrina," he told AFP.

"Families left behind furniture, clothing even family photos."

In the hardest-hit district of New Orleans, the real Katrina destroyed about 13,700 houses, displacing some 35,000 people, Morris said.

"More than two years later, 6,000 homeowners (in St. Bernard Parish) have each received an average 65,000 dollars in government funds to rebuild their American Dreams. But in Cleveland and its suburbs, there is no disaster relief, no presidential visits, no good Samaritans to helps us."
"It would have been better if it was an earthquake or a hurricane, we respond better to natural disasters than to men in suits disasters," said city councilor Zach Reid.
In the streets, shops, suburbs and restaurants, resentment against the government and the Washington elite flourishes.

"People in Washington -- George Bush, the US Senate, the US Congress -- witnessed it, they stood by and they didn't do nothing to stop it," said Cleveland resident John Brett.

"It was almost like they were on the Titanic, and they could see the iceberg coming and they did nothing about it," he said sitting at the counter of the Velvet Dog Bar.

"They wrecked our American dreams, the willingness to own a home," he said. "Even during the Great Depression we did not see the number of homes and properties abandoned like we are seeing now."

More to come

Lonny

UNFORTUNATE REALITY

2008-01-30T19:01:00.000-06:00

Paul who has become a avid reader of the blog asked that you consider this today and tomorrow, it is an unfortunate reality.

US blacks see 'financial apartheid' in subprime crisis

Jan 27 02:19 PM US/Eastern
They had small means and big hopes of owning a house. But African-Americans snared in the US mortgage crisis have seen the American dream turn into a nightmare many call "financial apartheid."

The storm triggered by risky "subprime" loans has left many in ruins, forced out of their modest homes and furious at falling victim to financial dealings that have taken a particular toll on minority families.

"People of color are more than three times more likely to have subprime loans," concluded the organization United for a Fair Economy in a recent report which estimated that minorities have seen between 163 billion and 278 billion dollars of their equity go up in smoke since 2000.
With its weakened economy and a large black population more used to renting, Cleveland has become a poster child of the subprime crisis in a country where some 2.1 million borrowers are behind on their mortgage payments.

City officials estimate that foreclosures have swallowed some 70,000 homes and turned entire neighborhoods into ghost towns.

The city has responded by suing lenders, accusing them of targeting black borrowers and steering them to the loans granted with few formalities and at hefty interest rates to people with poor credit histories.

In this city where nearly 27 percent of the population lives under the poverty line -- about 20,000 dollars a year for a family of four -- many have a friend, a cousin, a brother, a co-worker or a neighbor who lost a home because they could no longer make their monthly payments once their adjustable rates jumped.

"Cleveland, Detroit, Baltimore (are) cities where lots of people of color live and what do they have in common? They are hit by the foreclosures meltdown. Is it a coincidence?" said Jesse Tinsley, who lives in the low-income Mount Pleasant neighborhood.

"When the wave of foreclosures blighted our neighborhood, members of our community rang the alarm. Nobody did anything. Now that white suburbs are hit, the city hall discovered foreclosures," he said.

"The mayor didn't do anything for our community for four years, they said 'they deserved it.' Now everybody noticed that we have been targeted by greedy people."

Second part tomorrow

More to come

Lonny

COULD IT BE TRUE

2008-01-28T05:52:00.001-06:00

One of the things I have been continuing to say as the mortgage crisis deepens is what will be found out about what the real predators do and who the bad lenders really are. Everyone has a stake in the game that is in the game but are the biggest predators of all the commercial banks who have been the people who you really should be able to trust? The article below is just one article of many I read on a daily basis but this one is a little different. Its author details what he believes to be the truth about one certain big bank and their tactics and the profits and the opportunity for profits gained by their predatory practices. If one big bank is doing it can the others be far behind them? What do you think????

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/50345

The thing I noticed not in the article itself but outside the article were the ads for mortgage companies. The article slams and accuses mortgage lenders and still mortgage lenders advertise in the midst of it. One company listed at the bottom of the article could be seen as one of the largest predatory sub prime lenders who has been a leader in the types of mortgages discussed in the article. The irony is that even when people are subject to all the scams and tactics of the predatory lenders, lenders still can advertise anything they want to anyone they want with little or no consequences. Buyer beware is still the name of the game in the mortgage world. Make no mistake about it loss of business ethics and greed are here to stay.

More to come

Lonny

WHATS NEW

2008-01-25T06:36:00.000-06:00

Well lets see whats new. It could be the...., no, that is really the same ole crap, and oh yes there is......, no that isn't really that new. Well surely there must be something I have another remarkable opinion on. Lets see, the government is solving the immigration problem, no that's not it, well the mortgage market crash is reversing itself, I am not sure about that but all the politicians have really done some wonderful things to fix the probelm. I can't believe I even said that. Oh yes and there are the politicians that have quit campaigning and telling us what they think we are dumb enough to believe and have started telling us the truth. Well that sure as hell ain't happening. Gosh then whats new???

Oh my God I just heard on the news that the New York Times have picked Hillary as the Democrats choice for President. Someone quick take the knife from my hand this may be more than I can take, death would be a better alternative I think. 4 to 8 more years of Bill God help us all.

Whew I think I am ok now. Where was I? Oh yes. Is it just me or is the news a bit of a so what these days? The media predicted the stock market crash the other day and it didn't happen. What it did do is to convince the fed to lower rates by .75%. I guess that is why they did it, I really am not sure. What else it did was to put the financial markets in a spin that have wreaked havoc for the past two days in about everything. For the record mortgage rates yesterday were higher than they were when the fed lowered the rates. Oh yes, the oil markets decided to convince us a couple of weeks ago that oil prices were headed no where but up and allowed the oil companies to steal more of our money. A couple of days ago I heard the supplies were up and that oil should be at 75 per barrel in the near future. You don't have to wonder who's full of BS cause everyone is on that issue at least. Don't worry our political leaders will figure it out. Whatever.

There is an economic stimulus package being discussed that would send most of us some money. Oh boy some free money to pay for more energy increases, I'm pumped. It includes some higher loan amounts for mortgages which make sense but should have been done a long time ago because it makes sense to do that anyway. I would bet at least even money that still does not get passed and that could really help some people. The mortgage mess is somewhere in the middle of fixing itself I think. It is still and will be bad for a mass of people. Hillary wants to freeze rates on sub prime loans and must not have a clue that the government should really not supersede contracts on existing debt. I am sure she might have a clue, but she is trying to get elected and has big Bill to overcome. She will say or do anything to get elected in my opinion. Don't you just want to puke when you have to look at Bill?

So whats happening??? Same ole crap looks to me like!!!

More to come

Lonny

WILL ANYONE LISTEN PART 2

2008-01-19T12:13:00.000-06:00

Part 2 enjoy:

Communist Russia was comprised of Russians who just wanted to live in peace, yet the Russian Communists were responsible for the murder of about 20 million people. The peaceful majority were irrelevant.

China's huge population was peaceful as well, but Chinese Communists managed to kill a staggering 70 million people.

The average Japanese individual prior to World War ll was not a warmongering sadist. Yet, Japan murdered and slaughtered its way across South East Asia in an orgy of killing that included the systematic murder of 12 million Chinese civilians; most killed by sword, shovel, and bayonet.

And, who can forget Rwanda, which collapsed into butchery. Could it not be said that the majority of Rwandans were 'peace loving'? History lessons are often incredibly simple and blunt, yet for all ourpowers of reason we often miss the most basic and uncomplicated of points:

Peace-loving Muslims have been made irrelevant by their silence. Peace-loving Muslims will become our enemy if they don't speak up, because like my friend from Germany, they will awaken one day and find that the fanatics own them, and the end of their world will have begun.

Peace-loving Germans, Japanese, Chinese, Russians, Rwandans, Serbs, Afghanis, Iraqis, Palestinians, Somalis, Nigerians, Algerians, and many others have died because the peaceful majority did not speak up until it was too late. As for us who watch it all unfold, we must pay attention to the only group that counts: the fanatics who threaten our way of life.

Lastly, at the risk of offending, anyone who doubts that the issue is serious and just deletes this email without sending it on, is contributing to the passiveness that allows the problems of expand. So, extend yourself a bit and send this on and on and on! Let us hope that thousands, world wide, read this - think about it - and send it on.

Emanuel Tanay, M.D.Ann Arbor, MI

More to come

Lonny

WILL ANYONE LISTEN? PART 1

2008-01-19T11:50:00.000-06:00

My friend Paul sent this too me and it will make you think for sure. Thanks Paul, Enjoy

Interesting wake up call. Will anyone listen? Act?

Subject: FW: A German's Point Of View On Islam

By Dr. Emanual Tanay, Psychiatrist A man whose family was German aristocracy prior to World War ll owned a number of large industries and estates. When asked how many German people were true Nazis, the answer he gave can guide our attitude toward fanaticism.

'Very few people were true Nazis 'he said,' but many enjoyed the return of German pride, and many more were too busy to care. I was oneof those who just thought the Nazis were a bunch of fools. So, the majority just sat back and let it all happen. Then, before we knew it,they owned us, and we had lost control, and the end of the world had come. My family lost everything. I ended up in a concentration camp and the Allies destroyed my factories.

'We are told again and again by 'experts' and 'talking heads' that Islam is the religion of peace, and that the vast majority of Muslims just want to live in peace. Although this unqualified assertion may betrue, it is entirely irrelevant. It is meaningless fluff, meant to make us feel better, and meant to somehow diminish the spectra of fanatics rampaging across the globe in the name of Islam. The fact is that the fanatics rule Islam at this moment in history.

It is the fanatics who march.

It is the fanatics who wage any one of 50 shooting wars worldwide.

It is the fanatics who systematically slaughter Christian or tribal groups throughout Africa and are gradually taking over the entire continent in an Islamic wave.

It is the fanatics who bomb, behead, murder, or honor kill. It is the fanatics who take over mosque after mosque.

It is the fanatics who zealously spread the stoning and hanging of rape victims and homosexuals.

The hard quantifiable fact is that the 'peaceful majority', the 'silent majority', is cowed and extraneous.

Part 2 tomorrow:

More to come

Lonny

CREDIT REPAIR

2008-01-19T10:39:00.000-06:00

One of the things people are faced with is bad credit. It comes from several things, people don't pay their bills on time. (Now there is a revelation for you). Consumers get more credit then they can pay for as the creditors simply take their chances that people who probably won't pay will pay. Consumers are victimized by creditors who simply will not communicate with them concerning legitimate complaints and problems. Creditors can put things on your report and have no risk of any legitimate discipline even if the item is wrong. Creditors see mortgage lenders as collectors and will keep bad trade lines current so they may get paid. And finally medical bills that are unpaid go on reports quickly against the consumer even if the insurance company was supposed to pay. There are a lot more trust me.

Recently we made a loan to a builder friend of mine and required him to pay off some medical collections that he said were in fact his. He had been given no notice of the ourstanding bills and was happy to pay them. The problem was he could not find the people to pay. The item had been factored (sold) to a collection agency who could not be found. Think about it we required him to pay, he said he would but could not even though he wanted too. Pretty stupid stuff if you think about it.

In our something for nothing culture many so called credit repair companies have cropped up. They offer a fix to your credit woes by a number of legitimate or not so legitimate solutions. They charge plenty and may be a fraud or may not be. If you pay one that is a fraud you will not see them, hear from them or get your money back. To my knowledge there is no enforced law that would prohibit them from false advertising so guess what you are the victim. It is hard to tell the difference. We have a company that is not affiliated with us that we refer people too and they seem to be honest and get results when employeed. It takes a long time, form 6 to 12 months and it is not easy or cheap. They have to fight the creditors to remove the items that are in error or they can't prove were reported correctly. Creditors have no real interest in helping you fix your credit even if they are wrong. Back to the no ethics in business I talk so much about.

Below is a fairly good article that talks about credit repair that is worth looking at. Now that all the loans are pretty much gone that will allow bad credit this seems to be coming on as the new thing even though it has been around for awhile now. It is a new type of fraud in the wrong hands so watch out.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/19/business/yourmoney/19money.html?ref=yourmoney

If you are going to pay someone to fix your credit beware there are plenty of bad people out there ready to extract your money from you and deliver nothing.

More to come

Lonny

A LOOK AHEAD

2008-01-16T07:10:00.000-06:00

For some time now I have been eluding to the fact that there was more to come regarding all the people and companies who would be exposed in the mortgage crisis we are currently in. I ran across an article in the Denver Post that tells of a law suit filed by the City of Cleveland. It is certainly worth reading if you are interested in what still remains to be the largest and most extensive financial wreck this country has yet to see. I still believe we haven’t seen the worst of the foreclosures and as regrettable as it may seem the ball rolling down hill is picking up steam.

If the City of Cleveland is successful with their suit then many others will follow. The cities and the citizens of those cities are truly the victims. The author of the article tells a story of what may become what’s next in the mortgage mess.

http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_7971836

More to come

Lonny

READ THIS ONE

2008-01-15T07:00:00.000-06:00

I was doing some light reading this morning and ran across an article in the LA Times. I think it is a good read as it describes the results of industries allowed to run wild with no supervision. I am in no way in favor of more or bigger government but as the mortgage crisis deepens and the extent of the predatory lender becomes more evident, you have to wonder. Bigger government no, more effective government yes. Big business has run over the consumer, greed and no ethics are the root cause and the extent of the carnage is still to be discovered.

The article is good, read this one.

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-oe-meyerhoff14jan14,1,7284065.story?coll=la-news-a_section

If you do or don't agree let me hear from you.

More to come

Lonny

WHAT ARE THEY THINKING

2008-01-14T06:51:00.000-06:00

Well the news seems to reflect that indeed Bank of America is going to attempt to buy Countrywide Mortgage. The only thing that comes to my mind is what in the world is B of A thinking? Countrywide is the nation’s largest mortgage lender with the nation’s largest mortgage company problems which have all not surfaced as yet. The extent of Countrywide’s problems is far from over or even yet to be determined. Their portfolio of loans going bad is gaining speed and does not seem to have an end in site. B of A has the same type problems with their mortgage portfolio and they are by no means out of the woods yet either. As I recall B of A already loaned Countrywide some 2 billion dollars. I wonder where that money went. Seems to me the loan was going to fix the problems at Countrywide when it was made. Could the reason of the purchase be that B of A is already in too deeply?

The industry seems to think it is a good thing for the sale to happen. Countrywide simply going out of business could shake up the mortgage world way too much at the present time according to the experts. I was one that said Countrywide was way too big to ever go out of business when all this mess started. If they can go broke is anyone safe? I don’t think so. The mortgage mess this country is facing seems to have a mind of its own with a quick end no where in site. Bankruptcy for Countrywide according to the same experts does not seem to be the best alternative either for some reason. That seems to be a bit safer to me (I am no expert here for sure) as that at least keeps Countrywide’s problems in their court to be solved. Bank of America is the largest bank in the country but I fear they are not big enough to take on Countrywide’s problems and tackle their own as they continue to surface. The country sure doesn't need B of A in deep trouble now as well. I am not even close to sure the regulators will allow it either. If they do there is probably more to the story than we know.

All in all I hope if the deal goes through it somehow works but I for one have plenty of doubts. I just don’t get why B of A would take on that much liability that they still can’t define. There is still plenty to surface about both these lenders and their mortgage companies. If I were B of A I might just opt to take a seat and be a looker rather than a buyer.

Finally I still see the fellow on the TV all the time telling me about the no cost refi for us homeowners. Countrywide might save some money by taking those adds off the TV. I am not sure anyone is buying that pitch anymore.

More to come

Lonny

GAS PRICES

2008-01-11T08:16:00.000-06:00

Is there anyone among us who believes that gasoline prices are purely market driven? I wonder from time to time whether they are or not. I really think that oil companies conspire to price fix, and the oil traders are just like other traders, and they use most anything to run up gasoline prices. For instance I am not sure I heard it but I am sure the fact that some Iranian speed boats charged our navy a few days ago made oil prices go up. Does Iran even produce oil?

The profits of the oil companies are insane as the gut the middle class of our country. We are soon to see what the price of energy is going to do to the economy and in my opinion it has already started, there is plenty of talk of recession in the news of late. Now those purest would say, it is a free market and if the oil companies don’t sell the gas to us they can simply send it to China or India there is plenty of demand there. Is there; I certainly don’t know but I sure don’t want to not have enough gas either. I have no choice I have to buy the stuff to get where I am going so I can try to make enough money to buy more gas so the oil companies can price fix and make more money.

Here is a thought to consider. What if everyone who could would simply use 25% less gas? No way you say! Well I know I could if I just put my mind too it. I could check my mileage in a normal week and then make a real plan to drive 25% less miles. Maybe I won’t go. Maybe I will ride to work 3 days a week with a co-worker, maybe Karren and I could combine trips etc. I am not sure how I would do it but I bet most of us could use 25% less.

Now consider a national effort to do the same for the next 6 months. If the oil companies reserves increased by 25% overnight I bet they might just start competing to rid themselves of them and use a little of that big profit to keep their refineries running and their employees busy. Never work you say? I ask why not. I am no one who can get that message out nationally but my bet is that it would work like a charm. It may not be a pure supply and demand market but you decrease demand and increase supply by 25% and you might just be surprised.

Any thoughts?

More to come

Lonny

HAPPY DAY

2008-01-09T06:21:00.000-06:00

Karren and I celebrated our 36th anniversary yesterday and I my 56th birthday. I can't believe she has been married to me this long and hasn't killed me. She is a patient woman no doubt. She sent me these little tidbits yesterday. Oh by the way it is not too late to send your birthday presents to me. I'm in the book.

Enjoy:

1. My husband and I divorced over religious differences. He thought he was God and I didn't.
2. I don't suffer from insanity; I enjoy every minute of it.
3. Some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them.
4. I used to have a handle on life, but it broke.
5. Don't take life too seriously; No one gets out alive.
6. You're just jealous because the voices only talk to me
7. Beauty is in the eye of the beer holder.
8. Earth is the insane asylum for the universe.
9. I'm not a complete idiot -- Some parts are just missing.
10. Out of my mind. Back in five minutes.
11. NyQuil, the stuffy, sneezy, why-the-heck-is-the-room-spinning medicine.
12. God must love stupid people; He made so many.
13. The gene pool could use a little chlorine.
14. Consciousness: That annoying time between naps.
15. Ever stop to think, and forget to start again?
16. Being "over the hill" is much better than being under it!
17. Wrinkled Was Not One of the Things I Wanted to Be When I Grew up.
18. Procrastinate Now!
19. I Have a Degree in Liberal Arts; Do You Want Fries With That?
20. A hangover is the wrath of grapes.
21.. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a cash advance
22. Stupidity is not a handicap. Park elsewhere!
23. They call it PMS because Mad Cow Disease was already taken.
24. He who dies with the most toys is nonetheless DEAD.
25. A picture is worth a thousand words, but it uses up three thousand times the memory.
26. Ham and eggs.A day's work for a chicken, a lifetime commitment for a pig.
27. The trouble with life is there's no background music.
28. The original point and click interface was a Smith & Wesson.
29. I smile because I don't know what the hell is going on. Appreciate every single thing you have, especially your friends! Life is too short and friends are too few

More to come

Lonny

THE POWER OF THE CONSUMER

2008-01-08T05:08:00.000-06:00

A couple of weeks ago I was listening to a popular radio talk show in the Phoenix area. This particular host had visited the border to get a first hand look at how bad the illegal crossing problem was. He described a well orchestrated scene which existed in Mexico that provided transportation and safe passage across the border. He also described how he was treated when he was apprehended crossing the border into Mexico. To say the least it is a business and not one that has any intervention by the Mexican government.

Why would Mexico care if their people came to the US to get free services and send the money they made back? Well obviously they don’t and have no incentive to do anything about it. It is painfully obvious that our government will not do anything to stop illegal immigration. I would like to believe that whoever gets elected the new President will really get something done but that is pretty unlikely if history tells us anything at all. For me someone is getting paid off somewhere to keep things status quo and my guess all this political talk is just talk. Our government has convinced me nothing will happen now or in the future that can solve the immigration problem.

If Mexico would help secure the border it would probably happen. You would have two countries instead of one trying to solve the problem. Why would Mexico secure the border? If they had something to loose they might have some incentive to do it. Now you will say it can’t be done but what if the US consumer simply said, until Mexico secures their border we aren’t coming to Mexico. What if every hotel in Cabo and Cancun all of the sudden had no American tourist dollars? Do you think the government of Mexico just might have to do something, and do you think the money in the resorts could pay off the correct government folks to get the job done?

I was visiting with some friends a few days back and the conversation turned to a trip to Cabo in early summer for a group of us. There was not talk of anything other than we should go, no thought of the problems that Mexico causes us. It is almost like there are two societies there. I asked when do we stop supporting a country that is helping destroy our infrastructure and perhaps the whole culture of our country. The few of us friends can hardly make a difference but all of us consumers could turn Mexico and their policies about securing the border on a dime.

Think about it and then think about what we as consumers could do with the oil companies if we put our minds to it.

More to come

Lonny

GOOD STUFF

2008-01-04T10:28:00.000-06:00

I must admit I have been a bit inconsistent with the Blog of late. Wanting to make sure the dribble is not dribble has become a bit of a chanllenge I must admit. I was going to do something very profound today but Shae who is one of my new customers sent me this and it was too good to pass up. Thanks Shae!!!

Enjoy:

http://users.gazinter.net/melan/Warn/Warnenu.htm

More to come

Lonny

WHAT A SURPRISE

2008-01-03T06:21:00.000-06:00

My friend Paul sent this to me, and as the political season heats up I thought it was worth a hard look, thanks Paul. Remember if you want to e-mail the Blog hit the envelope at the bottom and you can send it along.

Enjoy:

Your Social Security

Just in case some of you young whippersnappers (and some older ones) didn't know this. It's easy to check out, if you don't believe it. Be sure and show it to your kids. They need a little history lesson on what's what.

Our Social Security program was introduced by Franklin Roosevelt, a Democrat.

Promises he made at the time were:

1.) That participation in the Program would be Completely voluntary,
2.) That the participants would only have to pay 1% of the first $1,400 of their annual incomes into the Program,
3.) That the money the participants elected to put Into the Program would be deductible from Their income for tax purposes each year,
4.) That the money the participants put into the independent "Trust Fund" rather than into the General Operating Fund, and therefore, would only be used to fund the Social Security Retirement Program, and no other government program, and,
5.) That the annuity payments to the retirees would never be taxed as income. Since many of us have paid into FICA for years and are now receiving a Social Security check every month -- and then finding that we are getting taxed on 85% of the money we paid to the Federal Government to "put away" -- you may be interested in the following:

Q : Which Political Party took Social Security from the independent "Trust Fund" and put it into the General Fund so that Congress could spend it?
A: It was Lyndon Johnson and the democratically Controlled House and Senate.

Q: Which Political Party eliminated the income tax deduction for Social Security (FICA) withholding?
A: The Democratic Party.

Q: Which Political Party started taxing Social Security annuities?
A: The Democratic Party, with Al Gore casting the "tie-breaking" deciding vote as President of the Senate, while he was Vice President of the US.

Q: Which Political Party decided to start giving annuity payments to immigrants? AND MY FAVORITE:
A: That's right! Jimmy Carter and the Democratic Party. Immigrants moved into this country, and at age 65, began to receive Social Security payments! The Democratic Party gave these payments to them, even though they never paid a dime into it!

Then, after violating the original contract (FICA), the Democrats turn around and tell you that the Republicans want to take your Social Security away! And the worst part about it is, uninformed citizens believe it!

If enough people receive this, maybe a seed of awareness will be planted and maybe changes will evolve. Maybe not, some Democrats are awfully sure of what isn't so. But it's worth a try. How many people can YOU send this to?

Actions speak louder than bumper stickers.

More to come

Lonny

HAPPY NEW YEAR

2007-12-31T14:55:00.000-06:00

I have been on blogger holiday, I will be back on the 2nd. Have a great New Year and don't get in any trouble.

More to come

Lonny

THE NEWS FROM PAKISTAN

2007-12-27T09:10:00.000-06:00

No doubt you have heard the news about the recent assassination of Benazir Bhutto in Pakistan. She was running for political office in the country and one of her platforms was getting rid of the terrorists. She said in a recent interview that she was the terrorists worst nightmare. She was assassinated during a rally in a part of Pakistan that was a hotbed for terrorist activity. I have learned her Father was killed there many years ago speaking of the virtues of Democracy. Like Father like Daughter as they say. My guess is she knew her days were numbered and no doubt hopes her death brings change and gets the people in Pakistan to take up the fight and help rid the country of terrorism.

Now I am certainly no scholar on these things and doing a Blog like this gives me the ability to keep my mouth shut about such things but I just can’t seem too. I think if history shows us anything it shows us that these type of events have gone on and will continue to go on for more than my life at least. I believe for things to ever change they must change with the generations who teach their children not to hate and not to condemn those who don’t believe that hate and killing are the thing to do. That I fear is a long time to come sadly enough.

The one thought I did have as I heard the news was how glad I was that we have a military that is in the middle of all this mess. As mad as I am at President Bush for ignoring the immigration problem, today I am thankful he has stayed the course in the Middle East. There is no way we can simply walk away and I think everyone knows that. I also get the feeling the people of Iraq have finally started taking the fight in their own hands because they believe they have no choice.

I pray that the events of yesterday in Pakistan inspire the people to take the fight to the terrorists who have only one hope and that is for democracy to fail. The fight is real and worth fighting.

God bless the brave young men and women of our military who know the fight is worth it and keep us safe.

More to come

Lonny

LEE IACOCCA PART 2

2007-12-27T08:55:00.000-06:00

Enjoy the rest of Lee's comments:

Name me a leader who has a better idea for homeland security than making us take off our shoes in airports and throw away our shampoo? We've spent billions of dollars building a huge new bureaucracy, and all we know how to do is react to things that have already happened.

Name me one leader who emerged from the crisis of Hurricane Katrina. Congress has yet to spend a single day evaluating the response to the hurricane, or demanding accountability for the decisions that were made in the crucial hours after the storm.

Everyone's hunkering down, fingers crossed, hoping it doesn't happen again. Now, that's just crazy. Storms happen. Deal with it. Make a plan. Figure out what you're going to do the next time.

Name me an industry leader who is thinking creatively about how we can restore our competitive edge in manufacturing. Who would have believed that there could ever be a time when "The Big Three" referred to Japanese car companies? How did this happen, and more important, what are we going to do about it?

Name me a government leader who can articulate a plan for paying down the debt, or solving the energy crisis, or managing the health care problem. The silence is deafening. But these are the crises that are eating away at
our country and milking the middle class dry.

I have news for the gang in Congress. We didn't elect you to sit on your asses and do nothing and remain silent while our democracy is being hijacked and our greatness is being replaced with mediocrity. What is everybody so afraid of? That some bonehead on Fox News will call them a name? Give me a break. Why don't you guys show some spine for a change?

Had Enough?

Hey, I'm not trying to be the voice of gloom and doom here. I'm trying to light a fire. I'm speaking out because I have hope I believe in America . In my lifetime I've had the privilege of living through some of America 's greatest moments. I've also experienced some of our worst crises: the "Great Depression", "World War II", the "Korean War", the "Kennedy Assassination", the "Vietnam War", the 1970s oil crisis, and the struggles of recent years culminating with 9/11. If I've learned one thing, it's this: "You don't get anywhere by standing on the sidelines waiting for somebody else to take action. Whether it's building a better car or building a better future for our children, we all have a role to play. That's the challenge I'm raising in this book. It's a call to "Action" for people who, like me, believe in America It's not too late, but it's getting pretty close. So let's shake off the crap and go to work. Let's tell 'em all we've had "enough."

Excerpted from "Where Have All the Leaders Gone?".
Copyright (c) 2007 by Lee Iacocca. All rights reserved.

More to come

Lonny

LEE IACOCCA PART 1

2007-12-26T10:22:00.000-06:00

This is worth the read, part 2 tomorrow:

Remember Lee Iaccocca, the man who rescued Chrysler Corporation from it's death throes? He has a new book, and here are some excerpts.
_____________________________________________________________
Lee Iaccocca Says:
"Am I the only guy in this country who's fed up with what's happening? Where the hell is our outrage? We should be screaming bloody murder. We've got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right over a cliff, we've got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can't even clean up after a hurricane much less build a hybrid car. But instead of getting mad, everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say,
"Stay the course"

Stay the course? You've got to be kidding. This is America , not the damned "Titanic". I'll give you a sound bite: "Throw all the bums out!"

You might think I'm getting senile, that I've gone off my rocker, and maybe I have. But someone has to speak up. I hardly recognize this country anymore.

The most famous business leaders are not the innovators but the guys in handcuffs. While we're fiddling in Iraq , the Middle East is burning and nobody seems to know what to do. And the press is waving 'pom-poms' instead of asking hard questions. That's not the promise of the " America " my parents and yours traveled across the ocean for. I've had enough. How about you?

I'll go a step further. You can't call yourself a patriot if you're not outraged. This is a fight I'm ready and willing to have.

The Biggest "C" is Crisis !

Leaders are made, not born. Leadership is forged in times of crisis. It's easy to sit there with your feet up on the desk and talk theory. Or send someone else's kids off to war when you've never seen a battlefield yourself. It's another thing to lead when your world comes tumbling down.

On September 11, 2001, we needed a strong leader more than any other time in our history. We needed a steady hand to guide us out of the ashes. A Hell of a Mess

So here's where we stand. We're immersed in a bloody war with no plan for winning and no plan for leaving. We're running the biggest deficit in the history of the country. We're losing the manufacturing edge to Asia , while our once-great companies are getting slaughtered by health care costs. Gas prices are skyrocketing, and nobody in power has a coherent energy policy. Our schools are in trouble. Our borders are like sieves. The middle class is being squeezed every which way These are times that cry out for leadership.

But when you look around, you've got to ask: "Where have all the leaders gone?" Where are the curious, creative communicators? Where are the people of character, courage, conviction, omnipotence, and common sense?
I may be a sucker for alliteration, but I think you get the point.

More to come

Lonny

A CHRISTMAS THOUGHT

2007-12-24T10:30:00.000-06:00

One of my customers sent me this and I thought it was a good topic too consider at this time of year. Enjoy:

Subject: Christmas Wishes

A group of alumni, highly established in their careers, were talking at a reunion and decided to go visit their old university professor, now retired.

During their visit the conversation soon turned into complaints about stress in their work and lives.

Offering his guests coffee, the professor went to the kitchen and returned with a large pot of coffee and an assortment of cups - porcelain, plastic, glass, crystal, some plain looking, some expensive, some exquisite - telling them to help themselves to the coffee.

When all the alumni had a cup of coffee in hand, the professor said: "Notice that all the nice-looking, expensive cups were taken up, leaving behind the plain and cheap ones. While it is normal for you to want only the best for yourselves, that is the source of your problems and stress. Be assured that the cup itself adds no quality to the coffee. In most cases it is just more expensive and in some cases even hides what we drink. What all of you really wanted was coffee, not the cup; but you consciously went for the best cups.... and then you began eyeing each other's cups.

Now consider this: Life is the coffee; your job, money and position in society are the cups. They are just tools to hold and contain Life. The type of cup one has does not define, nor change the quality of life a person lives. Sometimes, by concentrating only on the cup, we fail to enjoy the coffee. The happiest people don't have the best of everything. They just make the best of everything. Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly. And enjoy your coffee.

May each of you have a blessed Christmas.

More to come

Lonny

WORTH READING

2007-12-21T06:37:00.000-06:00

Now that the lending/sub prime/mortgage meltdown/financial crisis is well along and gaining speed daily, for todays Blog, I wanted to post some really good articles for you to read if you so choose. We have not seen the reality of what is going to happen as yet and will no doubt feel this mess for years to come.

I am not one who is a gloom and doomer, my business really is not bad at the moment and I am looking for a good 2008 because home prices are down and those who are qualified can and will buy.

I encourage you to read these articles if you are in mortgage lending or if you are not. I too have been writing and teaching on the Predatory Lenders and what would happen if they were left unchecked and now we are living it. The articles below are varied, I don’t agree with everything said, but they are worth reading. Perhaps when we are done with this cycle history will be less likely to repeat itself.

http://business.smh.com.au/fed-repeatedly-warned-by-own-staff-of-looming-crisis/20071220-1ibm.html

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2004083696_mortgages20.html

http://xeniagazette.1upmonitor.com/main.asp?SectionID=17&SubSectionID=452&ArticleID=157755&TM=38815.62

http://www.mexiadailynews.com/opinion/local_story_354094027.html?keyword=secondarystory

http://losangeles.injuryboard.com/class-action/mortgage-lending-fraud-class-actions-the-best-answer.php?googleid=13947

More to come

Lonny

FHA SECURE FLOPS

2007-12-20T05:10:00.000-06:00

Remember the FHA Secure Loan? It was the Bush Administrations loan that was to help borrowers with sub prime loans refinance their property into a safe FHA loan? Well the report is in and it is a flop of major proportions.

If you remember to qualify for this loan you have to be in a sub prime loan and all payments would have been made on time until the interest rate reset. When it reset you would not have been able to make the payments and at that time got behind on the payments. You would have to qualify for the FHA loan in all other areas of income, job stability etc. Sub prime loan, qualified for a prime loan; seems to be a disconnect here. You must have been behind, you would not qualify if you were current at the time you applied for the refinance. Something a bit discriminatory here don't you think? Why not help the rest who are trying to stay current? You must have equity in the property of at least 2.25% to qualify or the lender who had the mortgage could take a second lien on the property for the difference. Lets see, loan fraud, sub prime, 100% loans, inflated appraisals, doesn't seem to go hand in hand with having equity. The phrase designed to fail comes to mind for me.

When this loan was announced the mortgage lending community just scratched their heads and wondered how in the world anyone would or could qualify. The confusion has now proved to be on the money. With all the money spent and all the borrowers who might qualify not applying and all the hype and BS associated with this Government program the numbers prove once again the Government is here to help is just not a reality. What were they thinking?

I don't remember what the exact estimates of the FHA Secure program were but as I recall it was projected to allow some 250,000 families to refinance and the actual # of closings to date is less than 290. In my book that is a failure of major proportions and just proves again in my opinion the more Government tries to help the more it gets screwed up. All of the news of all the laws and all the politicians coming to help hopefully won't make the problems worse than they already are going to be.

I wouldn't bet on it come to think of it.

More to come

Lonny

FED TO THE RESCUE.....AGAIN

2007-12-19T06:17:00.000-06:00

To start, the city mentioned yesterday was Grand Prairie, not Fort Worth, thanks Paul.

I read an article about the Fed trying to clean up mortgage lending and protecting home buyers from fraud.

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jRjPX04ZFVg1uLmis-Cb57TwWtRA

Why are they so concerned? Well it is because the US is in a rather deep housing slump. Fed Chief Bernanke explained that “market discipline” had broken down. I had not heard it put like that but “market discipline” I agree did break down not to mention things like ethics, greed, criminal activity and the list goes on.

One thing he is trying to control is sub prime loans. If no one has noticed sub prime loans are gone and not likely to come back so he is probably beating a dead horse on that subject.

He also is trying to get language in the proposed new rules regarding deceptive advertising which frankly I hope he does. It still happens multiple times a day on my radio and TV and it should be stopped. Things like no cost refis, payment rates being represented as the interest rate, and there are more. Good luck on that, if you can’t deceive the consumer who can you deceive? Someone could enforce the current rules already in place; that could help!!

He wants to ban no doc loans. These are loans that require exceptional credit and started out (at least) requiring a large down payment. If you look at no doc loans I am sure you will find the no doc loans that don’t perform are those that were made to people who should not have them in the first place. No money down, loan fraud was rampant etc. He will probably throw the “baby out with the bathwater” on this one if he gets it.

I do agree that the Fed Chief is trying to help and maybe he can, but as government will tend to do they penalize the good guys and still fail to stop the bad guys. The fraudsters will overcome and probably flourish no matter what laws are in place. The big companies with money will get the law watered down in their favor with their check books and keep the ads going.

What we need, and still no one is trying to figure out, is how we qualify people who want to buy homes that don’t qualify under today’s rules. If you have followed my writing it really gets back to somehow bringing those folks back in the market to buy the homes that need to sell. No one seems to really spend any time on that one. What we need are more buyers who have access to fair loans to help start the turn around.

Some of what Mr. Bernanke wants does make common sense, but as we know Government and common sense just don’t seem to go together! Good luck Mr. Bernanke, you are going to need it.

More to come

Lonny

WELL I FEEL SAFER

2007-12-18T06:44:00.001-06:00

I was watching the news on Channel 8 last night and saw a story about a local law enforcements effort to keep us safe/make money. I didn't catch exactly which city but my guess it was Fort Worth. Sounds like a Fort Worth project. They were perched on bridges along I20. Anyway a rather portly police officer had in his hand what looked like a regular radar gun. He was pointing this device at the cars below which were no doubt just filled with criminals. He was not clocking the speed the cars were traveling in hopes he could catch us speeding. He explained that his radar gun had a program in it that calculated the distance one car was from another. Yes you heard correctly they were catching people who were following the car in front of them too closely.

Somehow this gun would take the speed of both cars and tell the officer that one was to close to the other by the number of seconds it took to travel the same distance or something like that. When the gun caught the criminal then the police force would chase them down, explain why they were giving the ticket and race off to catch more law breakers. I am finally relieved that the police department is solving this problem as it is one that has been concerning me. I don't know how often I have been concerned that there was an epidemic of people following too closely on our highways. Or is it that I haven't noticed that because I have been looking out for those bikers who are going about 1000 miles per hour and putting their life and my life in danger. I wonder why they don't chase those guys down. Oh I remember they can't catch them so they come up with a new reason to catch us.

I am thinking well since this group of police officers are now doing this I must be more careful because I know the cities goal is to keep us safe and not just to get more of our money. They are worried about our safety aren't they? It is not about the money is it??? Anyway how is one to keep ones self protected from those who protect us? I think the law says, (at least according to this officer) that you must be at least two seconds behind the guy in front of you and that depends on the speed you are both going. I guess if the guy in front of you is slowing down and you don't slow down as fast, then you could be breaking the law. I am sure there are other ways to break this law that we haven't thought of.

I guess I am going to have to get me one of those guns so I can tell how far I am away, or maybe figure out how the calculation is done and get out my cell phone and do the calculations. Oops that is probably against the law as well. What's a person to do I ask. I know; I think I will just send the city some money as it appears they will get me for something before it is over. Who knows they might just catch a criminal while they are chasing us down for following too close. One thing is for sure I feel much safer than I did.

More to come

Lonny

THE REST OF THE STORY

2007-12-17T06:36:00.000-06:00

I read an article over the weekend entitled Illinois Probing Top Home Lender. In the interest of good taste I will not name this lender. If you want to see the article be my guest.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/chi-fri_countrywidedec14,0,2728675.story

During the feeding frenzy that all big Lenders including the one in the article just finished a lot of Pay Option ARM type products were made. I believe this is the type of loan mentioned in the article. A significant percentage of them were made by Mortgage Brokers and Mortgage Bankers and sold to the lender mentioned and many other lenders who were just like them.

The whole industry turned a blind eye to the quality of the loans and to the real ability of the borrowers to repay them. Pay Option ARMs are not bad loans if they are made to educated, qualified borrowers who understand how to manage them and are of the financial mind to not allow the loan to destroy them. It is my opinion the lender mentioned in the article made loans to borrowers, made by people who brokered loans to them, where the borrowers were not qualified as they should be, not educated and had no business getting this type of loan. Greed and Profit were the incentives no doubt.

Predatory Lenders who now have perfected mortgage loan fraud to an art sold plenty of loans to them. Did this lender know these loans just might be made to people who should not have them? My opinion is yes. Is a lender like the one in the article guilty just because they were doing what other big banks and other lenders were doing? I say yes but you go with what's going on so to speak. As I mentioned before all lenders were originating Pay Option Arm type products.

What was really interesting to me was that just below the article this lender had a Google add touting among other things a no closing cost loan. I have been around the business a long time and if you are going to refinance your home you will pay to do it. There are numerous ways to pay the cost but there are costs. There is not a free ride, trust me on that one. I have talked to many former employees of this company and the real story on this lender and other just like them may never be known. The magnitude of Predatory Lending and Loan Fraud is yet to be discovered.

More to come

Lonny

TOO FUNNY

2007-12-15T10:30:00.000-06:00

Karren sent this to me and it is really a classically funny thing. I thought it was too hard to pass up for this weekends Blog.

Enjoy:

http://www.youtube.com:80/watch?v=ubAxWIfcE5I&mode=related&search

More to come

Lonny

MORE ON IMMIGRATION

2007-12-14T07:17:00.000-06:00

This past week we spent a couple of days in some incredibly interesting meetings at our office. Two men were there designing a system that would help us take an initial inquiry from a customer and put it in a specific system that worked for our industry that could service their initial needs while we made them their loan, track and communicate everything during the initial process, and market that person for as long as we wanted after they closed. Even I can see how great that would be.

They talked about how we could join a community of other service providers who had credibility within that community and thereby get leads for loans from folks who weren’t just trying to beat us out of every nickel. What a concept, sign me up, how much is it, me getting credibility, what a concept.

The second day I asked, “Where you boys from”? One of them said, “Vancouver”. I said, “Canada”? One of them said, “Duh”. I said, “I been through there going up to that resort, I can’t remember the name of it”. One of them said, “Whistler”. I said, “That’s the one”. One of them said, “You must be from Hereford”. I said, “Well how did you know that”?

Unlike the guys who do my yard, these guys looked like me, (so to speak), they talked like me, and they wore the same kind of cloths as me. I was surprised they were not from Texas or at least the good ole USA. I assumed they were here legally but had no proof and could really have cared less; they had a service and ideas that I wanted. Could they have been illegal aliens? I suppose. Could they have been people who were employed by an enemy of the country to come in and look like us, sell us a service and then imbed a secret virus in our computers that would spread to all the computers in America and blow them up. Well maybe, and a little ridiculous . And no these guys are completely honest and legitimate, I am confident, I think.

I guess what became so real to me at that time was the fact we really don’t know who anyone is anymore and everyone that may be here illegally is not going to stand out like or look like the guys doing our yards. If our government is not going to or can’t close our boarders to those who look the part, what chance do we have they can stop the people who are really here to harm us. Pretty scary stuff if you ask me!

If our next President and Administration can’t or won’t control our boarders then it may be a matter of time, until we find out what really bad things can happen. We need to make sure with our vote that we get the boarder problem solved.

More to come

Lonny

RUDY AND MITT ON IMMIGRATION

2007-12-13T06:12:00.000-06:00

In one of the last Presidential Debates, Rudy G. and Mitt R. got into a tiff over Mitt hiring illegal aliens to work in his yard. Rudy described it as a palatial mansion or something like that. I am not sure which debate was the last one or which ones I have missed lately. For some reason there seem to be plenty of debates that are not ready for prime time so to speak. The one I was watching was on CNN and was billed as a You Tube Debate, (or something like that). I may have been the only person watching that particular one.

That brings up an initial question for me: Why would any intelligent Republican candidate show up at CNN to participate in a debate where someone could get on You Tube (whatever that is) and pose a question to them. One guy actually was asking some idiotic question on something and had a rebel flag in the background. Our candidates were trying to respond to this guy in an intelligent way. Hopefully a lesson was learned, not to show up to a liberal TV network whose goal (probably) was to make the candidates look less than Presidential if not totally ridiculous.

Anyway back to the point of today’s message. What Rudy was doing was trying to make Mitt responsible for the continuing immigration problem by pointing out that it was his fault somehow that the guys working in his yard were illegal aliens and that he should have done something about it. Mitt was taken aback with the attack and really looked a little embarrassed that Rudy had got him. Mitt responded by saying; it really was not the American way or the responsibility of a home owner to go out into the yard and ask to see documentation that would prove a contractors workers were or were not legal. I know on the days I have been at my home and the men who do my yard have been there I have had no real desire to check them out so to speak. Unless I had discussed the issue with my yard contractor (who assures me his guys are legal and pay taxes) my assumption would have been those workers were probably not here legally. They looked like illegal aliens would look, and they were doing a job that would require a lower paid, harder working laborer which again seems to type cast them into what I think would point to an illegal worker.

I agree it is absolutely not my job to enforce the law of the land and it seems that the authorities don’t either. I have an interesting twist to all this for tomorrow.

More to come

Lonny

3/4 LIFE CRISIS

2007-12-12T07:00:00.000-06:00

The question then becomes when do you have a ¾ life crisis???? It is when you are too old to have a mid life crisis of course. Think of it this way if I am 55 and am not going to live to 110 (trust me on that one) then how can I be having a mid life crisis? In fact if I have some shot at living to 73, I plan on making that # then I would be truly into a ¾ life crisis. The good news is that I am not sure I am in a ¾ life crisis but the signs certainly point to it.

What might be some signs one might be in a ¾ life crisis:

When you go to the Doctor you are the oldest one in the waiting room.

Everyone, I mean everyone calls you sir.

People start holding the door open for you and give you a look like, what a handsome older gentleman. Change the last part if you think that may not be what they are thinking.

You may have ED and don’t care.

You have to write down everything that ails you so won’t forget anything when you get to the doctor.

The only thing the doctor gets excited about is that your Triglycerides are the highest she has ever seen.

You take not one kind of Cholesterol medicine but two.

You have a private bin at CVS.

You actually have 3 doctor appointments during one week, two planned and one unplanned.

You know your customer care rep by name at your insurance company, and they are actually nice and helpful because they feel sorry for you.

When you are in the waiting room you choose to read the AARP magazine.

Your doctor starts everything they say with “Well at Your Age”.

You can’t get all your prescriptions in your pocket anymore.

You have to have a line item in your budget for insurance co pays.

Insurance benefits at your job are more important than the job itself, and one major illness can ruin you financially.

When you go to a job interview you take a form letter from your lawyer that reminds the company that age discrimination is illegal.

Your friends, (Paul W more than any) remind you that you should be retiring at your age.

The waiter at Denny’s insists you get the Senior Slam and does not ID you to make sure you are old enough. When you suggest they call it the Champion Menu (golfers will get that) they think you have really lost your mind.

Your kids call to check in on you to see how you are feeling. God love em we do have that going for us.

I am sure there is more, I just can’t think of them.

More to come, unfortunately

Lonny

MORE ON THE FREEZE

2007-12-11T08:56:00.000-06:00

I found an article that was written in the National Post. I am pretty sure that is a Canadian Publication. It spoke of the Moral hazards in a Bush bailout. It was another article on the recent rate freeze put into place by the Bush Administration. I would not be surprised if you are just not totally absorbed in the sub-prime rate freeze news but I think this article does bring out some interesting things to think about.

It speaks of the lack of respect for contracts, the political side of the bailout, and it does bring up a good point that if you bail out those who don't deserve to be bailed out, is a lesson going to be learned?

I have not read any article as yet that gives any hope of the rate Freeze working. The good news is that the delinquencies are mostly in sub-prime rather than prime loans and it seems pretty clear the problem is based in the adjustable rate sub-prime loans. That tells me that when the mortgage lending industry gets back to basics that basics still work. From my chair at least it looks like we are back to basics. The free market has taken care of that.

Do morals or the lack of have anything to do with the problem or was it just a lot of greed and profiteering in the something for nothing society we seem to have today. Come to think of it the lack of morals may have more to do with it than we think.

http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=156965

More to come

Lonny

THE FREEZE IS ON

2007-12-10T09:42:00.000-06:00

President Bush did announce the Rate Freeze the other day and I am not really sure if I get it. As you recall there are a group of sub-prime loans that have interest rates that are set to reset. The President is trying to somehow convince Mortgage Lenders and Investors to freeze the teaser rates on these loans for 5 years. There are a lot of qualifications before you are eligible and bottom line I just don’t think it is going to work. Too many contracts signed too many investors who won’t agree, too many people left out who really need the help. I will be surprised if the freeze makes much difference at all in the end.

If you have a loan you think might apply get with the lender you are making payments too and get started and good luck.

I ran across an article that seems to make some real sense to me. I don’t necessarily agree with all the points, especially when he attacks the real estate community, (someone needs to focus on the good news) but for the most part it does frame the problem quite well from a realistic problem/solution point of view.

Like it or not, worth a look if you have any interest in the RATE FREEZE.

http://scottsdale.injuryboard.com/business-disputes/mortgage-rate-freeze-a-flimflam-scheme-to-recharacterize-billions-of-fraudulent-mortgages-and-trick-investors.php?googleid=13702

More to come

Lonny

HELLO DADDY

2007-12-09T08:55:00.000-06:00

Josh sent me this link this past week. When I originally heard that Ellen had put Jenna up to calling The President I thought it was a pretty dumb thing to do. When I saw the actual clip I agreed with Josh that it was priceless. The look on Jenna’s face and the anticipation in her voice is really special.

You can just tell by this that President Bush is just really a great Dad doing an impossible job during a hard time. When his presidency is over, Jenna and Barbara will still have a great Dad and hopefully we won’t have the Clintons for 4 years.

If you have seen this it is worth another look. If you haven't,

Enjoy:

http://video.nbc5i.com/player/?id=192078

I hope you have a blessed Sunday, Go Cowboys!!!!

More to come

Lonny

HOW TO STAY YOUNG

2007-12-07T09:48:00.001-06:00

Always trying to stay on both sides of the issue: Yesterday we spent on Aging, so this morning certainly HOW TO STAY YOUNG needed to be our Blog topic. For those of you who are interested today I am feeling much better. I know Paul will be relieved. Here we go:

George Carlin would suggest: Except for #11:

HOW TO STAY YOUNG:

1. Throw out nonessential numbers. This includes age, weight and height. Let the doctors worry about them. That is why you pay "them."

2. Keep only cheerful friends. The grouches pull you down.

3. Keep learning. Learn more about the computer, crafts, gardening, whatever. Never let the brain idle. "An idle mind is the devil's workshop. " And the devil's name is Alzheimer's.

4. Enjoy the simple things.

5. Laugh often, long and loud. Laugh until you gasp for breath.

6. The tears happen. Endure, grieve, and move on. The only person, who is with us our entire life, is ourselves. Be ALIVE while you are alive.

7. Surround yourself with what you love, whether it's family, pets, keepsakes, music, plants, hobbies, whatever. Your home is your refuge.

8. Cherish your health: If it is good, preserve it. If it is unstable, improve it. If it is beyond what you can improve, get help.

9. Don't take guilt trips. Take a trip to the mall, even to the next county; to a foreign country but NOT to where the guilt is.

10. Tell the people you love that you love them, at every opportunity. AND ALWAYS REMEMBER: Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.

11. If less is smarter, choose less, if more is more then go for it.

Well there you have it, today I am working on Staying Young, if you choose to do the same, good luck.

More to come

Lonny

AGING

2007-12-07T09:40:00.000-06:00

After spending yesterday afternoon with some old buddies of mine, they were customers as well, today I am feeling my age a bit. I thought this might be appropriate for this Friday, enjoy.

George Carlin's Views on Aging:

Do you realize that the only time in our lives when we like to get old is when we're kids?

If you're less than 10 years old, you're so excited about aging that you think in fractions."How old are you?" "I'm four and a half!" You're never thirty-six and a half. You're four and a half, going on five!

That's the keyYou get into your teens, now they can't hold you back. You jump to the next number, or even a few ahead."How old are you?" "I'm gonna be 16!" You could be 13, but hey, you're gonna be 16!

And then the greatest day of your life .. . You become 21. Even the words sound like a ceremony YOU BECOME 21. YESSSS!!!

But then you turn 30. Oooohh, what happened there? Makes you sound like bad milk! He TURNED; we had to throw him out. There's no fun now, you're Just a sour-dumpling. What's wrong? What's changed?You BECOME 21, you TURN 30, then you're PUSHING 40. Whoa! Put on the brakes, it's all slipping away.

Before you know it, you REACH 50 and your dreams are gone.But wait!!! You MAKE it to 60. You didn't think you would!So you BECOME 21, TURN 30, PUSH 40, REACH 50 and MAKE it to 60.You've built up so much speed that you HIT 70!

After that it's a day-by-day thing; you HIT Wednesday! You get into your 80's and every day is a complete cycle; you HIT lunch; you TURN 4:30 ; you REACH bedtime. And it doesn't end there. Into the 90s, you start going backwards; "I Was JUST 92.

"Then a strange thing happens. If you make it over 100, you become a little kid again. "I'm 100 and a half!"May you all make it to a healthy 100 and a half!!

Staying young tomorrow

More to come

Lonny

VERY INTERESTING

2007-12-06T08:33:00.000-06:00

My friend John, better known as El Monte Slim sent me this link the other day. I am not sure where the information and facts originated from. I am not sure they are correct or what I would do with such information, but one thing is for sure, it is Very Interesting.

Enjoy!

http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/video/shifthappens

More to come

Lonny

THE ANT AND THE GRASSHOPPER

2007-12-05T07:00:00.000-06:00

Micah sent me this, definitely worth a look.

This may not be the opinion of this Blog….!!!

TRADITIONAL VERSION:
The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the ant is warm and well fed. The grasshopper has no food or shelter, so he dies out in the cold.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Be responsible for yourself!

MODERN VERSION:

The ant works hard in the withering heat all summer long, building his house and laying up supplies for the winter. The grasshopper thinks the ant is a fool and laughs and dances and plays the summer away. Come winter, the shivering grasshopper calls a press conference and demands to know why the ant should be warm and well fed while others are cold and starving. CBS, NBC, PBS, CNN, and ABC show up to provide pictures of the shivering grasshopper next to a video of the ant in his comfortable home with a table filled with food. America is stunned by the sharp contrast. How can this be, that in a country of such wealth, this poor grasshopper is allowed to suffer so? Kermit the Frog appears on Oprah with the grasshopper and everybody cries when they sing, 'It's Not Easy Being Green.' Jesse Jackson stages a demonstration in front of the ant's house where the news stations film the group singing, 'We shall overcome.' Jesse then has the group kneel down to pray to God for the grasshopper's sake. Nancy Pelosi, John Kerry & Harry Reid exclaim in an interview with Larry King that the ant has gotten rich off the back of the grasshopper, and both call for an immediate tax hike on the ant to make him pay his fair share.

Finally, the EEOC drafts the Economic Equity and Anti-Grasshopper Act retroactive to the beginning of the summer! The ant is fined for failing to hire a proportionate number of green bugs and, having nothing left to pay his retroactive taxes, his home is confiscated by the government. Hillary gets her old law firm to represent the grasshopper in a defamation suit against the ant, and the case is tried before a panel of federal judges that Bill Clinton appointed from a list of single-parent welfare recipients. The ant loses the case.The story ends as we see the grasshopper finishing up the last bits of the ant's food while the government house he is in, which just happens to be the ant's old house, crumbles around him because he doesn't maintain it. The ant has disappeared in the snow.The grasshopper is found dead in a drug related incident and the house, now abandoned, is taken over by a gang of spiders who terrorize the once peaceful neighborhood.

MORAL OF THE STORY: Be careful how you vote in 2008

Author Unknown

More to come

Lonny

FREEZE RATES? BRRRRR!!!!

2007-12-04T07:00:00.000-06:00

There has been a lot of press over the last couple of days in regards to freezing interest rates on Sub Prime loans where the rates are scheduled to reset (increase) in the near future.

A little background may be in order:

A lot of people got Sub Prime loans in the last lending cycle. Sub Prime loans were very profitable to the lenders and others when they were made. Sub Prime loans are loans made to borrowers who had credit issues and could not qualify for regular Prime loans. If you read the Wall Street Journal 12-3-07 you can read an article about how people with good credit were given Sub Prime loans by lenders who were not exactly working in their customers best interest. The Wall Street Journal would suggest that was not a nice thing for those lenders to do. I certainly would not disagree.

For the most part these loans had teaser rates that are below market rates that are scheduled to reset at the end of two years at very high above market rates. In some cases the interest rates would more than double from the low teaser rates. Many buyers are not able to pay these rates or don’t want too pay them to the point they might let the home foreclose. The Bush administration is proposing some requirement for lenders to simply keep the rates at the low start or teaser rate. There are plenty of problems technically speaking with doing an across the board fix on this problem. The Bush administration actually put an FHA loan (FHA Secure Loan) into circulation so people with ARM loans could refinance and the reality of that fix is it is not working. In my opinion there are too many loans with too many variables to make it a workable program in practice. The type of new program President Bush is proposing to require the lender not to reset the rates will have the same problems if you ask me.

Do I agree with what The President is trying to do? There are a couple of ways to look at it I guess. On the one hand I can say hey, the borrowers should have known what they were getting into, let them crash and burn. On the other hand I can say that many buyers did not know what they were getting and mortgage lenders did not represent the buyers properly and therefore should be held to some higher standard, not do the reset and take the loss. I guess bottom line is this: If there is a workable plan to give some relief and keep homes from foreclosing then I think full speed ahead. I just don’t think the idea in practice can or will work. We will see.

More to come

Lonny

LIGHTS AND MORE LIGHTS

2007-12-03T07:28:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was a beautiful 80 degree December day in North Texas. It was the day that most of the men in the neighborhood finally had to give in and put up the Christmas Lights. I am not sure if the unusually warm day was attributed to global warming, usual weather patterns or just plain dumb luck. I suppose Christmas Lights are partially to blame for global warming, needing more electricity to turn them on, lights give off heat, more power to generate, more coal, you get the drift.

The lights went up later this year it seemed, I usually use the Friday and Saturday after Thanksgiving to help Karren put up our lights. This year it rained those two days and Karren told me Thanksgiving was a week earlier this year so it worked out well for everyone that it rained. I don’t understand how Thanksgiving can be a week earlier. I am not sure when Thanksgiving is supposed to be. I use to think it was always on the 24th of November for some reason. I do know it is always on Thursday. I don’t know why all holidays don’t fall on Thursday so we could be assured of a 4 day weekend. Christmas on Wednesday is not good.

Our tradition calls for Karren to make the plan, handle the cords and the plug ins and I am in charge of outdoor labor. I climb the ladders and wrap the trees and I must say if you do something long enough you can get fairly efficient at it. I like getting done before the neighbors and then as they give you dirty looks for being early you can imagine how fun it will be to make fun of them when they are slaving with their chore.

I must admit, I like taking the lights down more than putting them up. You don’t care if they don’t work, and it is the end to the season and I like looking forward to the New Year more. I tried to take Lainey (my new granddaughter) around this year to give her a personal tour of the lights and she cried. Lainey is very particular what she does at 3 months. She is either happy or mad; there is very little middle ground for her. Growing and tying to hold her head up seems to be what she spends her time doing. She is not really into Granddad yet but that will soon change. I will spoil her as soon as she is ready.

I wonder sometimes if putting up the lights really matters. Our lights look the same every year and I doubt that anyone would worry too much if we didn’t. Traditions at our house mean a lot more to me as the years go by. I hope you got your lights up (if you put them up) and that you have a great Christmas season.

More to come

Lonny

SONS

2007-12-01T10:20:00.000-06:00

My friend Ted sent me this:

Interesting things you find out when you have sons, like ...

1. A king size water bed holds enough water to fill a 2000 sq. ft. house 4 inches deep.
2. If you spray hair spray on dust bunnies and run over them with roller blades, they ignite.
3. A 3-year old Boy's voice is louder than 200 adults in a crowded restaurant.
4. If you hook a dog leash over a ceiling fan, the motor is not strong enough to rotate a 42 pound Boy wearing Batman underwear and a Superman cape. It is strong enough, however, if tied to a paint can, to spread paint on all four walls of a 20x20 ft. room.
5. You should not throw baseballs up when the ceiling fan is on . When using a ceiling fan as a bat, you have to throw the ball up a few times before you get a hit. A ceiling fan can hit a baseball a long way.
6. The glass in windows (even double-pane) doesn't stop a baseball hit by a ceiling fan.
7. When you hear the toilet flush and the words "uh oh", it's already too late.
8. Brake fluid mixed with Clorox makes smoke, and lots of it.
9. A six-year old Boy can start a fire with a flint rock even though a 36-year old Man says they can only do it in the movies.
10. Certain Lego's will pass through the digestive tract of a 4- year old Boy.
11. Play dough and microwave should not be used in the same sentence.
12. Super glue is forever.
13. No matter how much Jell-O you put in a swimming pool you still can't walk on water.
14. Pool filters do not like Jell-O.
15. "PB & J" sandwiches will not eject from a Video Recorder.
16. Garbage bags do not make good parachutes.
17. Marbles in gas tanks make lots of noise when driving.
18. You probably DO NOT want to know what that smell is.
19. Always look in the oven before you turn it on; plastic toys do not like ovens.
20. The fire department in Austin , TX has a 5-minute response time.
21. The spin cycle on the washing machine does not make earthworms dizzy.
22. It will, however, make cats dizzy.
23. Cats throw up twice their body weight when dizzy.
24. 80% of Women will pass this on to almost all of their friends, with or without kids.
25. 80% of Men who read this will try mixing the Clorox and brake fluid.

(Hey, cool! It does make lots of smoke!)

I have a son, there is more than this!

More to come

Lonny

FHA Loans, What is Needed

2007-11-30T06:44:00.001-06:00

As promised the plan to bring buyers back into the market.

If you have been following the past few days Blog the real estate and mortgage industry needs a tool to solve a problem that exists today. The problem is that in my estimation about 40% of would be buyers have no access to mortgage loans because of credit and cash down. A basic belief needs to be these buyers deserve the chance to own a home and with proper training and motivation, they will pay on time.

Simply stated, a person who is otherwise qualified in regards to job stability and income but who has credit issues and little or no money to put down and who does not qualify for any legitimate loan program available could enter a FHA program and earn the ability to get an FHA loan. Let’s call it “The Revamped FHA Loan”. Or not, call it something.

The parameters of the program are:

1. 100% loans are available.
2. The buyer would have to pay an elevated mortgage insurance premium based on the fact the lender and FHA is taking more risk. 2 tiers of insurance cost exist, one with and one without a down payment.
3. The elevated cost is fair and the money is refunded in the form of a mortgage principle reduction when the first 24 months payments are made on time.
4. At the end of 24 months the insurance premiums charged are the normal FHA premiums.
5. The buyer must attend 6 counseling sessions provided by a HUD approved counselor over a 6 month period where the buyer learns budgeting, credit basics, credit management, and comes out better prepared to succeed.
6. During the 6 months the buyer may not acquire any more debt or make any late payments on existing debt.

The plan is pretty simple. The buyers come out educated and protected from the predatory lenders and toxic loans with a solid FHA loan in hand.

The politicians will say you should not charge more to those who are already struggling. I say buyers who want the chance to own will jump at this. Let the people decide ignore the politicians.

Some will say these people don’t deserve the chance. I say it is time to give them the chance it is a win win for the economy and society.

Some will fear no matter what this group of people will fail, HUD approved counselors say they will not fail and even as bad as the loans were in the last lending cycle a surprisingly large percentage of people are making their payments on time.

The benefits are obvious; we have more people to buy the homes on the market. More people experience pride of ownership and accomplishment. The economy recovers faster, fewer foreclosures, and the list does not stop there.

“The Revamped FHA Loan”…………What do you think, I know it will work.

More to come

Lonny

BUYERS BUYERS BUYERS

2007-11-29T07:30:00.000-06:00

As the news worsens on a daily basis in regards to the mortgage lending meltdown what we in the Real Estate and Mortgage Industries need are more buyers to buy the homes that are for sale. We know you are out there. In the midst of the problems there is a silver lining. The market will recover, the losses will be absorbed, and hopefully the industry will learn a hard lesson and do things for the correct reason instead of greed. Bargains on homes abound out there; it is a buyers market for sure. Mortgage loans are available to qualified buyers at very low attractive rates. 100% loans are still available at good rates and you can get an FHA loan easily in the 5% interest rate range. With some money down and good credit scores Stated Income loans still exist at very low rates. So if you are thinking about buying, stop thinking and start buying. Oh yes send me your loan.

That being said, the mortgage industry needs a tool to bring buyers into the markets who don’t qualify under traditional underwriting guidelines. If you read my Blog yesterday you will know that I think this is about 40% of the people who would be buyers. To restate a large % of people who would be great borrowers are shut out completely of any mortgage loan at all. This void is created because of poor credit, a credit system that is clearly set up to keep people from buying, and little or no money to put down.

FHA loans could be used to bring these buyers back into the market. There is current reform in congress in regards to FHA loans. It will be helpful but in no way will it serve those who are now left out. If the reform passes (my money says it won’t) it will help a few. It allows 100% loans to first time home buyers, it raises the loan amounts and gives lenders some ability to risk base price. That is where you charge more to mitigate more risk on different types of loan products.

The pure simple fact of the matter is that the way the industry has to qualify the 40% has to change. It can’t be based on credit or credit scores. Traditional Automated Underwriting Systems can’t be used and HUD has to think outside of the box and eliminate politics and special interests and do something to help those who are left out. That is the reason HUD and the FHA exists as I recall. There is a basic approach that will work. Tomorrow, the plan will be revealed. Pulitzer Prize people get your reading glasses out! Can you hardly wait?

More to come

Lonny

GOOD NEWS / BAD NEWS

2007-11-28T07:17:00.000-06:00

In the last insane mortgage lending cycle the BAD NEWS was that a lot of buyers got mortgages they should not have gotten. The GOOD NEWS was that a lot of buyers who should not have gotten them did. Just doesn’t seem logical for some reason.

The reason all these folks got the loans is sub prime loans were readily available to those with bad credit, lax underwriting standards, rampant mortgage fraud fueled by an industry that looked the other way, and products that allowed people to sign up for more than they could hope to pay for. The result of the BAD NEWS is that there are record foreclosures and more to come for some time to come. The result of the GOOD NEWS is that a lot of people who had no chance before of home ownership are now living the American Dream and will make their payments.

The unfortunate reality of all that has gone on is that an entire group of buyers are shut out of any type of mortgage loan once again. The lax loan programs are not coming back, sub prime loans are history and mortgage fraud is going to be harder to get away with and the industry has finally started looking for it instead of looking the other way.

A rather large percentage of today’s population has less or no money and poor credit which will eliminate in my estimation some 40% of people who would like to buy a home. These people would for the most part be good borrowers who make their payments on time. The real estate industry is seeing record inventories of homes unsold and pending sales down more than 20% from just one year ago. This in turn fuels more foreclosures and the cycle gets deeper and deeper.

Congress in now considering reforming the good ole FHA loan but the reform will not bring back the majority of this group of buyers. Help yes, substantially, no, and it is bound up in the political process and likely to fail altogether. Politicians are rushing to pass laws that will hurt the good lenders and do little if nothing to stop the bad ones. The result, harder credit and more buyers unable to access mortgage loans.

There is a solution to the problem. Problem is no one wants to listen. Imagine that. I was ranting and raving to my friend Larry the other day and I told him if the politicians would simply use their heads (and do what I suggest) they could really help the people they are supposed to represent. He reminded me that was not what politicians like to do.

More to come

Lonny

WATCH OUT

2007-11-27T05:09:00.000-06:00

For some time I have been watching what has happened with the illegal immigration problem. God knows there is plenty of press about it and opinions are everywhere. I suppose I am like the next person when I observe what is going on. When the folks show up to cut my yard I am pretty sure they are not legal people. (My yard guy swears they are) As long as my yard looks good it is easy to look the other way. I do believe there are many jobs not wanted by the rank and file of us and that we do need a legitimate, monitored guest worker program. I do have sympathy for those who try to enter the country legally to work to find a totally corrupt system that is practically impossible to utilize. Trust me I know, I have experienced it first hand.

When I was a young man working in West Texas I worked around many illegal aliens. For the most part they kept to themselves, were very respectful of our culture and our laws and those who enforced them. They made sure they were hidden from the authorities and didn't stand out any more than they did. My how things have changed.

As I drive down S. Cooper street on my way to work I see every day 10s of illegals standing waiting for someone to pick them up for work. They have no fear of being picked up by the authorities, they could care less if a policeman drives by, they know that the border patrol is not going to come by. This lack of fear is underpinned by all the special interests who protect them and line the pockets of the lawyers and politicians. It is business as usual for those who could care less about our society and the problems that rampant disregard for the law brings. To me this is something that is as defining for our future as much as anything. If this law is ignored and no one cares why should anyone obey any law. What a great message we are sending. A solution must be found.

It all became very real to me yesterday when I was almost ran off the road by two men who I would bet were illegals. They did it on purpose and were laughing during the entire ordeal. They were openly drinking and no doubt drunk by the way the driver was acting and driving. I thought to myself has it gotten so bad that they don't have any fear of the law? Surely not. I have noticed quite an attitude change lately in those who appear to be illegals. They are rude, very disrespectful and the numbers are growing. These people are rewarded every day for coming into our country and breaking the law.

It is time something is done. Let your elected officials know that now is the time to do something and if they don't you will do everything in your power to see that they are voted out of office. Now is the time........and Please Hurry.

More to come

Lonny

BLOGGER VACATION

2007-11-25T12:30:00.000-06:00

You may have noticed (or not) that I have been on Blogger Holiday for the past few days. It is concerning to me that I have been a Blogger for less than one full month and for some reason I hit a wall. Yes it is true my brain checked out on me and I had a problem coming up with anything that I thought was worth blogging about. There must be a real correlation between coming up with witty thought provoking comments and the amount of Pecan Pie and Miller Lite that is roaming in ones blood stream at any one given time. I did continue to hope that when most of the toxins were free from my body that I would have something that might be worth talking about.

Here goes:

Sunday morning I was relegated too, watching a little Sunday morning TV. I must admit I am one of those people who have almost entirely been convinced by Fox News that I can’t trust anything said on any of the other networks. Honestly I am almost there but from time to time I stray a bit.

The banter on the show I chose was the same as most days on most of the shows. First on the list was the war in Iraq, followed by the rest of the problems in the Middle East, all being commented on by a number of people who all have opinions some more convincing than others. Honestly the whole thing scares me quite a bit. I am not so scarred of the reality that I might get blown up anytime soon but in something that is entirely scarier.

When I look at the politics of the day in regards to the race for the President, I want to run for cover, move to Cancun, or wall myself up in a cave with enough food to last me till the end. Do any of us think there is anyone out there who can truly lead a country divided by Partisan Politics and special interests? I look at things like illegal immigration, the broken health care system, and the loss of ethics and family values and wonder how much trouble we are truly in. My guess is our enemies have a better idea than we would hope to imagine.

My opinion is we had all better get active in the political process and be heard by those who represent us or claim too. If there is still something politicians are scared of is being voted out of office. I personally am not active enough in the process and should be. On the other hand I am more convinced than ever that the power still lies within the people who elect these so called leaders to power. Just look what happened when the people spoke up to defeat the last immigration bill. My challenge to you today is to be heard, loud and often. Whatever you choose to do…………. Please hurry.

More to come

Lonny

THANKSGIVING 2007

2007-11-22T08:24:00.000-06:00

Karren rolled out early this morning to make the dressing. I went along to stir and cut and chop and make coffee. I am not real handy but sometimes I can even surprise myself. As I was stirring I was thinking about the day and my thoughts seemed to go back to the times I remembered spending when I grew up and the many times family and friends gathered at Thanksgiving. I thought really for me Thanksgiving is about the good times and the memories of the past and the anticipation of those to come.

These days it is easy to think of the multitude of problems we seem to have but when I think of generations past the problems of the day don't seem so bad. It is for some reason much easier to focus on the bad and not the good. There is a passage in the bible that says something like don't worry about the problems of the day, there will be plenty to worry about tomorrow. Good advice for me especially.

On this day I will do my best to give thanks for all those who protect us and for all those who care for us and for all those who love us past and present. Just think a minute, I bet your list is as long as mine.

God bless you and yours and have a great Thanksgiving.

More to come

Lonny

POLITICIANS TO THE RESCUE...

2007-11-21T08:17:00.000-06:00

As is the norm I suspect after the cows are out of the barn is when someone starts worrying about closing the back door. So it is with the politicians who now are concerned about predatory lenders and those that they destroy. Lets keep in mind that predatory lending has been around for at least the last decade. The house passed a bill, house bill 3915, which is called the anti predatory lending bill, (I think). There are some good things about it but the in my opinion overall a big waste of time and effort. I doubt the crooks and thieves are sitting around stressing out over a law that has little or no hope of ever being enforced if it does pass.

In my opinion this bill has very little hope of becoming law. The reason you ask? There is no way to adequately define predatory lending and once all the well intentioned (whatever) politicians try to define it will certainly die a slow and agonizing death. Other politicians are now coming to the rescue with their own versions that try to fix what is wrong with the original version. Another problem is that it is hard to enforce the laws that are on the books that one can define like selling drugs, stealing cars, murder, etc. If a law is passed that has provisions that are open to interpretation then what is the likelihood anyone can or will enforce it. HB 3915 says for instance that if a lender refinances a home then that loan must have a “net tangible benefit” to the consumer. Now if you took all the possible combinations of why a consumer wants to refi their home and you let all the lawyers argue whether they got a net tangible benefit there would be no end. For instance if you wanted to refi your loan to lower your payment but you extended the term on the loan which over the long term made you pay more then would that be a net tangible benefit. I wonder what the odds are that the people who enforce such laws are going to sit around, look at every loan that is made and try to enforce a ridiculous law that no one can define.

The problem is that the lending process is so confusing that the predatory lenders will survive whatever law might be passed and the only group that will win in the end of this mess will be the lawyers who will always get paid.

The politicians need to be fighting the battles that do count and trying to enforce the laws that are on the books as a starter. But in thinking about it if they were to do that then they would not be politicians would they.

If you are getting a loan you better trust the person you are dealing with. Predatory Lenders are out to get you and they know what they are doing. Buyer beware.

If you are interested there is a great article that describes the reality of the Predatory Lender, click on this one.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/20/opinion/20herbert.html?hp

More to come

Lonny

WHAT A DEAL

2007-11-20T06:49:00.000-06:00

After dinner last night, Karren brought my attention to a solicitation we received in the mail. It was from our energy provider TXU Energy. It said many of their valued customers had asked if TXU offered a plan whereby customers could take advantage of energy prices when the cost of natural gas fell. For some reason they didn’t attach the list of all of us who had asked that. I tried to remember if I had but I don’t think it was me. They went further and said that customers who were on this plan were currently paying 12.0cents/kWh in November. They failed to say what the rest of us were paying.

Next they spoke of having the best of both worlds by saying if natural gas prices happen to rise (what are the chances) more than we would be comfortable with that we could switch to any of the other plans for free. For some reason they didn’t bother describing the other plans. One of the plans allowed you to lock into a lower plan and you were protected for a specific period of time. HMMMM wonder what that one is???

The greatest news of all it was all free, simply detach the handy form and sign up. There was some small print on the front of form that was not understandable to me. There was also some small print on the back of the form. Here is part of the part on the back. “Current pricing of 12.0 cents per kWh is based on the monthly natural gas price of $7.27/MMBtu in effect on November 1, 2007. Additional average annual prices shown are examples assuming natural gas prices of $9/MMBtu (14.4 cents per kWh), $7/MMBtu (12.4 cents per kWh), and $5/MMBtu (10.5 cents per kWh), respectively”. Man that sure cleared up my confusion!!

OH yes, Eligibility requirements, terms and conditions apply.

Is this the same energy company that while making record profits solicited the Texas Utility Commission for a 25% price increase on two occasions and, as I recall, got it?

I would suggest everyone who thinks TXU is working in the best interest of their customers and truly wants us to save money run, yes run, and sign up for this program. For the rest of us remember there is a sucker born every minute. As for me, I think I will take my chances and just let them “do me” per month as they have been.

If you visited the Blog today e-mail me at lcspeaks@yahoo.com and let me know.

More to come

Lonny

What A Mess

2007-11-19T08:46:00.000-06:00

Unless you have just not been looking or listening you no doubt realize what a mess the Real Estate and Mortgage Businesses are in today. There are some good reasons we are in the mess we are in. At least a partial list is as follows:

1. Predatory Lenders and those Lenders who create and use loan fraud as a tool have created many loans to borrowers who now can’t pay them back and who can’t sell their homes for what they owe against them.

2. The mortgage lending industry created products that made loans available to people who should not have gotten the loans at all, and now for the most part those loan products are gone for everyone, even those who should have gotten them.

3. Pending sales are down because a huge number of people can’t qualify to buy the homes that are on the market, and the market is flooded with foreclosures that need to be purchased by the people who now have no access to mortgage funds.

4. Politicians are now trying to fix something that up until now they had no interest in and that they don’t understand. The result will not help but only create laws that no one has time to enforce and penalize the honest people in the business.

5. HUD, in using the FHA loan, is trying to reform an agency that is outdated and stuck in the past. HUD and the politicians are not going to get together for any fix that helps the people who want to buy homes buy homes.

Because there is so much going on in the mortgage lending and real estate industry that is relevant to the health and well being of the economy many of the daily Blogs you will be seeing over the next few days and weeks will be breaking it down as I see it. These are and will be my opinions and if nothing else hopefully will be interesting to you.

You know what they say about opinions?

Please post your comments, your feedback is appreciated.

More to come

Lonny

HE DIDN'T HAVE TO DO IT

2007-11-17T07:20:00.000-06:00

I wish the very best to you and yours on this Sunday morning. I think the group Alabama sang a song many years back that had a line in it that went, “Oh oh oh, I believe there are angels among us, sent down to us from heaven above”. I love that song!

I want to tell you about a young man who chose to help a family in need. It was Oct. 31, 2007 when he was watching TV and he recognized the name of a family who had lost their home to fire. Rather than simply listening and then going back to whatever he was doing he choose to send out an e-mail to his friends and family to get donations of furniture, food, clothing and whatever else might be available to help out. I got the e-mail and didn’t think a lot about it at the time. After all tragedy happens every day and we can do little about it.

If that wasn’t enough he knew of a remarkably generous family who he talked too who donated a home for the displaced family to live in for a few months till they could relocate. Yes you heard correctly, this young man arranged for a free house for the family.

What is even more remarkable to me is that this young man is in an industry that is having hard times and he does not have a lot of extra money to be spending but he spent a lot of time over the next few days driving around to pick up donations and taking them to the family. He could have simply done nothing and saved his money.

As he was helping he was seeing few pats on the back and asking for none. He worked for the purpose of helping this family. Diligently and without purpose except to do something for someone he barely knew because they needed the help.

No matter how we give thanks on this Sunday we should give thanks that there are people like him who care about us and will rise to an occasion to help. I should be more like my friend but one thing for sure is that I am comforted knowing that he will be there for me if I need him.

Thanks Josh!

More to come

Lonny

F I S H and BLOGS

2007-11-17T06:03:00.000-06:00

Today Robyn answers the all important question to why FISH is on FISH trucks, thanks Robyn. The reason you did this is you couldn't help it, welcome to the club. You too have the right to remain silent, just not the ability.

Also Lee in El Paso asked what a Blog was; she thought it was like a personal diary. Lee was correct the genesis of blogs (it appears) came as a result of online personal diaries.

FISH and more than you ever wanted to know about Blogs. Enjoy

Robyn said...
I can't believe I'm actually responding to this......even more so, I'm embarrassed that I've spent so much time researching this FISH subject, but here goes!According to a trucker on the web who has spent many years hauling perishable goods in refrigerated boxes,trucks hauling fish are required to be especially identified because of the danger of cross contamination if the containers are used for other products, as well as odor control and other safety/hygienic issues. She said the FDA regulates this, as they do other food labeling/identification issues, and truckers hauling fish are subject to inspection by the FDA as well as the normal DOT authorities, and having the boxes labeled "FISH" facilitates this.I also found that the Texas Parks and Wildlife can fine a fish vehicle that is not properly marked.There you go Mr. Coffey. Do what you will with this useless information!Robyn

The Word Blog
The running updates of online diarists combined with links inspired the term 'web log' which was eventually contracted to form the word Blog.
Online Diaries
In online diaries, people write their day-to-day experiences, social commentary, complaints, poems, prose, illicit thoughts and any content that might be found in a traditional paper diary or journal. They often allow readers to contribute through comments or community posting

Blog
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A blog (a portmanteau of web log) is a website where entries are written in chronological order and commonly displayed in reverse chronological order. "Blog" can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog.
Many blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject; others function as more personal online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs, web pages, and other media related to its topic. The ability for readers to leave comments in an interactive format is an important part of many blogs. Most blogs are primarily textual, although some focus on art (artlog), photographs (photoblog), sketchblog, videos (vlog), music (MP3 blog), audio (podcasting) and are part of a wider network of social media. Micro-blogging is another type of blogging which consists of blogs with very short posts.
As of September 2007, blog search engine Technorati was tracking more than 106 million blogs.[1]
Go to this link to find out more than you ever wanted to know about Blogs
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blog#_note-34

More to come

Lonny

B 22

2007-11-16T06:12:00.000-06:00

First a couple of Blog enhancements. For those of you who have tried to leave a comment only to find that you had to register by getting a new g mail account that has been fixed. Now no restrictions, sorry, please comment; I value your participation. Also now you can e-mail the days Blog to a friend if you like.

Well as luck or destiny would have it I had the pleasure of flying back to Dallas last night on Southwest. I don’t know why I am struggling so with the new boarding procedures but I just had to follow up. I know what you are thinking: Lonny needs to get a life; he needs to tell someone who cares, good grief can he not find a better topic? The good news is I think I know why all the fuss on my end.

First the facts:

I was shocked out of a restful slumber at 5 AM and realized I had not got my boarding pass. I threw on my cloths, rushed down stairs and got my pass, it was B 22. I must have been having a nightmare about C 31-60.

At the airport and a veteran at the new procedures, I watched as the A 1-30 elite smugly board the airplane laughing silently under their breath at the rest of us, then the A 31-60 who confidently boarded knowing the dreaded middle seat would not be their fate on this day. The call came for the B 1-30 to line up. I stepped in my spot. I had to ask, “What do you think of the new boarding procedures”? The person next to me said I love it; in fact I refused to fly Southwest until they did this. Oh my God, was she kidding? I was dying to ask others and start a fight there in the B 21-26 box but believe it or not I said, “I was just curious, thanks”.

I sat (in an isle seat) next to a young lady who was a lawyer, we talked a bit and she said “I am not sure I like the new boarding procedures, I don’t know why they just don’t assign seats”. I wanted to hug her, but once again I was restrained and said I could not agree more. She graduated from SMU, law degree from Tech, quite a talented young lady.

My deal is this, I miss the world where I had more control instead of less, maybe the deal at Southwest is better but I think I prefer when I am a B to get their earlier, get in front and at least have a bit of say so. I think I will fly next with an assigned seat and get on when I want. I really don’t want the peanuts anyway.

More to come,

Lonny

If It Aint Broke (Too Bad) Don't Fix It

2007-11-15T07:09:00.000-06:00

I had the pleasure of flying Southwest yesterday. I am a little miffed about their new boarding policy I must admit. When Southwest started (yes I remember) it couldn’t have been much easier as I recall but now things have changed.

I don’t remember what year Southwest started but it was in the early 70s I think. The first time I flew on Southwest I was on one of the first Southwest flights from Amarillo to Dallas. I remember walking up to the gate, paying my money, the person that sold me the ticket put my money in a cash register and printed a receipt and that was my boarding pass.

Then we all remember the colored boarding cards. If you got to the airport early you got the best boarding assignments. When the internet was well established then the in crowd went on line early and the higher tech you were the quicker you boarded. There were 3 lines, everyone crowded in and fought for the best seats. The airline was known as the cattle car or something like that. It used to be cheaper before the airlines started price fixing. (I can’t believe I said that)

Now someone at Southwest decided to fix something that was not broken (too bad). Now you still go online if you don't want to board last, but you get a group and a number. When I got to the airport (my boarding # was A33) yesterday there were electronic boards, high tech poles sticking up everywhere and the idea is that you don’t have to push your way in line, you can sit in your chair until your little sub group is called. Stay with me here, I was supposed to line up in the second A group where the 33 number sub section was. I was now a little clearer on why the electronic sign said A 1-30 for one line and A 31-60 in the other. Now I got why the poles had numbers on them. Like my place was between the first two poles in the line that said A 31-60. Now I get it but I don’t really get it, what is the point? Everyone still crowded in the different lines, I couldn’t get to my spot unless I cut through the line, (I’m not going to try that) the gate attendant didn’t care what your sub group number was and I still felt like I used too when I didn’t have to figure out so much.

I understand now Southwest is going to let you board even earlier if you pay more. Wow a no class first class. My guess seat assignments will be a Southwest revelation within 12 months. For me I think I will try to drive or stay home. But…..I still got my free nuts!!! Stale but free!!!

More to come

Lonny

ETHICS ETHICS ETHICS

2007-11-14T05:03:00.000-06:00

I attended a Texas Mortgage Bankers conference yesterday and to say the least the attendees were not jumping for joy at the recent events in our industry and the prospects for the foreseeable future. There was a lot of talk about where we had been and the mistakes that were made. Plenty of banter about returning to basics in the way we approach our business and who we make loans too. One speaker actually told the audience that if we required a borrower to make a down payment we would have a loan that would perform better. Now there is a shocker I wish I had thought of that. He was lucky no one was listening.

My goal is to make this Blog a light hearted place but I have warned you that I will be going off on the mortgage business and those who have tried and will continue to try to ruin it. The gentleman I work for (Bob) warned me not to get so opinionated that I would come off wrong. Bob has had to listen to me plenty and what I like about Bob is that he listens and he is an ethical, honest person. I do heed Bob’s advice as I have been known from time to time to let my mouth overload my brain. Ron White a comedian had a line in one of his bits that I should remember. I think he said, “I realize I have the right to remain silent, I just don’t have the ability”.

If you look at what happened to our business and what will continue to happen it just has everything to do with a loss of ethics and ethical treatment for the customers the mortgage lenders represent. The Predatory Lenders and those who boldly and brazenly create and perfect loan fraud (I call them the Crooks and Thieves) are imbedded in our industry are unfortunately here to stay. They have one thing in mind and that is to fleece as much money out of you as they can and they don’t mind destroying you in the process. They are out there and they are everywhere and they are all disguised as honest folks working in your best interest. There is a story about how someone asked Clyde Barrow (remember Bonnie and Clyde) why he robbed banks? His answer was because that was where the money was. The reason the MORTGAGE crooks and thieves are so successful in robbing so many for so much is because that is where the money is and you know what it is a lot easier than robbing banks or stealing cars.

I ran into my friend Sylvia at the meeting this day past and she said I wish the ethical people could get back to doing loans and the others would go away. Amen Sylvia, me too.

More to come,

Lonny

F I S H

2007-11-13T06:45:00.000-06:00

Well I been a Blogger for only a few days and I have already been asked to blog on a specific topic. I tell you the sweet smell of success is ever present in the air. Hardly started and the demand for my opinions and thoughts is almost overwhelming. OK a bit overstated but take it wherever you can get it as far as I am concerned.

A young lady (Eden) I have the pleasure of working with would like our opinion on the trucks that carry Fish. I must admit I have wondered about the subject before on my own. Actually her request was not about the trucks themselves but on why they have a sign on them that say F I S H. It makes sense that trucks that carry hazardous material would say hazardous material as it is hazardous material and we should be aware of it. It would be helpful if those trucks that carry, say illegal aliens, would say illegal aliens. It would make it a lot easier for The Border Patrol to find them if they start looking more often. In the future we might insist that trucks that carry terrorists coming to blow us up would be labeled T E R R O R I S T S so we might run for our lives.

But why F I S H???? I have imagined that it might spoil faster and therefore the folks who unload it would certainly want to do it faster than say a truck that had, paper towels, laundry soap, brooms, mops etc, the list must be endless. But Eden (she is very smart) asks, and is on the mark by the way, why trucks would not need to be labeled, Chicken, Beef, Milk, etc. Do those foods not spoil and need to be dealt with? If I were unloading trucks I would hate to think I was unloading a truck that I thought was full of bottled water only to find a truck load of smelly gross spoiled Chickens!!!

My goodness Eden you might have just asked the question that can’t be answered. If anyone truly knows, please give us the answer or any helpful comments. Oh Yes I forgot to mention if you want to post a comment just click on comments at the bottom of this message, it is easy and who knows you might just win the prize.

More to come,

Lonny

State Government at its finest

2007-11-12T04:47:00.000-06:00

As will happen from time to time we all have the opportunity to re register our cars. I am sure we would all agree it is a great way for the good ole state of Texas to get some more of our money. Must feed the monster, can't escape death and taxes, the "Show Must Go On", all the normal sayings come to mind. What I don't understand (and need your help) is the stupid form the sticker comes on.

In my day I have seen where you were actually sent a new set of license plates every year. Have you ever gone in an old guys garage and seen license plates hanging around? Now you know why. I for one liked getting them, once a year we got to take the old plates off and put the new ones on, one year the plates were white and one year they were black. That made it easier for the police to check you out etc. It was easy to do, didn't take much time, got to get out the ole tool set, the whole thing made me feel more manly some how. Texas inmates (I was told) made the plates, it gave them something to do now that they could not rob and kill us. Ah for the good ole days.

As I recall the government stopped sending us plates every year and we went to having a little sticker we would stick to our existing plate every year. Made sense, saved money, saved time, not sure what the inmates were going to do but who really cares what they are doing anyway.

Now as luck would have it the sticker is better, it has a blue backing, actually comes off in one nice piece, it comes in Spanish and English so that the illegals can understand it if they decide to register their cars. On the blue part it says "Check the date, love your state", that is only in English, guess the illegals don't have to do that. There is a web site, www.texasinyourcorner.com Whatever, I am afraid to go to that site! Here is what I don't get. There is still a sticker for your plate. It says VOID DO NOT USE/NO USE. Why is it on there if we don't use it? Can you tell me? I am calling the governor (Perry is it), and I will let you know what he says. My guess he doesn't know either?????

More to come

Lonny

Day 2 as a Blogger

2007-11-10T06:59:00.000-06:00

This morning I am on my home computer, it is Saturday, 7:00 AM. Since the time changed, earlier to bed, earlier to rise. Not my plan just my reality. I have spent the last hour trying to turn my cookies on so I could get into the site to do my post. Bad news is I still don't know what a cookie has to do with anything in the computer lingo and why didn't whoever the smart people are call it something else. Couldn't it have been a web site enabler device or a if you don't have this on something won't work button. Whoever made whatever a cookie is called it a cookie is on my list because I think the youngster did it just to confuse me. The good news......I got the damn thing turned on!!!! Mark one up for the old guy. When I told Carole (my sister) I was doing a blog she asked why. I told her so people would know what I was thinking. She said finally maybe I will know what you are thinking. Who knows maybe she will, regardless my sister will continue to love me, (it is her job) and hopefully she knows I know.

My goal is to make this blog fun. I will be going off on the mortgage business and those who have done their best to ruin it but hopefully my thoughts will be more than that. I am mad at the government, I am mad at the oil companies, and the utilities and we will all get to go off on them. I will have some thoughts and some interesting facts and figures. Today my heart reminds me to count my blessings and thank the good lord for things like Karren who loves me in spite of me, for my kids who sitll want to come around, for my new granddaughter Lainey who is indeed a miracle of God, and for my new grandbaby who God willing I will meet in June. For those of us who are loved and blessed and still on this side of the dirt we should give thanks and praise on this Saturday in Nov. 07.

If you like the blog tell your friends, it is everyones forum. More to come.

Lonny

Me a Blogger

2007-11-09T14:33:00.000-06:00

Well a couple of days ago I didn't know what a Blogger was and now as the old saying goes, I are one. As I read the news of the day I am amazed at how the consumer is being victimized by almost all businesses. I have been in the Mortgage Banking business since 1974 and have watched my industry go from a well respected business that worked in the best interest of the consumer to an industry where at the very least a significant percentage of the industry has no other business model than to skin the consumer out of as much money as possible. The problems associated with Predatory Lending and Mortgage Fraud are hardly a thing of the past and the average consumer doesn't have a chance in the hands of the Predatory Lender. Tell me your stories or what your opinion is. I hope my thoughts will be interesting to you. More to come. Lonny Coffey