The regulatory rumble begins
http://www.economist.com/finance/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13760587&fsrc=rss The article argues that the biggest barriers to finanical regulatory reform are not entrenched interests, but rather the regulators themselves.
Posts By David L. Friend
Elizabeth Warren advocates for Financial Product Safety Commission
http://www.charlierose.com/view/content/10292 Here is a link to her interview on Charlie Rose on 05/11/09, explaining her rationale behind advocating the Financial Product Safety Commission which is gettin some traction (see 05/20/09 Washington Post article).
Mortgage Securitization – explained and how it factored in the financial crisis
http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/09-060.pdf Thanks to Ezra Klein’s blog on washingtonpost.com for the link – the paper is a great read (once you get past the economics) to understand exactly the mortgage back securites (MBS) market fell apart – essentially it was due to (1) bad assumptions of defalut rates, (2) poor ratings of each MBS pool byRead… Read more »
Justice to modify its guidance on antitrust matters
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/11/business/11antitrust.html?_r=2&hp http://www.federalnewsradio.com/?nid=27&sid=1673315 The policy move will shift Justice’s view of antitrust to be similar to the EU’s position. This calls into question the report on Sec. 2 of the Sherman Act that Justice just issued last September.
House Passes Mortage Reform Legislation
Yesterday the House passed mortgage reform legislation, HR 1728. There were a few amendments passed on the floor just before the Bill was adopted, so the final text has not been posted on www.thomas.gov yet. This appears to have very serious effects on the mortgage broker segment of the industry, as well as impacts onRead… Read more »
Demotech Finds Losses in 2008 Worst Ever for Title Insurance Industry
The 2008 financial results for the Title insurance industry were less than stellar. In fact, it was the worst year ever recorded in the history of “Demotech Performance of Title Insurance Companies.” See: http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/Demotech-Inc-982099.html I can point to several reasons for this, but the one that comes to mind first is the same one inRead… Read more »
The Lender Foreclosing May Not Own That Mortgage – WHAT?
See below a link to Gretchen Morgenson’s article on the ‘Ohio Defense’ in foreclosure – how the company trying to foreclose on that delinquent mortgage may not be the actual owner of the mortgage – the only one who is entitled to declare the mortgage in default and to chosse the remedy of foreclosure.
The social benefits of home ownership look more modest than they did and the economic costs much higher
http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=13491933 This is an argument that many of the subsidies for home ownership, such as the interest tax deduction, wind up making housing cost more – which also increases the negative consequences of a recession since a considerable amount of individual wealth is tied into housing.
OPM has a new telework policy
http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0409/042909ar1.htm
Prepackaged Ch. 13 Bankruptcies
I found this article interesting for two reasons (1) it gives a good description, as far as I can tell, of the issues and problems associated with the servicing related to defaulting loans and (2) presents a novel idea towards solving the ‘underwater’ property issues. Abstract: “The housing crisis threatens to destroy hundreds of billionsRead… Read more »