Mortgage Broker

Government officials and other observers agree that the U.S. housing market cannot recover until the foreclosure crisis is solved and a regulatory system is put in place that ensures no repeat of the lending debacle that caused it. Yet the remarks of Obama administration officials and consumer advocates at a conference of real estate writers and editors here suggest that the very depth of the crisis means a resolution is far from close in coming....

Regulations endorsing the practice of mortgage lenders' paying fees to brokers who refer home buyers to the lenders are under review on Capitol Hill. The proposed rules are not expected to be released for about two weeks. The Mortgage Bankers Association of America has urged the government to ban all forms of these loan-referral fees, although the regulations under review would require the consumer to be aware of the arrangement and pay the fees involved. An advance copy of the proposed regulations endorses a loan-referral concept being used nationwide by Citicorp Mortgage Inc. of St. Louis, one of the nation's largest lenders.

Last summer, Bill and Kathie Conner thought they had about as much chance of getting a mortgage to buy a house as they had of taking a trip to Mars. That was before they learned about "hard-to-place loans," an evolving segment of the marketplace that serves borrowers who have sufficient income to buy a house but have had credit problems. The couple's finances went into a tailspin after Bill Conner was struck by a car while riding his motorcycle about nine years ago, his wife said.

If you get a home mortgage from Abington Community Bank in Jenkintown, chances are the money will come from deposits kept there by other residents of Philadelphia's northern suburbs. The 140-year-old bank has been making loans this way for decades, and then keeping the loans on its books instead of selling them. "We are looking for the relationship with the customer," said Tom Wasekanes, vice president of originations. While Abington has stayed with community-lending methods, the U.S. mortgage industry has transformed itself in a way that has opened conduits to global capital markets.

Michael A. McLaughlin was flabbergasted by the call in July 2007 from an old friend about the sale of Blue Bell Mortgage Group L.P. McLaughlin, a limited partner in Blue Bell and an investment manager in Haddonfield, knew nothing about a sale of his own company. He found out soon enough: Most of Blue Bell's loan officers and key staff, plus managing partner Thomas J. Campbell 3d, were being absorbed into Willow Financial Bancorp Inc. Willow even took over Blue Bell's Gilbertsville office and still uses the same phone number.

The road to retirement can be paved with good intentions - such as paying down the mortgage faster so that, by the last day on the job, your house really is all yours. With millions of homeowners struggling to make even regular mortgage payments these days, an accelerated payoff goal may seem beyond reach. Yet many financial planners still advise debt-free retirement - including freedom from mortgage payments. Why? So you'll require less income to support yourself during retirement, says certified public accountant and financial planner Jacquelyn M. Basso, of Jacquelyn M. Basso & Associates of Downingtown.

Obtaining a mortgage on the Internet was supposed to take the hassle out of the financing end of Rosanne and Jason Toohey's home purchase. Earlier this year, an on-line mortgage broker found the Tooheys a competitive interest rate for their condo mortgage, but the couple didn't bargain on the delays, lost documents, misinformation and unresponsive loan agents that came with the deal. The Web-based mortgage broker reimbursed some of the unexpected costs caused by the delays, but when the mortgage finally closed five days late, the two vowed never to venture back on line for mortgage money.

In between bombing in "The Scarlet Letter" and irking Pentagon brass with her next role as a Navy SEAL, Demi Moore has been vigorously peddling her June 28 release, "Striptease. " Now Hollywood execs on the project are worried that the actress is not helping their cause. If you saw Moore bumping and grinding recently on the Barbara Walters special, or caught her strip act last fall on "The Late Show" with David Letterman, you've heard her pitches promoting the flick. Acoording to Moore, "Striptease" is a paean to women's self-esteem: Yeah, I'm naked in a bar full of leering old men, but I'm stripping for myself.

To get us through the early part of this new year, let's get some perspective on what could be driving real estate matters in the weeks to come. First off, it looks as if low fixed interest rates for mortgages - now around 5 percent- will be with us awhile. But Philadelphia mortgage broker Fred Glick warns that rates could begin to rise if the stock market recovers. What he means is that investors who have flocked to the relative safety of Treasury bonds will shift their money to Wall Street if it seems profitable.

Residents living near the sinking homes in Wissinoming say the rowhouses showed visible signs of settling long before the rapid deterioration of the past three years. Yet, families who bought the homes in that period were able to obtain mortgages. Something that should not have happened if an alert appraiser had noted the settlement and recommended further investigation before the loans were approved. According to Harry Marder, president of the American Society of Appraisers, such vigilance is not always rewarded.