Read the sobering realities by a young man and his wife who are losing homes they purchased the seminar way. Click Here

Think about it. Would you loan someone with your credit, job, attitude $300,000 to buy a home? Billions each day are provided folks just like you and me for just this purpose. Amazing isn’t it? Perhaps we should be a little grateful and a lot honest about our system and to our system.

Perhaps the morality of telling the truth on loan applications needs to be appreciated more by us.

Larry Cragun

Now Honey, when you grow up, you should go into real estate. If you treat people right, give great service, are honest with people, work hard, become internet savvy, know your market, talk to 10 new people a day, show them homes even up to 10PM and on Saturdays, buy them a calender each year, send them notes on their birthdays, have a business card with a magnet on their refridgerator (maybe even 5 of them), keep your car clean and shiney, know loan officers and lender programs that are the best, work like a dog even though you are a little ape; if you do all these things for several years while you get the good word out, you can make a great living.

Oh gee, thanks ma, I think I would rather pick bananas.

Smart Son, maybe that is the best choice.

I hesitate to write this because I have decided to like Larry Harold.

But I promised in response to comments made by Larry that I would take the time to respond on Monday, today, to do just that. I did make a couple of short responses, as did he, then he promised he was through.

Before we were done, I decided I liked the guy. When I got his comment I pounced, as I did not like what he said. He was obviously angry, and I think he regrets his comment and will hesitate before he does this again. Now Larry, if I am wrong here or throughout this article, I apologize, you can resurface if you want.

Larry made an attack on Realtors, which I won’t respond to, he did that.

What I feel I must respond to is the mortgage part. Larry didn’t respond to my challenge so I have no idea what he charges people, he did respond in principle.

Here is what I feel I must write and respond to: (for the consumers education)

LH (Him): in regards to your comment on the mortgage consultant making $10,000 on a loan is too much. Well first off, who are you to decide that?

LC (me): The marketplace is. I have personally audited over 3,000 files. I know that if you tell the customer what you are charging and how rebates work, and that you are charging this much, they will resist you or they will start shopping elsewhere for a better rate. There are so many lenders out there that would love to take a loan and make less than half of that number, the market would decide. Every loan officer and file I saw making $10,000 on a file used lack of disclosure to get away with it. Every loan officer that charged that much from my company was terminated. Those who care about their customers think long term. They know by giving their clients a good rate they get repeat business and keep a pristine reputation. Those that charge high fees, are in it for the bucks and need to get out. I am days from starting back into the mortgage business. I have decided to initially take the 3 top earners we had in the past. Is it a coincidence they were the 3 that charged the lowest fees? The answer is NO, there is no coincidence here!

NEXT POINT:

LH: So logically loan officers should get paid more than real estate agents, but that is not the fact.

LC: This is absolutely wrong. I have done both, soon will do both again. Go get a real estate license, try and make a living at it, you will change your tune.

Next Point:

LH: Also, let it be known that with out loan officers there would be no loans, people could not buy house, they could not consolidate high cost debt, and real estate agents would not have any income either.��

LC: This is silly of you to say. It would be more accurate to say that without Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the great secondary market we have there would be higher rates. Being a loan officer is a privilege. You tap into a complex system that is fueled by billions of risk capitol. You are allowed to earn a great living and golf on friday. You benefit by the technology explosion and probably take loans from your porche overlooking the golf course. You have a broker who has huge risks, if you commit fraud or error,he is liable. YOU ARE THE LUCKY ONE. You have little risk, you have little investment, you require little training, you have little oversight and accountability.

NEXT POINT

LH: Well to start Larry Cragun, you can believe whatever you want. The majority of loan officers do not hide numbers. The majority of loan officers don’t deviate from the initial good faith ��ESTIMATE��, and also inform their clients of every change that has been made. If they don’t then it is illegal.

LC: Sadly my experience is loan officers who make $10,000 on one loan do exactly what you say they don’t and I have documentation given me that will prove it.

NEXT POINT: THis comment sickens me

LH: Also lets take note of the fact that no one is forced to sign anything.

LC: You tell that to the borrower who has found their dream home. They have driven by it or visited it 10 times in the last 5 days before closing. Every one they know and love is involved in the happy new occassion. They have given their landlord notice or sold their other home. The UHaul is ordered. They have cashed in their 401 K. They get to closing and if they don’t sign it all falls apart. This point is exactly why SHARKS get away with it. In reality they must sign or lose their dream.

NEXT POINT:

LH: Everyone that closes a loan does it on their own free will. A person has 100% right to walk away from the table and for refinances has a 3 day rescission period.

LC: This comment tells me a lot. It applys to refinances. I don’t believe you do purchases because of this statement. So let me address refi’s. Rates can go up a lot in 30 days. So the customer is at closing, charges are higher than told, the rates are higher now, guess what? Customers are pressured to sign.

NEXT POINT:

LH: Now its funny that you talk like I was the one who did the loan for your friend, which is not the case. I understand its a desperate attempt to get feedback.

LC: Larry, my new old friend in the computer, I don’t attack you I attack what you wrote. It does seem to me you are a good guy. I also seems to me you disagree with my thesis on high fees. My jumping on your comment was an attempt to use this as a learning experience for borrowers. Now I hope it has been a learning experience for you.

Lastly:

LH: If your going to make accusations about an industry Larry please have some sort of statistical analysis to back it up, otherwise it has no credibility, and I have just waisted 5 minutes of my time on even commenting on this whole thing.

LC: I think it was perhaps the best 5 minute education of your career. I hope so. I want the industry full of honorable people.

Larry Cragun

I believe the reason the MortgageFraudBlog was able to publish the statistic that mortgage fraud has increased 35% is that it has been prosecuted and reported more.

I have made it a point to befriend and gain the trust of underwriters. Trust is everything in business. It is a bigger thing in the mortgage business.

I have noted just how much underwriters hate fraud. They see so many files, and become expert at knowing the family or borrower, just by what they see in the file. They can tell who are honorable, they can see the flakes.

As intolerance has become the montra for fraud, everyone from underwriters to managers, to funders have become bolder about attacking fraud. Technology is assisting.

Lenders have various checks they can do, they can verify income by the IRS, they develop instincts.

The fraud was always there, people are just getting caught more regularly.

Question: With news like the recent news below: Are rates likely to go up, or down? The answer is in the comments.

Jobless claims fell by 17,000 in

latest week

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - New claims for U.S. jobless aid fell by a more-than-expected 17,000 last week to the lowest level since mid-July, Labor Department data showed on Thursday, but the four-week average of claims changed little.

First time claims for state unemployment insurance benefits declined to a seasonally adjusted 302,000 in the week ended September 30, from an upwardly adjusted 319,000 in the prior week.

Full article click here

Curmudgeon posts of the week

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