Jul 27

New rules give you more access to your credit score

Part of the financial reform bill, the new rule kicked in on Thursday 7/21/11 and says that any borrower who is denied credit or offered a higher-than-usual interest rate is entitled to see his credit score without even having to ask. The rule is supposed to wipe out much of the secrecy surrounding the lending process and give consumers the information they need to get a better deal in the future.

Jul 26

Houston growing faster than any other U.S. city

Seem crowded in Houston these days? New data in a study by Rice Universitybacks up that feeling.

Houston has added more people during the last decade than any of the nation’s other 366 metropolitan areas, according to the analysis of the 2000 and 2010 U.S. Census released Tuesday by Rice University’s Kinder Institute for Urban Research

Jul 25

Distressed Properties Comprise Smaller Share of Declining Home Resales

Foreclosures and short sales made up 30 percent of all existing-home sales in June, according to data released Wednesday by the National Association of Realtors (NAR).

The market share for distressed properties, as anticipated, has been steadily dwindling with the onset of warmer weather. In May, foreclosures and short sales accounted for 31 percent of home resales. As recently as April their share was 37 percent, and in March it was 40 percent.

Jul 24

Big Mortgages Are Back

So-called jumbo loans—generally those bigger than $417,000—are a better bargain now than they have been in years. The average rate on a 30-year jumbo mortgage is 5.15%, down from 6.41% two years ago, according to mortgage data firm HSH Associates. That means the monthly payment on a 30-year $600,000 home loan is now about $3,280, some $480 less than the cost of the same loan two years ago, for an annual savings of nearly $5,800.

Jul 23

Jury convicts loan officers in widespread mortgage fraud scheme

Two north Texas women have been found guilty by a jury in a mortgage fraud scheme that targeted homes across North Texas and the Eastern District of Texas, U.S. Attorney John M. Bales announced on Friday, July 15.

Azza Bassiouny, 44, of Dallas, and Kamilla Kirch, 65, of The Colony, Texas, were both convicted of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud on July 14, 2011, following a four-day trial before U.S. District Judge Michael Schneider. The jury returned the verdict in less than 90 minutes.

Jul 22

Banks continue robo-signing

America's leading mortgage lenders vowed in March to end the dubious foreclosure practices that caused a bruising scandal last year.

But a Reuters investigation finds that many are still taking the same shortcuts they promised to shun, from sketchy paperwork to the use of "robo-signers."

Jul 21

Mortgage Rates Mostly Flat on Mixed Economic Data .

Mortgage rates were mostly flat in the past week amid a series of mixed reports on the health of the U.S. economy, according to Freddie Mac's weekly survey of mortgage rates.

"Although both the overall producer price index and consumer price index fell moderately in June on lower energy costs, the core price indexes inched up," said Freddie Mac Chief Economist Frank Nothaft, adding that a consumer sentiment reading fell to the lowest level since March 2009.

The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage inched up to 4.52% in the week ended Thursday, from 4.51% the previous week, though that is down from last year's rate of 4.56%. Rates on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages were 3.66%, compared with 3.65% last week and 4.03% a year earlier.

Jul 21

Squatter claims $300,000 Flower Mound, TX home for only $16

Could Texas law net someone a $300,000 house for filing a $16 fee online? Maybe. Kenneth Robinson told WFAA-TV he moved into the house on Waterford Drive on June 17 because it had the perfect storm: The home was abandoned for foreclosure, then the mortgage company that owned it went out of business. After researching a Texas law called “adverse possession,” Robinson moved in. It’s not a normal process, he admitted to WFAA-TV, but a process that is not known to many people.

Jul 20

Texas ranks second (behind New York) for highest closing costs

For the second year in a row, the states with the highest closing costs are New York, where costs average $6,183; Texas at $4,944; followed by Utah with $4,906. Next was California, where average closing costs in San Francisco totaled $4,832. New York and Texas have dominated the top spots for five years.

Jul 19

Texas Association of Realtors Highlights 82nd Session Wins on Behalf of Texas Homeowners

During the recent session, Texas Realtors championed legislation that eliminated private transfer fees on real estate transactions and implemented disclosure and notification requirements about existing fees, protecting homeowners from hidden fees when buying and selling a home.

The Texas Association of Realtors was also successful in urging lawmakers to enhance protection of private-property rights in cases of eminent-domain takings by government entities. The new law limits the purposes for which a property may be condemned and specifies the original landowners can buy back their property if not used for its intended purpose after 10 years.

Julie C. Nichols

Mortgage news you can use