Stewart Title recognizes Vested Title Inc. as Outstanding Agency

Stewart Title has recognized Vested Title Inc. as Outstanding Agency for 2010. Here is Stewart Title's Barri Pitman presenting the award to Paul Kruger, our Vice President and Manager at our Fairfield, New Jersey office.

Congratulations to all at Vested Title Inc.

For your next title order or

if you have questions about what you see here, contact

Stephen M. Flatow, Esq.

Vested Title Inc.

165 Passaic Avenue, Suite 101

Fairfield, NJ 07004

Tel 973-808-6130 - Fax 201-656-4506

E-mail vti@vested.com - www.vested.com

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Feds make rule changes for mortgage brokers

The New York Times Lynnley Browning writes about new compensation rules from The Federal Reserve that will affect compensation of mortgages. According to the new rules, borrowers who use brokers “will most likely pay less for their services” and “be offered the lowest possible interest rate and fees for which they qualify.”

Small banks and credit unions which do not fund loans from their resources will also be covered by the rule change.

"But most banks and other direct lenders, including the few mortgage companies that function like banks, are exempt.

“The new rule is known as the Loan Originator Compensation amendment to Regulation Z, part of a strengthened Truth in Lending Act passed by Congress in 2008. Designed to prevent consumers from being steered into high-cost, risky loans, it covers how a loan originator — or any person or company that arranges, obtains and/or negotiates a mortgage for a client — is paid.

“Under the new rule, a lender can no longer pay a loan originator a lucrative rebate known as a yield-spread premium, which is tied to the rate or terms of the mortgage. Banks and other lenders can continue to pay commissions to brokers, but these payments must now be based solely on the loan amount.

“In the past, the higher the interest rate and points, the more money a broker stood to “earn.'"

How does this work?

“Brokerage firms typically earn a yield-spread premium of 1.5 to 2.5 percent of the loan amount, with higher-rate loans paying closer to 2.5 percent. The brokerage and its broker, or loan officer, typically split the rebate. On a $400,000 loan at 5.25 percent, that might total $8,000, based on two points paid, with a point being 1 percent of the loan amount.

“In the new system, the brokerage can earn a fixed commission from the lender, but the amount is not tied to the loan terms. Also, the brokerage cannot pass on a part of the commission to the broker, who must now be paid an hourly wage or salary. The exception is for loans where the lender pays the borrower’s points to the brokerage, typically for higher-rate loans. (The commission range is expected to be 1.5 to 2.5 points.) “

A new day for consumers may be dawning, but you still have to keep a wary eye open for charges, hidden and disclosed, when applying for that mortgage.

Read the full report.

For your next title order or

if you have questions about what you see here, contact

Stephen M. Flatow, Esq.

Vested Title Inc.

165 Passaic Avenue, Suite 101

Fairfield, NJ 07004

Tel 973-808-6130 - Fax 201-656-4506

E-mail vti@vested.com - www.vested.com

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Mortgage lenders fight back on foreclosure abuse cases

NJ.com picks up an AP story on the New Jersey Supreme Court’s get tough attitude in foreclosure abuse cases. 6 of the biggest mortgage lenders say N.J. high court overstepped its boundaries

“State Supreme Court Chief Justice Stuart Rabner made a splash in December when he ordered six of the nation's biggest mortgage lenders into court to show why their foreclosure operations shouldn't be suspended over reports of widespread irregularities.

“State attorneys general around the country have increased pressure on lenders over the past year, but New Jersey is believed to be the first state whose Supreme Court has stepped into the fray so boldly.

“Too boldly, according to the banks' court filings. With the court hearing looming next month, the banks say they'd already begun remedial action months before New Jersey's court order and that suspending their operations would damage already shaky housing markets and lead to further deterioration of hard-hit neighborhoods.”

The legal argument centers on constitutional issues. Mainly, “the order violates due process and equal protection clauses because it targets six lenders while omitting others and doesn't arise from any specific complaints, according to the filings.”

The court is trying to "remedy what it perceives as a public policy issue," attorneys for Ally Financial's GMAC Mortgage unit wrote. "Such powers are the province of legislators and regulators."

The lenders targeted by the court’s order are GMAC Mortgage, OneWest Bank, formerly IndyMac Federal Bank; BAC Home Loan Servicing, a subsidiary of Bank of America; JP Morgan Chase's Chase Home Finance; Wells Fargo Financial New Jersey and CitiResidential Living, a subsidiary of Citibank. The companies process almost half of New Jersey’s foreclosure actions.

This may seem as good news for borrowers in foreclosure, but all it does is delay the inevitable.

Read the full story.

For your next title order or

if you have questions about what you see here, contact

Stephen M. Flatow, Esq.

Vested Title Inc.

165 Passaic Avenue, Suite 101

Fairfield, NJ 07004

Tel 973-808-6130 - Fax 201-656-4506

E-mail vti@vested.com - www.vested.com

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Does applying for a mortgage make you dizzy?

From Realty Times, Don't Be Mystified By The Mortgage Maze
by Broderick Perkins

Years after the housing market tanked and sank the economy, more than 70 percent of Americans say getting a mortgage today is a serious national problem, according to a new study by MortgageMatch.com, a home loan and information site operated by Move, Inc.

According to the MortgageMatch.com survey, today's lending environment is so confusing many borrowers are experiencing high levels of stress and frustration.

More than one in five recent home buyers (20.9 percent) told MortgageMatch.com, waiting to hear if they were approved for a mortgage was more stressful than waiting to hear if they got a job.

MortgageMatch.com says home buyers can significantly improve their chances of getting a mortgage application approved on the best possible terms in today's tough lending marketplace by taking the following steps.

• Pay down your debt as much as you can before applying for a mortgage.

By reducing your debt as much as you can, you will improve your debt-to-income ratio and your credit score.

• Clean up your credit long before you apply for a mortgage.

Pull one or all of your three annual credit reports from AnnualCreditReport.com and check yourself, before you wreck yourself.

• Don't make a major purchase on credit and don't apply for new credit before you apply for a mortgage or at any point before your mortgage closes. Purchases and credit accounts increase your debt and hurt your debt-to-income ratio.

• Increase your down payment. The more you put down the better your rate and your chances at scoring on that loan application. If you can't increase your money down, buy a cheaper home. Now is not the time to stretch.

• Get all your docs in a row before you apply for a mortgage. Don't waste time or raise the ire of lenders who are tougher than ever on documentation for income, assets, financial obligations and more.

• Know and prepare for your cash requirements. Cash expenses, beyond the down payment can crush you. Educate yourself.

• Larger loans raise your costs.
• Negotiate tough. Ask for a purchase price lower than the value. In today's marketplace, many sellers are willing to deal. Go for it.

• Don't get taken. When you see rates attractive rates advertised on the Internet or TV don't froth. Advertised rates maybe what you see, but they are often not what you get.

Read the full article, Realty Times - Don't Be Mystified By The Mortgage Maze

Broderick Perkins parlayed a 30-year career in old-school journalism into a digital-age news service offering editorial content and related consulting services.
The award-winning consumer journalist, originally from Wilmington, DE, is founder, publisher and executive editor of the bootstrap DeadlineNews Group, a Silicon Valley-based content provider specializing in residential real estate, consumer news and consulting.

For your next title order or

if you have questions about what you see here, contact

Stephen M. Flatow, Esq.

Vested Title Inc.

165 Passaic Avenue, Suite 101

Fairfield, NJ 07004

Tel 973-808-6130 - Fax 201-656-4506

E-mail vti@vested.com - www.vested.com

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Calculating the Annual Percentage Rate

The New York Times’ Lynnley Browning is a little off his fine writing in this article dealing with the annual percentage rate calculations required by lenders.

THE lending industry has tried to make it easier for borrowers to understand the true cost of a mortgage by disclosing both its interest rate and its annual percentage rate, or A.P.R. But consumers may often wonder which figure they should focus on when buying or refinancing a property.

This is the first mistake in Browning’s report. It was not the lending industry that focused on making a loan’s true cost understandable, it was the folks in Washington, D.C. who promulgated the Truth-in-Lending Act.

The answer, many mortgage experts say, may seem counter intuitive: while the A.P.R. is popularly seen as providing a more complete picture of what you are actually paying each month, it often omits some costs.

Yes, that’s true, but what is overlooked is the underlying premise of the APR—that all lenders will have to calculate the APR the same way. There never was a promise that consumers would have to do some homework in figuring out which loan was best for them.

“When someone calls for a quote, we always give the interest rate, not the A.P.R.,” said Melissa Cohn, the president of the Manhattan Mortgage Company, a brokerage firm. “The A.P.R. is not all-inclusive.”

Whoa, if they did that in print, it would be a violation of Federal law.

When you read the full report you will see that the argument is being made for the further dumbing down of the loan process by including ALL costs in the APR calculation. In reality that sounds like a plan that would work, but by lumping in costs that are fixed in the marketplace, such as, mortgage tax in NY, and those that vary by company, for example, credit checks, you create a scene that is ripe for errors.

For your next title order or

if you have questions about what you see here, contact

Stephen M. Flatow, Esq.

Vested Title Inc.

165 Passaic Avenue, Suite 101

Fairfield, NJ 07004

Tel 973-808-6130 - Fax 201-656-4506

E-mail vti@vested.com - www.vested.com

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