A friend sent me a great article today about the state of affairs in our nation’s lending markets. Sure, some the recent changes were sorely needed and came just in the nick-of-time. Other decisions by our Federal government are questionable at best.
Being a real estate expert doesn’t make me a mortgage specialist so I defer to those who focus on the lending environment full-time for guidance.
Here are some key excerpts from Today’s Lending Environment: Calling Oliver Stone! by Dean Hartman. (If interested, I encourage you to read the whole piece.)
We have seen some very positive changes:
1. Gone are the exotic mortgage products that, while excellent choices for savvy borrowers, were given to unknowing borrowers. For the most part, the only people who get loans today are those who prove they can pay them back.
2. National Licensing Requirements for loan officers (course work, testing, background check, etc.) was long overdue. The ability to track the performance of someone’s work helps on many fronts.
There are a few more but these are the key ones. But at what cost?
6. Did you see that the Fed “lent” $2 TRILLION to the European Union to keep Europe financially stable (nearly three times the Bank Bailout money), and now they are saying they don’t know who got the money or where it is??? Why isn’t this story the front page story of EVERY MEDIA outlet???
7. Speaking of the Fed, you know, the ones who set monetary policy. Why is it that one of their new appointees is not an economist, but rather someone who helped set up the licensing of loan officers? Why has the Fed published in their Registry that they want to cap loan officer compensation and not have it tied to loan amount or interest rate? And, you see, the Fed Board isn’t elected like your Congressperson, so there’s no one to complain to.
