Does your State licensing regulations say you have a "Fiduciary Duty" to your customers? Or does it say "you must provide the consumer with a reasonable, tangible net benefit" from a loan you provide? Both of these may soon be nationally mandated requirements if Congress has anything to say about it.

The House of Representatives pulled no punches on Tuesday at its hearing on subprime and predatory mortgage lending as they took National Association of Mortgage Brokers President Harry Dinham to task on the subject of who brokers really work for, if they deny 'fiduciary responsibility' to their borrowers.

Although violating either of those standards may subject you to harsh discipline and potentially aggressive punishment, it is the presence of Ethics & Integrity which will carry you through a life long career in our fine industry.

I'm sure you've heard many times lately that it's a short walk from unethical actions to full-blown fraud - but more importantly, are your actions ethical when it comes to serving a customer?

Here's a couple of mental questions to ask yourself: If you have strong Ethics, do you understand it means how you behave when no one is watching? - because that's exactly what it means! Do you RAT OUT a fellow loan provider when you see he/she isn't acting ethically? Do you realize you ARE your brother's keeper in this industry ... what the 'next guy' does can make us all bleed! This last 'cycle' (1998 to 2007) brought us many long term problems (only now becoming apparent) - 99% of which be brought on ourselves ... by going along with the crowd. CLICK HERE to tell us your views on our Discussion Board






B&C Guidance Distinctions Termed 'Questionable' '
Proposed federal underwriting guidance could create "questionable distinctions" between prime and subprime borrowers that would cut off credit to some subprime borrowers in the name of consumer protection, according to mortgage banking attorneys at K&L Gates. "The natural consequence is that prime borrowers are encouraged, or at least permitted, by national housing policy to seek to finance the purchase of a home, but subprime borrowers are subjected to more rigid restrictions," the K&LG attorneys point out in an alert to clients. The proposed guidance would require lenders to underwrite adjustable-rate mortgages for subprime borrowers at the fully indexed rate, while prime borrowers would continue to qualify at the lower teaser rate. "The imposition of differing standards for subprime vs. non-subprime borrowers raises many concerns, not the least of which is that such a practice may result in a disparate impact on borrowers based upon categorizations protected under the fair lending laws," the alert says. CLICK HERE and talk about this on our Discussion Board





Part of our New Student Outreach Program
Yesterday, we added a new feature to our main website, we're offering a FREE CD Lesson to be viewed right now inside your own Internet browser! This lesson happens to cover industry ADVERTISING! Check it out HERE






Freddie: 18% of Portfolio Subprime
Freddie Mac has disclosed that it held $124 billion of securities backed by subprime home loans at the end of last year, though virtually all were triple-A rated tranches from mortgage securities deals. That accounted for about 18% of Freddie Mac's $704 billion retained portfolio. In total, nonagency mortgage-backed securities accounted for $238 billion of the retained portfolio, consisting of both prime and subprime credits. Nearly all -- 96% -- of the nonagency mortgage securities were rated triple-A, Freddie Mac said. The government-sponsored enterprise said that by most measures, its credit risk exposure remains low. The guarantee portfolio had a loan-to-value ratio of 57% at the end of 2006. Fixed-rate loans constituted 82% of the company's guarantee portfolio. If you would like to memorialize your opinion. CLICK HERE and talk about this on our Discussion Board

Survey: Most Owners Don't Expect Home Values to Rise
Most U.S. home owners don't expect any change in the value of their homes in the next year, according to a survey by Reuters and University of Michigan.

The survey, conducted in January and February, says 55 percent of American home owners expect their home value to stay the same, while 38 percent expect an increase in value. Just 7 percent expect value to decrease.

Overall, home owners' estimates of rising values are modest – a median price increase of just 0.1 percent. That would represent a slowing in expected price appreciation from double-digit increases in the recent past, likely discouraging the typical home owner from borrowing against their home equity, the survey concluded. CLICK HERE to give us your 2 cents on our Discussion Board

We provide mortgage broker banker training, education, information and solutions at Secret! University. You'll discover many solutions at our learning center. Utilizing several delivery systems, we have services & materials available for everyone, regardless of your degree of skill or know-how, take a look at our website just Click Here!

Our Master Seminar. You're invited to join us for an all day Live chat, a Conversation with Secret! "Learn easier ways to operate your business™" Sat. April 21st in So Calif. to RSVP Click Here - we have limited seating available, so hustle and sign up!

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Our long running Website & Internet Originations Live class is next scheduled April 22nd here in So Cal. More than 80% of our students who have attended this intimate class, have come from outside California - 50+% from the East Coast! You'll learn how to better attract and serve applicants (not leads), and handle them using the knowledge and website we give you in class. Click Here and register today. We do not allow this class to become too big (so you get plenty of attention), so hurry to get your seat.

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Happy Easter

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Become an Associate Loan Officer with a Chartered Financial Institution!

In conjunction with a Chartered Financial Institution, we have developed an exciting new offering, where you can, when approved, associate with a company that has a national presence ... acceptable in several dozen States and having access to all the major wholesale funding sources. To learn all about how it works, and see all the 'fine print' go HERE. In case you want to give us your two cents about this opportunity on our discussion board, then CLICK HERE to get directly to the Board













New Home Sales Weakest in Seven Years
New home sales fell to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 848,000 units in February, the weakest reading in seven years, according to newly released government figures. Further casting a pall on the spring home buying season, there is now an 8.1 month supply of new homes on the market, a 26% spike from the same month last year. New home sales fell 3.9% compared to the previous month, but declined 18.3% compared to February of last year. The largest sequential decline came in the Northeast and West, which fell 26.8% and 24.6%, respectively. "Based on all of the proxies we look at and the anecdotal information from industry contacts, we believe that the recent weakness is mostly weather, but there will be no definitive answer to this question for at least a month," writes RBS Greenwich Capital analyst Stephen Stanley. "In the meantime, it is a safe bet that many tubs of ink will be spilled debating this point." The Census Bureau and the Department of Housing and Urban Development compile the new home sales figures. CLICK HERE and tell us what you think on our our Discussion Board