July 15,2008 Update

I hope that you all had a great long 4th of July weekend. As each day goes by we hear more and more evidence that the world economy is being greatly affected by factors both of our own doing and by the actions of others. I have not seen a time in my lifetime where things have been so precarious and that could have a great affect on our livelihoods. Many of you know that to supplement my income due to only once a year holding the CRP classes, I took a position with the Borders Group and got caught in a RIF. So I truly feel for the professionals in the marketplace who find themselves out of work. We have two entries for today--one of movement forward to better times and one to insure that our problems do not get deeper.

New Mortgage Rules from Federal Reserve

The Federal Reserve on July 14, released new rules governing the mortgage market, which should have a direct affect on the relocation market. The new rules are as follows:
a. Prohibit a lender from making a loan without regard to the borrower's ability to repay the loan from income and other than the home value.
b. Requires creditors to verify the income and assets they rely upon to determine repayment ability. This has a direct affect on relocation loan programs which in some cases do not require documentation of income.
c. Bans any prepayment penalty if the payment can change in the initial four years. For higher priced loans prepayment penalties cannot last more than two years.
d. Requires lenders to establish escrow accounts on all loans
e. Mortgage Lenders and Brokers are prohibited from coercing a real estate appraiser to misstate a home's value
f. Loan payments are are to be credited as of the date of receipt
g. No fees can be charged by the mortgage industry until the borrower has received the early disclosures except for the reasonable cost of a credit check.
h. Sets out new mortgage advertising regulations on what lenders must disclose

Launch of New Real Estate Brand

Better Homes and Gardens and Realogy will conduct as press conference and webcast on July 23 to announce the formal roll out of the Better Homes and Gardens new real estate brand.