Implementing A Real Estate Finance System

When someone decides to take the major choice in life to purchase a home they need to feel secure in the process and decision. The purchase of a home is an investment in their future they need to feel secure in the choice made. This step-in life at times are due to future family planning and ensure a they are a part of an environment is one they can thrive in. One of the major draws of homeownership is the investment made when choosing to have a mortgage versus the continuous cycle of renting. Which is why real estate transactions are important and ensuring that they are handled legally and protect all parties is important.

The regulation that I have chosen for this paper is amendment in the Regulation X i.e. “Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act” and Regulation Z which is for “Truth in Lending”, for establishing the new disclosure requirements and forms in Regulation Z for the most closed-end consumer credit transactions secured by the real property. This regulation is controlled by the Bureau of Consumer Financial Protection. The role of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) is to provide consumers information related to the terms of their agreements with financial companies during their application for a mortgage, choosing among credit cards, or using any number of other consumer financial products. The mortgage market is the single largest market for the consumer of financial products and the services in the United States, with approximately $10.4 trillion in loans outstanding. Since last decade, market went through an unprecedented cycle of the expansion and the contraction that was fuelled in the part by securitization of mortgages and the creation of increasingly sophisticated derivative products. This led to the collapse of financial system in 2008 and sparked the most severe recession in United States.

There are many interesting proposals to help homeowners who are in the process of foreclosure. Just recently, before the election, Senator John McCain proposed to the Treasury to spend $300 billion to purchase troubled mortgages at face value and then the “Federal Housing Administration would issue a new, federally guaranteed 30-year fixed-rate loan, based on the property's present value, at a "manageable" interest rate” (McKinnon, 2008). Under McCain's plan, the government would pay for the loans and take the whole loss rather than putting the responsibility on the lenders. His plan carries large benefits for the homeowners, but it will decrease

     Those involved in the mortgage lending process have some duty to the borrower. They are expected to perform their specific duties in an ethical manner and

In the 1980s, investments banks such as Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch, Bear Stearns, JP Morgan, and Morgan Stanley started selling mortgage bonds. Mortgage bonds were a collection of thousands of home mortgages, purchased from lenders, and their associated income streams (monthly payment). To address the fact that some homeowners often refinance their debt when interest rates are low which prematurely pays off the debt, mortgage bonds were stacked into layers called ‘tranches’. The lowest tranche represented mortgages to be paid off early, and the highest layer was the last mortgages to be paid off.

It was found that the Bergerons’ reliance on provision 11 U.S.C Section 552 (a)1998 was misplaced and based on Federal law, Johnson v. Home State Bank, 501 U.S. 78,83 (1991), Dewsnup v. Timm, 112 S. Ct. 773, 778 (1992) a lien on real estate survives the bankruptcy unaffected by the debtor’s discharge in bankruptcy. Also, once First Colonial Bank for Savings foreclosed its first mortgage, it became the trustee of the surplus funds for the benefit of the junior mortgagees, which in this case was Ford Consumer Finance Company. Furthermore, the junior mortgagee is considered to be a successor or assignee of the mortgagor, therefore entitling them to surplus

Interestingly, declining risk premiums encouraged lenders to consider higher-risk borrowers for loans. A Federal Reserve study indicates that there was a general decline in the difference between mortgage

The financial crisis emerged because of an excessive deregulation of business operation of financial institutions and of abusing the securitization mechanism in the absence of clearly defined rules to regulate this area in the American mortgage market (Krstić, Jemović, & Radojičić, 2013). Deregulation gives larger banks the opportunity to loosen underwriting lender guidelines and generate increase opportunity for homeownership (Kroszner & Strahan, 2013). After deregulation, banks utilized many versions of mortgage loans. Mortgage loans such as subprime and Alternative-A paper loans became available for borrowers challenged to find mortgage lenders before deregulation (Elbarouki, 2016; Palmer, 2015). The housing market has been severely affected by fluctuating interest rates and the requirement of large down payment (Follain, & Giertz, 2013). The subprime lending crisis has taken a toll on the nation’s economy since 2007. Individuals who lacked sufficient credit ratings or down payments resorted to subprime mortgages to finance their homes Defaults on subprime and other mortgages precipitated the foreclosure crisis, which contributed to the recent recession and national financial crisis (Odetunde, 2015). Subprime mortgages were appropriate for borrowers with substandard credit and Alternate-A paper loans were

The foreclosure crisis had to be predictable at some point by the lending agencies. But since there is no undo on what has been done and a bailout is not desired, the lending agencies must work with the homeowner and vice versa to reach a new agreement upon legal documents for repayment of the loan acquired by the homeowner. The lending agency must also actively consider its own budget, both from a balance sheet point of view and a profit and loss point of view. In order to build a stronger balance sheet, the lending agencies should consider using some of the liquid cash to pay off some of the creditors to eliminate debt. Some items such as properties may need to be sold for cash to help with reducing the debt of the agency. And the profit and loss statement should be reviewed to determine if any of the expenditures could be eliminated or reduced drastically. Yes, drastically because this is a crisis for which resolution is needed! The income should then be reviewed to determine various avenues of fund raising to speed up the payoff of any debt the lending agency has incurred.

Consider this: The sub-prime market was at its peak at the millennium, consequently, the majority of sub-prime “interest only” loans carried 5 and 7-year adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs), meaning the adjustable mortgage rates would apply at the end of the 5 and/or 7 year mark. Furthermore, the explosion of the housing market in the years 2000 through 2003 coupled with rapidly increasing home prices perpetuated the sentiment of many people, “if I don’t buy a house now, I’ll never be able to afford one”, ergo, high demand. Also, it has been popularly hypothesized that various large financial institutions and several legislators held an extraordinarily bold level of confidence that homeowners wouldn’t default on their mortgages, therefore they continued to manipulate the market, generating massive profits for sub-prime lenders and investors. The monthly mortgage for a home purchased between the years 2000 through 2003, with a 5 or 7 year ARM, would drastically balloon in the years 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2010 respectively. With that being said, it’s my personal belief that the methodical construction of the 2005 bankruptcy legislation has specific intentions for imposing limitations on individuals who were facing the dilemma of either paying their mortgage, or paying down consumer debt at the expiration of their “no interest” terms in the years 2005 through 2008; thus, preventing people from filing bankruptcy in an effort to escape financial ruin. Or, in the cases of Chapter 7 qualifications using the means test, debtors were required to surrender their homes to their lender. In addition to the implementation of the means test are the restrictions on the Homestead Exemption, which further exacerbates equity issues and likely increases

Mortgage lending is a major sector with the United States financial market today. “The modern mortgage has only been around since the 1930s, but the idea of a mortgage has been around for a lot longer.” (History of Mortgages, 2016) The literal meaning of the word ‘mortgage’ has Latin roots: ‘mort’ or death and ‘gage’ or pledge. Translated it supports “the idea that the pledge died once the loan was repaid, and also the idea that the property was ‘dead’ (or forfeit) if the loan wasn’t repaid.” (History of Mortgages, 2016) A mortgage is an agreement for the terms of your home loan, technically not the home loan itself. Real estate transactions require written documentation and this is the purpose of a mortgage.

These brokers have neither the credit skills nor the interest to conduct proper payment due of potential homebuyers. Their interest is only in selling the houses as fast as they can. The MBS instruments allowed all financial institutions to transfer the risks to other investors. The dissociation of ownership of assets from risks encouraged poor credit assessment and was fundamental increasing the risks.

In the new system, an investment banker buys the mortgage from the lender, borrowing millions of dollars to buy thousands of mortgages, and every month he gets payments from homeowners for each of the mortgages. The banker then consolidates all the mortgages and splits the final product into three sections: safe, okay, and risky mortgages, which make up a collateralized debt obligation (CDO). As homeowners pay their mortgages, money flows into each of the sections, with the safe filling first and the risky filling last, contributing to their respective names. Credit agencies stamp the top two safer mortgages with a triple A or triple B rating, which are then be sold to investors who want a safe mortgage, while the risky slice is sold to hedge funds who want a risky investment. The bankers make millions, pay back their loans, and investors also make a worthwhile investment. So pleased are the investors, however, that they want more. Unfortunately, back at the beginning of the cycle, the mortgage broker can no longer find qualified mortgagers

This essay will consider the rights and remedies of both parties in a mortgage agreement where there has been default of payment. Furthermore, it will be concluded by taking a stand on whether further restriction needs to be placed on the right of he mortgagee.

An increase in loan packaging, marketing and incentives encouraged borrowers to undertake difficult mortgages so they believed that they would be able to refinance quickly at more favourable terms. People borrowed money to buy the house and then expected the price to rise and sold so that they could pay off the debt which owed to the bank and demanded a new loan to buy another house. However, once the interest rate began to rise and house’s price dropped in 2007, refinancing became more difficult and banks could not collect their mortgages.