Federal Reserve Chairman, Ben Bernanke, spoke just minutes ago to a UC Berkley conference on the mortgage market challenges moving forward from the current crisis. Ben did a great job outlining the gestation of the crisis by outlining the difference in public versus private securitization. GSE securitization of mortgages is what he called “public” in [...]

A home equity line of credit is a lien where you borrow against the equity in your home. It is usually in second place behind a first mortgage. They are also known as a HELOC (pronounced like, “he lock”). Home Equity Line of Credit Defined You can get a home equity line of credit when [...]

Here is the question…and it is a good one! “My mortgage broker had locked me in at 6.43% with a .25 point buy down at a cost of $875.00. Her yield spread was .98%. Then a week later the market fluctuated and she was able to lock me in at 6% with no buy down [...]

A flood certification fee is often questioned when borrowers look over their costs. Especially, if their home is no where near water, has never had a flood or the threat of one. You might be surprised to know that flood zones change all the time. The landscape is not set in stone (pardon the pun) [...]

Flagstar Bank is the national mega-bank owned by parent company, Flagstar Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE: FBC). We located a website, two Flagstar phone numbers, and a link to customer complaints. Flagstar Bank Website and Phone Contacts Website: flagstar.com Phone: (800) 447-7181 (800) 945-7700 Fax: (888) 541-2056 Address: 5151 Corporate Drive, Troy, MI 48098Map Flagstar Bank Mortgage [...]

Here’s the whole question… “My husband and I obtained a loan for a new house in December of last year. We recently were notified of an escrow shortage of close to 2300. If we don’t pay this our mortgage is due to increase more than 400.00 per mo. After some digging we discovered that the [...]

Here’s the question… “Can you please assist us with a problem with FIRST FRANKLIN? Our refinance was done through them almost three years ago. We had over $25,000.00 worth of damages done to our home with the recent Hurricane Ike. We are having to replace our roof, entire fence, floor downstairs in family room, along [...]

PNC Financial Services Group (NYSE: PNC) is taking over the ailing National City Corp (NYSE: NCC) owner of the regional National City Bank based in Cleveland. PNC has agreed to pay $5.6 billion with some of the money coming from the US Treasury. PNC First To Use Government Money in Takeover We were all “sold” [...]

Here’s the question… “My wife and I are in the process of finding a mortgage broker, we’re going to check out the one her brother used. This mortgage broker said that they don’t charge points, so I assume they will make their money from Yield Spread, which is the lender giving her a rebate for [...]