I am just returning from a ferry ride to and from Vashon Island where I met with a couple getting ready to buy a home together. Vashon Island is getting ready to close their main street so that all the little tricker treaters can safely rule to roads as they gather their goodies. In fact, I was very honored to have a Power Ranger sit with us during the loan application! I was really hoping to have a nice fall photo from the ferry…but fog had us socked in as far as the view is concerned!

Dustin Luther, Rain City Guide Creator, recently did a post about emergency short-term housing for families who have lost their homes due to fire and the Santa Ana winds in Southern California.   

I lived from Auburn, California…to Agua Dulce, Canyon County and Chula Vista before returning to my home in Washington for a couple of years with my Dad when he was opening parks for Thousand Trails many years ago.   It’s heart breaking to see the detestation.   

I don’t know how many readers I have in California…but just in case I do…or if there’s someone who knows someone, Dustin is trying to get this information out to help those in need…please spread the word.

Marilyn Porter, President of Mortgage Master Service Corporation (also my boss and my sister-in-law) and me at the Seattle Home Show. We are located on Isle 1100.

Posted from my Treo.

Columbus Day is Monday, October 8, 2007.   Banks and Federal Offices (such as the Federal Reserve) are closed.   County offices are open.   So theoretically a transaction could record, however, it cannot fund on Monday.  The Post Office is closed on Monday as well so that date may not be counted as part of your 3 day waiting period, if your refinancing.

My office, Mortgage Master, will be open for Monday.  If you need anything, please conact me!

I just found out that one of my dear clients is walking to raise funds for breast cancer.   In fact, her entire company, Pat’s Plumbing, has a team walking for this cause.  Talk about commitment!

Linda Houser tells me that Pat’s Plumbing has been participating with the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk for years.  The walk takes place on October 14, 2007 in Bellevue.  If you’re interested in making a donation, please click here.

This is a cause that’s very important to me.  Breast cancer touches so many lives.  My first processor, Michelle, is battling Stage 4 breast cancer.   Let’s keep working towards a cure and early detection.

Update from Pat’s Plumbing:

Linda also wanted to let you know that we donate $2 per can of Bio Clean sold to the Susan B Koman Breast Cancer Research foundation year round. Last year it ended up being about $3000.

(Bio Clean is a drain maintenance product; it’s an enzyme that eats the gunk in your drains rather than a harsh chemical. It’s much safer for pipes, your family and the environment.)

I forgot to mention that I’m a happy client of Pat’s Plumbing, too!

Unfortunately, one of the Account Executives (Wholesale Rep) that they let go is my youngest sister, Janette.  I’m the oldest and wisest of three girls.   I understand that they laid off approximately 20 employees today with it split between AEs and support staff.

Janette hasn’t asked me to do this…but I’m pretty typical bossy, caring big sister…so here goes.

If anyone is looking for an outstanding, smart, mortgage savvy individual to hire, Janette is worth your consideration.   She has done mortgage retail processing, escrow assistant, wholesale lending…she’s very experienced and has a great personality.   

My other sister is also a Wholesale Rep…knock on wood, she’s okay with her job for now.   I work for family and so I’m hoping my job is safe (or the holiday dinners may be a bit uncomfortable for more than one reason). 

This market is amazing sucks.

Once again, I was glued to the TV watching Ben Bernanke along with Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and HUD Secretry Alphonso Jackson testify before the House Committee on Financial Services about the mortgage mess.  There were a few of Paulson’s points that I that really stuck out to me beyond the talk of temporarily raising the conforming loan limits.

"many borrowers mistakenly believe that their lender wants to repossess their house in foreclosure…. The vast majority of lenders would rather find a way to help the homeowner stay in their home than foreclose. Yet according to most of the servicers and counselors we have spoken to, 50 percent of those who lose their home to foreclosure never contacted their mortgage servicer or a mortgage counselor for help. Often times borrowers are fearful of foreclosure and not aware that their lender may be able to work out a solution…"

Please don’t wait to contact a Mortgage Professional.  Do so well before your ARM adjust or before you cannot meet your financial obligations.

"The borrowers who are facing the greatest stress today are those who have less-than-perfect credit, and also those who have little equity in their homes, due to a decline in house price appreciation or a depreciation in home values.  These difficulties are not limited solely to subprime mortgages, but are also surfacing among some prime jumbo mortgage holders."

And who wouldn’t welcome this (regarding the stack of paper work you are the recipient of when you’re obtaining a mortgage):

"The key is not more disclosure, the key is better disclosure and this might be a case where less is more. Taking it as a given that many people will not read all (or even most) of the disclosure documents, we should try to evaluate what type of information is most critical for a lending decision to be consummated. Some of the proposals to create a one-page mortgage disclosure have been designed with this goal in mind."

I’ve got a bone to pick with Paulsen over this statement:

"Mortgage brokers have often been singled out as the main problem, and it appears that many of the mortgages that are currently under stress were arranged by mortgage brokers. But that is not the complete story as in many cases mortgage brokers were arranging loans based on lax underwriting standards developed by mortgage originators who could then fund these loans through securitization transactions arranged by investment banks."

Mortgage Brokers outnumber Mortgage Bankers, so therefore it’s simple math that more stressed mortgages were originated from a mortgage broker.   However, everyone seems to forget that mortgage brokers are not the ones who have created the programs that are under scrutiny…they come from BANKS and follow the bank guidelines.   Mortgage brokers are simply the source for consumers to obtain their financing from.

"Additional efforts to encourage the development of a more consistent licensing, education, and monitoring system for mortgage originators are worth considering and such a system could help to weed out some of the bad actors."

Presently only mortgage brokers are licensed in the state of Washington…loan originators who do not work for a mortgage broker are not required to be licensed (i.e. LOs who work for bank-mortgage companies like Washington Mutual, Wells Fargo, Countrywide, Chase, Bank of America…etc.).    I do hope that the State of Washington will step up to Paulsen’s call and have everyone who originates a mortgage be accountable to the same high standards as that of a Loan Originator who works for a Mortgage Broker.

"I have no doubt that some mortgage brokers and originators engaged in deceptive and predatory practices in marketing loans to people that they did not understand or have the ability to repay. Just as important, and not said as often, I have no doubt that there was an abundance of borrower-level fraud as well. Some people chose to inflate their income or mislead a lender into thinking the property was to be owner occupied as opposed to being an investment property. Both of these practices have a profoundly negative effect on the mortgage market."

Are you still reading this??? To read the entire testimony…click here.

Ben Bernanke’s press release from today.

Alphonso Jackon’s press release.