CLARIFICATION OF THE NEW RESPA ACT

Are you in the market for a new home? Thinking of obtaining a mortage on that purchase? It is imperitive to work with a lender that can accomplish your goals while providing the best and honest service with competitive rates. Call me and we can get the process started! Some new changes in Lending provided below.

http://www.hud.gov/offices/hsg/ramh/res/respa_hm.cfm

Recent changes in the Truth in Lending laws as of 7/30/09

CLARIFICATION OF NEW RESPA ACT

Changes to the Truth in Lending Act: What You Need to Know!
Regulation Z of The Truth in Lending Act (TILA) has undergone important changes that you need to know about in order to set expectations when looking for a loan. These changes take effect for all new applications taken on July 30, 2009 and after, apply to ALL types of mortgage loans (except investor loans and HELOC's) and could impact the overall time line of the mortgage process.

Here are four key parts you need to know:

Initial Disclosures: Under the new rules, initial disclosures must be provided to the borrower for all loans within three (3) business days of when an application is taken.

Initial disclosures include: the Good Faith Estimate (GFE), Truth in Lending Statement (TIL).
Collection of Up-front Fees: The new regulations prohibit lenders from ordering and collecting many up-front fees (ie: appraisal) prior to the new waiting period.

If the loan application is face-to-face, there is no waiting period.

Otherwise lenders have a 3 day waiting period before fee services can be ordered.

TBD properties: Are not considered actual applications per RESPA - once a property is identified and application is made - the waiting period would start from that day. So, if we did a pre-qual for someone today and a week later the property is identified, the disclosures would need to be signed and/or mailed on that day, and the waiting period begins.

Re-disclosures: If there are changes to a borrower's Annual Percentage Rate (APR) that INCREASES more than .125%, the lender must re-disclose to the borrower, and the 3 day waiting period starts over again.

Timing of Loan Closings: Business days are considered Monday-Saturday excluding legal public holidays. Closings cannot be scheduled until at least seven (7) business days after the initial disclosures are received by the borrower. If re-disclosures are needed because of changes to the loan program, terms or APR, the loan closing cannot be scheduled until after the re-disclosures are received by the borrower.

Please contact me for all of your real estate needs @ (702) 521-3939

Kim Duclos - Coldwell Banker Wardley

Swine Flu Shot Protection?

Swine flu shot protection? Maybe by Thanksgiving By MIKE STOBBE,

ATLANTA -It will likely be Thanksgiving before a significant number of Americans who get the swine flu vaccine are protected, health officials said Monday.

Roughly 50 million doses of vaccine are expected to be available by mid-October. But for those who get initial doses right away, that will only mark the beginning of a vaccination process that will take five or more weeks.

Here's why: Health officials believe most people will need two shots, spaced three weeks apart, and it will take a week or two after the second dose before immunity kicks in. That's five or six weeks in all.

That means large numbers of Americans won't be fully immunized until Thanksgiving, said U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, speaking to reporters in Atlanta.
Health officials don't really know if that's good or bad news. Since it was first reported in April, swine flu has turned out to be not much more dangerous than seasonal flu, overall. Government experts say it may soon become just another variety of the flu, and perhaps will conform to the seasonal flu calendar — vaccinated against in the fall, suffered through every winter.
But swine flu cases have persisted through this summer, especially in camps and other places where kids congregate. It's possible they will explode not long after kids return to schools and colleges this fall.

"Hopefully we will have a mild presentation this fall" with limited cases of serious illness and few deaths, Sebelius said during a visit to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Clinical trials started just this month to evaluate the new vaccine's safety and effectiveness, and the first substantial set of results is not expected until next month. Health officials presume there will be a fall campaign to encourage people to get swine flu vaccinations that will be called off only if something unexpected and alarming emerges in the clinical trials, CDC spokespeople said.

Also Monday, the White House released a report from the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology that assessed the nation's swine flu preparations. The panel predicted 20 to 40 percent of the U.S. population will suffer swine flu symptoms this fall, and about half will get sick enough to go to the doctor.

The panel also estimated the virus will cause between 30,000 and 90,000 deaths, concentrated among children and young adults. Seasonal flu, in contrast, kills an estimated 36,000 people every year.

The panel also recommended that vaccine manufacturers step up production so at least 40 million doses are available by mid-September to start immunizing children and others at higher risk of serious swine flu complications.

However, vaccine makers have said they've had trouble producing large quantities of doses as quickly as was originally hoped.

JUDGES PARTICIPATE IN LOAN MEDIATION HEARINGS

BROUGHT TO YOU BY KIM DUCLOS OF COLDWELL BANKER WARDLEY

KVBC - LAS VEGAS

If you recently received a notice of default on your home, the Nevada Supreme Court and Nevada Legislature have now made it a law that your lender go to mediation.
To prepare dozens of district court judges to act as mediators, they are participating in mock sessions that will help them help you through the process.
News 3's explains how these mediations may help keep thousands of folks in their homes.
Story continues below ↓
Nearly two dozen judges showed up Friday at UNLV's Boyd School of Law in an effort to learn how to be better mediators.

"What were doing here today is expanding the skill set of our district court judges," says Jennifer Elliott, District Court Judge. "The judges need to learn and the judges know they need to learn. They are here desiring to learn an impartial set of skills."
The reason these judges are practicing now is because soon, they will be asked to mediate hundreds - if not thousands - of foreclosure cases.
Thanks to Assembly Bill 149, it is now Nevada law that all homeowners facing default after July 1 participate in mediation with their lender.
Attorney Ed Bernstein has clients facing foreclosure. He says mediation will end up helping thousands of families to stay in their homes.
And the best part is that it's simple to apply and affordable, only costing $200.
"This system is so simple," says Bernstein. "Our supreme court has done a great job. They've made it easy and the form - any layman can fill out the form. You don't need to be an attorney."
Chief Justice of the state Supreme Court, James Hardesty, hopes that these mediations will stop the rising number of foreclosures in the Silver State.
"My hope is that lenders and borrowers will get together and reach reasonable economic decisions about how best to handle the residence they've got."
The entire mediation process, beginning with when you apply and lasting until a decision is reached should take no more than 90 days. Anyone receiving a notice of default since July 1 will receive a mediation application in the mail.
For more information, visit the Nevada Judiciary web site.
The Saving You Money Team also wants to let you know about two foreclosure workshops to help you stay in your home.
The Hope Now Foreclosure Prevention Workshop is happening Friday until 8 pm and Saturday from 9 am to 2 pm at the Aliante Station Casino in the Scottsdale Ballroom. You'll be able to meet face-to-face with a housing counselor and discuss your best options.
Best of all, this workshop is free and open to the public.
Also, there is another educational event that will help lay out all of your options, explain what loan modification is, and help you recognize what to watch out for if you go to a loan modification company.
It's being held at the AAA Home Rescue Office on Sunset Road near Jones and the 215 Beltway. This workshop begins at 11 am on Saturday.

HOW DOES A YIELD SPREAD HELP BUYERS BUY?

Opportunity is knocking fairly loudly for many considering homeownership. Home prices have declined in many markets around the country and tax incentives and other inducements have first-time home buyers and others weighing the possibilities.
Home affordability, as defined by the National Association of Realtors’ Housing Affordability Index, stands near all-time highs, thanks to declining prices and historically low mortgage rates. Yet, while some consumers hold off on purchases as they attempt to catch the home-price bottom, they could miss the mortgage-financing opportunity of a lifetime.
Consider the weekly average yield spread between Fannie Mae’s 6.5-year bond to the “benchmark” 10-year Treasury note, a classic relationship that involves the cost of making mortgage loans to consumers. Before disarray in the financial markets, the spread ran about 1% above Treasury bonds, reflecting investors’ confidence that owning debt of bonds backed by Fannie and Freddie is nearly as safe as owning government bonds.
The spread began widening in July 2007 as the global financial crisis unfolded, then spiked to above 2% during the next year as the U.S. economy seized and credit grew scarce. It grew to a startling 2.5% late last year as bond investors’ skittishness about continued delinquencies and defaults-and that the risk of these mortgages had not been properly assessed-resulted in higher risk premiums and higher costs to borrowers.
Late last year, however, the Federal Reserve Bank stepped in with a promise to purchase $500 billion in Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities, and raised that figure to $1.25 trillion in March. The move, combined with loan-modification initiatives and other federal intervention, restored investor confidence in the secondary market and mortgage rates declined rapidly. The yield spread in March dropped to 1% and zero and then fell to an unprecedented minus 0.5% by early May.
This condition is certainly unique and, likely, short-lived. Statistically, when the yield spread deviates from historical norms, the chances are great it will return to those levels. That could quickly drive mortgage rates higher. How much is anyone’s guess, but if the cost of making a mortgage goes up by 1.5% so, too, might mortgage interest rates.
Yet, factor in some additional variables. The marketplace for bonds relies heavily on purchases by offshore buyers who remain skeptical as the global economy continues in flux. Then there’s the inflation-deflation conundrum. Many fear a deflationary spiral-with falling prices for goods and services that lead to falling wages-can still drag down a stabilizing U.S. economy.
Conversely, others believe inflation will kick in, ushering in higher consumer prices, including higher mortgage rates. How this issue shakes out will have important implications for interest rates.
One thing is crystal clear: the odds that mortgage interest rates will rise are much greater than any continued mortgage-rate decline. And for most home buyers, the cost of mortgage financing can be as important as the price of the home itself.
Real estate sales professionals can help their customers make the best long-term decisions by demonstrating the degree to which housing prices and mortgage interest rates could move from this point forward. Customers waiting for the absolute lowest price on a house could miss a golden financing opportunity and the lowest overall cost of homeownership.

LET ME HELP PUT YOUR FAMILY IN A HOME..CALL ME TODAY (702) 521-3939