Changes in Latitudes = Changes in Attitudes

I am sure that by now you have all heard about all the changes in the mortgage business. Because of some of the direction that lending took—and some stupid decisions that many lenders made—the general attitude of lending had to change.

In 2003, lending was hitting new heights and records, and now we are at new horizions not seen before, with the lowest interest rates and home prices in years.

As a result, the lending arena has changed much more to what it was like 25 years ago. While lenders do have some stricter rules these days, it is not impossible to get a mortgage. What lenders have done is made giving a loan more black and white, and not vague. This is actually good in many ways, as it makes full disclsoure very clear to the lender and easier to make a decision.

Along with changing some of the ways that lenders do things, a couple of the other big changes were that loan disclosures needed to be made within a specific time period, that changes to the APR on a loan could result in new disclosure and possibly a waiting period and of course the Good Faith Estimate (GFE) turned in to a form that none of us like.

One needs to remember that many of the changes that have resulted are not welcomed by the lending arena, as they were put in place by politicians in Washington who have no clue. While they think that they are making things easier for the consumer, they actually have made things worse for them.

The GFE is a perfect example. It was set up to streamline the way that costs are shown, and to make it easier to compare lenders. But it had resulted in severe confusion and frustration for the consumer and even for the lender. Lenders have to be even more conservative on their approach now in showing numbers because of new legislation that requires them to be within a certain range for the final numbers or they are penalized. So many lenders are inflating their GFE to play it safe.

The one thing that is important for any loan process and any consumer is that the loan officer that they are dealing with is willing to take the time to explain the process and the forms so that the consumer can understand. If your loan officer is good and does this, it can really change the way that our loan process goes.

The loan officer needs to do this and set the expecations of what will transpire and what will be needed. Even if they are good they can not always be 100% accurate so give them a little slack.

So the levels of the mortgage industry have changed and the way things are looked at have as well. But one thing is still in place: Lenders want to give loans. If they don't, they don't make money, so please don't feel as they are trying to be difficult as they are just trying to be cautious.

Rates are low. Home prices are low. Lenders still want to loan. So why have you not bought or refinanced yet?