: July 2010

USDA Home Loans Are Available

I have had many people contact me in the last couple of months requesting information or inquiring whether or not USDA Home Financing is available.  There have been stories of Loan Originators using stalling tactics to hold back their prospective clients from going to "THE OTHER LENDER" who claims to have available USDA financing. 

Today I am happy to say that USDA Home financing is indeed available, however with Congress yet to commit a new round of appropriation/ funding to the USDA Program, many lenders have decided to add a set of overlays (additional self-prescribed guidelines) that protect the lender against any liability.  Most lenders are manually underwrting these loans, so that means the requirements are a bit more strict. 

USDA Loans are available at Academy Mortgage, however with the following requirements:

1. Loan must have a 1st payment date of October 1st, 2010 (or later).

2. Borrower's first mortgage payment must be collected at closing. Academy will submit payment to investor.

3. Minimum FICO score for product (until further notice): 680 (no exceptions)

4. No Bankruptcies in past 36 months

5. Ratios limited to 29/41 (no exceptions)

 For more information, please contact me at 480.344.3671 or you can visit me at www.tedcanto.com

NMLS - Loan Officer Look Up Service

Do you know your Loan Officer? I mean do you really know your Loan Officer?  Has he/ she have any pending litigation?  Have committed fraud or have scammed anyone?  Better or worse, are they licensed?

You may or may not know but the Federal requirement to become licensed under the NMLS (The Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System) expired July 1, 2010.  This means that any "Former" Loan Originator who is not licensed, is unable to discuss any financial matters with a potential client nor take a loan application.  They are prohibited from advertising, sending emails, and any form of communication that conveys that they are a Loan Officer.

This now allows professionals and consumers alike the ability to verify license status and check whether or not the Loan Originator has anything that would prevent the consumer from working with that person. 

As a real estate professional, you want to ensure that, if, you are currently working with a Loan Officer, that they be licensed accordingly and are able to complete your clients' loans. More interestingly, up to 60-70% of Loan Officers filed 3 weeks prior to the deadline.  This means a backlog of license applications that will take some governmental departments up to 2-4 months to review, process and approve or reject license applications.  These figures do not represent the number of applicants that have failed the state and national requirements. 

How do you know if the Loan Officer is licensed?  You can go to The NMLS Consumer Access Website located at http://www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org/Home.aspx/MainSearch and learn more.  Do keep in mind that the site is not fully updated and the frequency it is updated may be determined by the backlog of agencies reporting in a timely manner.

Homebuyer Tax Credit Extended

It's OFFICIAL!!  They finally agreed on something and were able to do something right!

The Senate and Congress has finally sent President Obama a plan to give home buyers an extra three months to qualify for up t0 $8,000 in federal tax credits. Buyers who already have executed contracts prior to April 30th will now have until Sept. 30 to complete their purchases. Under the current terms, buyers had until April 30 to get a signed sales contract and until June 30 to complete the sale.

The House approved the measure on Tuesday. Legislation in the Senate was approved Wednesday night by unanimous consent. Talk about pulling a rabbit out of the hat!

Now breathe and relax and make sure that your loan gets closed by Sept. 30th.  Also check to see if your Loan Officer is licensed and bonded as it will be a requirement as of July 1st.

For more market information go to:  www.tedcanto.com