In the past year, the mortgage industry has implemented changes that will help provide customers with the essential information and enough time to understand their home purchases and refinance options. Some of those changes have included the Home Valuation Code of Conduct (HVCC) changes in May 2009 and the Housing and Economic Recovery Act (HERA) requirements that came into effect July 30, 2009. The newest addition to those changes is the RESPA (Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act) Reform, which became mandatory for all lenders and mortgage brokers on January 1, 2010.

Here's what you need to know about the RESPA Reform as a consumer and an industry colleague.

What is RESPA Reform?

RESPA Reform was enacted by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban…

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As of January 21, 2010, the FHA is changing their upfront funding fee from 1.75% to 2.25%. This is the fee the borrower can finance directly into their loan without making any changes to the purchase price. It doesn't affect the amount of cash required to close a loan and it won't change borrowers' mortgage payments very much but the change is getting a lot of attention nonetheless. Here's what's really going on:

The FHA is essentially going back to what it used to charge consumers years ago before it lowered its fee from 2.25% to 1.5%, and then increased it to the current 1.75%.

 So while this is definitely an increase, it's not really that big of a deal. Also, it won't impact very many borrowers because few lenders are doing loans with credit scores…

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An unpleasant scenario is starting to emerge regarding the mortgage rate picture for 2010. All my lender friends are telling me that the Fed is going to be winding down their purchase of mortgage-backed securities and will be all finished with the buying by the end of March 2010. Ouch. The experts don't see the Fed extending their buying spree so, although we aren't exactly sure what that's going to mean for mortgage rates, logic would seem to dictate that when you suddenly get dramatically decreased demand prices will have to drop in order for supply and demand to get back into equilibrium. As you may know, when it comes to mortgage-backed securities rates and prices move in opposite directions. So when demand for mortgage-backed securities diminishes and…

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The Fair Housing ActThe Civil Rights Act of 1866 states that all persons born in the United States are citizens regardless of their race, color, or previous condition and as citizens can make and enforce contracts, sue and be sued, give evidence in court, and inherit, purchase, lease, sell, hold, and convey real estate and personal property. While this act was never enforced on the local, state or national level a second act, The Civil Rights Act of 1964, outlawed segregation in public schools and public places and made it illegal to segregate people of different races in schools, housing, or hiring. A third act, the Civil Rights Act of 1968 prohibited discrimination concerning the sale, rental, and financing of housing based on race, religion, national origin, and sex. This…

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This week Lake and City Homes Realty celebrated the one year anniversary of its flagship Madison real estate website LakeandCityHomes.com. We want to give a shout out to all the wonderful people that made this possible including our amazing web developers, talented designers, as well as the many helpful fellow Realtors around the country who so generously gave their time and knowledge. We want to especially acknowledge and thank our patient families who supported us through the many hundreds of hours of coding, data compilation, and testing that went into putting together the best possible suite of real estate tools and information for Madison area buyers and sellers. Not a single city has been removed from the database so you can still search for real…

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Officials are reporting that the number of workers in the United States who are filing new applications for unemployment benefits actually fell last week to the lowest level it has been in about 17 months. While some experts caution that this unexpected drop may be due to the fact that the week was shortened by the holiday, which may have prevented some people from having the opportunity to file for benefits, others are optimistic that the drop is a sign that new jobs are finally cropping up during these troubling economic times. Cause for optimism seems to be warranted given the fact that the Labor Department reports that there is typically an increase in the number of applicants during this time of the year after the figures have been adjusted based on…

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