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Mortgage disclosure rules are changing. The old rules were that you didn’t really know the fees until you got to the closing table. You got an estimate but things could be added and adjusted at the last minute. In some cases you really don’t know until the last minute and this variability is legitimate. Of course brokers and lenders took advantage of this and added extra fees at the last minute that most people had no choice but to go along with.

Then the rules were changed to say that a borrower had to be disclosed with good numbers at least 3 days before the closing. Now we are getting somewhere. The idea is to give the borrower a chance to review the numbers with enough time to back out without the pressure of closing weighing into their decision.

Now they are turning all of this on it’s head. The new rules say that a broker or a lender has only one opportunity to disclose the loan. The fees cannot change from the first disclosure. The governement strikes again.

There are a tremendous number of very valid reasons that the fees and costs of the loan can change during the process. In my opinion, this rule makes no sense. I guess you could call it “too much of a good thing”. Everyone needs proper checks and balances to prevent the occasional temptation to cut a corner here or there but this is crazy.

My thinking is the the consumer simply needs more education on the mortgage process. If you understand what is going on and what the factors are you are able to make good decisions. The process becomes a partnership between the originator and the borrower. If the ignorance mistakes were removed from the the mortgage origination process, most of the unpleasantness that we have seen in previous years could have been avoided.

Related articles

• Report: 1 in 3 Loan Applications Denied (abcnews.go.com)
• Will ‘good faith’ be bad for borrowers? (huntingtonhomes.freedomblogging.com)

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Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki discussed the VA’s expanded initiative to end homelessness for Veterans at the VA National Summit Ending Homelessness among Veterans. The latest initiative expands to the scope of the VA programs beyond getting Veterans off the streets into addresses why there are there in the first place.

“Our plan enlarges the scope of VA’s efforts to combat homelessness,” said Shinseki. “In the past, VA focused largely on getting homeless Veterans off the streets. Our five-year plan aims also at preventing them from ever ending up homeless.”

• The new GI Bill provides expanded options for Veterans to pursue a degree program at a state college or university.
• VA is working with the Small Business Administration and the General Services Administration to get Veteran-owned small businesses a listing on the Federal Supply Register.
• VA will spend $3.2 billion next year on medical services and homeless programs for Veterans.
• VA will more aggressively address the physical and emotional effects of war that often lead to homelessness.
• VA will partner with community organizations to provide transitional housing to Veterans. The VA will partner with HUD to provide permanent housing to more than 20,000 Veterans and their families.

I think it is about time. It is my personal opinion that any man or woman that put their life on the line to defend our county should never be homeless.

Related articles

• VA Secretary Wants To End Vet Homelessness (dvorak.org)
• U.S. seeing more female homeless veterans (cnn.com)
• VA’s goal: Eradicate vet homelessness in 5 years (cnn.com)