HW Magazine

March 2013
JPMorgan Chase: Owning the new normal

JPMorgan Chase is moving up in the mortgage business, in just about every way possible. Only a few years ago, customer satisfaction surveys available from J.D. Power and Associates placed the mortgage originator and servicer past 10th place — hardly something for a big four bank to brag about.

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Features

'Qualified' endorsement
by Megan Hopkins

In January, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau released its qualified mortgage, or ability-to-repay, provisions. The rule drew praise from some for including a safe-harbor provision for lower-risk loans and saving a rebuttable presumption standard for higher-risk mortgages. However, many trade professionals still voiced concern as they dug through the complex guidelines of the rule, which is set to take effect in January 2014.

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Highly scrutinized

The concept that lenders and mortgage servicers are responsible for the actions of their subcontractors isn’t new, but it is front-and-center like never before.

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Commentary

Investors interested in asset-backed securities
by Christopher Whalen

The 2013 Winter Conference for the American Securitization Forum was remarkable for a number of reasons. For a start, the fact that more than 5,200 people attended the world’s largest investor conference is certainly a vote of confidence for the long moribund securitization market.

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What I really think about the FHA
by Ed Pinto

As Chris Whalen is a friend, I won’t dwell on his misrepresentations of facts such as stating I have criticized increased GSE fees (I have not) or I haven’t criticized the National Association of Realtors (I have) or his odd assertion that “the FHA is really doing a pretty decent job.”

 
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