May 19, 2008
Regulations Division
Office of General Counsel
Department of Housing and Urban Development
451 Seventh St., SW., Room 10276
Washington, D.C. 20410-0001
Re: Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA):
Proposed Rule to Simplify and Improve the Process of Obtaining Mortgages and Reduce Consumer Settlement Costs, 08-01015 [FR-5180-P-01; RIN2502-AI61]
To Our Friends at HUD:
I know that sounds cheesy, but I want to [...]

In Pennsylvania we have a nice sales agreement used by members of the Pennsylvania Association of Realtors. It covers title insurance commitment cancellation fees very nicely in TWO places.
The seller agrees to convey marketable title and the buyer agree to pay for the search, including cancellation fees, if any.
The mortgage contingency clause contains similar [...]

my husband
owes me five bucks.

Sorry, I haven’t been here much lately but Todd, my man, you gave me a sales and marketing tool that is just going nuts and I love it.
Our community is discovering Ligonier Living for the positive community forum it’s designed to be and a place to stay on top of local happenings.  I haven’t decided [...]

It doesn’t happen much anymore but years ago we would still see closing statements prepared by attorneys using their own forms. Can you really imagine working without standardization of settlement disbursements disclosure?
I remember life before the 1003. Conventional lenders had their own application forms. FHA and VA had their own forms. [...]

Go to Radical for access to full screen images.

THESE ARE TWO DEFINITIONS TAKEN FROM THE PROPOSED RESPA RULES:
Mortgage broker means a person (not
an employee of a lender) or entity that
renders origination services in a table
funded or intermediary transaction. A
loan correspondent approved under 24
CFR 202.8 for Federal Housing
Administration programs is a mortgage
broker for purposes of this part.
Origination service means any service
involved in the creation [...]

I should have known it as soon as my hands started hurting again and the hot flashes started back up. Yes, that seems to be my personal stress response. Criminy.
My reticence to discuss the RESPA reform is largely due to what’s NOT there rather than what is.
I hate that we need these new procedures but [...]

Ligonier is a pretty small town but it’s a destination town for day trips and a few large special events. As a choice for a hyper-localized blog, I’m happy with it because the exposure will move beyond the geographic limitations of the town itself.
The blog is still in the toddler stage and I’m working [...]