"Americans Turn to Real Estate"
Business Week (07/20/98) No. 3587; P. 24; Koretz, Gene

Investments in U.S. financial markets appear to be booming today, but in reality many of these investments come from foreign investors according to economist Joseph Carson of Deutsche Bank Securities. Foreign investments in 1997 totaled $350 billion, and that number is expected to increase this year. Much of the domestic activity in the U.S. has actually been through the selling of financial assets. Carson also says Americans have increased their investment in the housing market. U.S. housing market investments totaled $250 billion in 1997 and that figure could increase by 25 percent this year. This has come as a result of rising incomes, low mortgage rates, increasing property values, and tax advantages. But Carson says that if foreign markets recover, many of those investors could back out of U.S. markets, which could have a traumatic effect on the U.S. economy.

"Congressional Democrats Promote Issues From Mortgage Insurance to Farm Aid"
Wall Street Journal (07/20/98) P. B2; Rogers, David

The Senate voted on Friday to raise mortgage insurance limits on loans from the Federal Housing Administration from $170,000 to $197,000 in high-priced real estate markets. The bill passed easily despite objections from Republican leaders and the private mortgage insurance industry, which says the bill unfairly puts members of the industry in competition with the government. The bill is one of a number of bills Democrats are supporting in an effort to divide GOP votes before the November election.

"Disclosure Amendment Could Erase Mortgage Debt"
American Banker (07/20/98) P. 3; Seiberg, Jaret

Capitol Hill observers report that lenders are now lobbying to defeat an amendment to the Senate's consumer bankruptcy reform bill that could allow debtors to maintain their properties without paying their mortgages. Specifically, the amendment would give bankruptcy judges the power to enforce the Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act. This regulation imposes strict disclosure requirements on lenders that make high-interest-rate or high-fee loans. Under the proposed amendment, a judge could void a debtor's mortgage and let him/her keep the residence if the lender violated any one of the disclosure requirements. Bill Cumberland, general counsel to the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, argued, "This magnifies the penalty for not dotting your i's and crossing your t's far beyond what Congress intended." Attorney Wright H. Andrews, meanwhile, cautions that the courts could be deluged with lawsuits should the amendment get the go-ahead.

"Small Ohio Firm Opens Subprime Division"
American Banker (07/20/98) P. 13

UNB Corp. has created a subprime mortgage division for customers who fail to qualify for traditional loans. United Banc Financial Services is expected to market these mortgage loans to the self-employed or those with a poor credit history through bank branches and direct mail techniques. While larger banks have been expanding their services through the acquisition of subprime companies, UNB Corp. is one of the few small banks in the Midwest to initiate a subprime lending program.

"Insurers Cutting Homeowners Rates"
Miami Herald (07/18/98) P. 1C

The Florida Insurance Department reports that Prudential and Travelers have decided to cut their insurance rates for homeowners. Prudential Property and Casualty will cut its rates by 6 percent. The new rates for 12th largest insurer in Florida will go into effect on Sept. 25 for new policies and Nov. 6 for renewals. Meanwhile, Travelers Property Casualty will cut its rates by 6.6 percent. The subsidiary of the 10th largest insurer in the state, First Floridian Auto and Homeowners, will offer the lower rate starting Sept. 1.

"Washington Wire: HUD Offering Fair Housing Grants for the Disabled"
Today's REALTOR (07/98) Vol. 31, No. 7; P. 12

The effort to enforce disability laws received a big boost when Andrew Cuomo, Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, recently announced that local private fair housing groups will receive $800,000 in grants. In addition to expanding the efforts of existing groups, the grants will help some groups that are only part-time organizations to become full-time organizations.

"High-Tech Solutions to End Paper Glut"
Real Estate Finance Today (07/06/98) Vol. 15, No. 14; P. 2; Bowen, Laura

A number of different mortgage lenders have introduced new technology recently that could eventually automate the entire mortgage application process. One of the leading firms has been Contour Software, whose WebIt (Web Integrated Solutions) allows mortgage lenders to communicate with many other companies at the same time using one modem. Contour and InterFirst Wholesale Mortgage Lending Inc. have also worked together to develop an online system called MOAI, which allows all members of the mortgage process, including borrowers, to access mortgage application updates. With the advancement of this online trend, electronic commerce will eventually become the norm within the industry, according to Contour president Scott Cooley. Cooley also said that companies that develop a large Internet market will succeed, while smaller lenders that fail to use new technology will soon become lost in the market and could be forced to merge with larger companies. This technology will become more cost-effective and desirable for mortgage lenders, according to Cooley.

"Mass. Bill Helps Reverse Mortgages"
National Mortgage News (06/29/98) Vol. 22, No. 40; P. 22; Thangavelu, Poonkulali

The Massachusetts House will soon vote on a bill that would widen the acceptance of reverse mortgages in the state. The Senate has already passed the bill, which would allow open-ended, variable-rate reverse mortgages. Reverse loans in Massachusetts are currently limited to fixed-rate loans that cannot exceed 10 years, but most national reverse mortgage programs have variable rates and are unavailable in Massachusetts.

"Getting a Foot in the Door"
DM News (06/15/98) Vol. 20, No. 23; P. 1; Wijnen, Renee

California has more Hispanic residents than any other state in the country. Realizing this, electric utilities in the state needed an effective approach to keep this segment of the population abreast of the changes taking place due to industry restructuring. The power companies sought out the services of Malibu-based Latin-Pak to execute a door-hanger campaign to deliver marketing materials, including brochures and refrigerator magnets, to the doors of California's Hispanics. The goal of the California Public Utilities Commission's education campaign was to inform customers of the state's three investor-owned utilities of their right to select their own power provider. In the last two months, Latin-Pak has conducted two campaigns: one placed door hangers at 2 million Hispanic homes, and the other sent refrigerator magnets and bilingual brochures to 1.5 million homes. The company uses census records and information state departments of finance to identify Hispanic neighborhoods. Latin-Pak is advantageous because it provides information in Spanish to Spanish-speaking households, instead of information in English that explains where to find the information in Spanish.

"The Valley's Home Resale Market ..."
Arizona Business Gazette (06/25/98) Vol. 118, No. 26; P. 2

Existing home sales in the Valley in Arizona were down slightly in May but remained ahead of last year's record-setting pace. Over 19,600 homes were sold in the first five months of 1998, compared to 17,000 home resales during the same period last year. The median price of an existing home reached an all-time high of $113,000 in May.

Published: July 20, 1998

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