Operation Malicious Mortgage - FBI cracks down on your lender

Last week we talked about the importance of the people you associate yourself with. Well, in case you need evidence of the importance of this in your professional environment... CNN reported that the number of suspicious activity reports they review for potential investigation skyrocketed from 3,000 in fiscal year 2003 to about 35,000 in 2006, to 48,000 in 2007. And in the first quarter of fiscal year 2008, officials have already received 15,000 such reports, putting them on pace to receive 60,000 complaints this year.

More specifically it's reported that more than 400 mortgage brokers, real estate agents, and industry professionals have been charged with over 300 of them actually being arrested. I mean people are actually going to jail for things like falsifying bank statements, tax returns, and paychecks. Sometimes the clients are in on it, and sometimes they had no idea it was happening.

So what can you do about it? Make sure you're choosing your professional sphere carefully. Get to know them well and how they operate. What do they do when they think a client can't qualify? What is their policy when they suspect the client may be acting under false pretenses? How do they verify the information they are given? Have they had any problems n the past?

This is our professional livelihood. Equally important, we're talking about the lives of clients and their families. We consider it our obligation to consider those implications with the utmost seriousness. Interested in learning more about how we have taken steps to protect you, your clients, and ourselves from these very real dangers? Come in for a consultation and we'll show you how we're trying to make a difference.

Jeremy & Jesse @ the GreenHouse Group mailto:meetus@greenmeansgrow.com

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Would you trust this guy with your clients?

Evidence! As you know we continually research new ways to bring value to you and your clients. Part of that includes continued education and keeping a pulse on what others in our industry are doing. While doing so, Jesse stumbled upon this video of a guy trying to explain a loan product. No need to watch the whole thing - In fact I'd highly discourage it. However, this is exactly why we decided to differentiate ourselves from the pack. This is more common than you think... Is your guy/gal faking it or turely pursuing professionalism in all aspects of life?

The Solution? Know your professional partners! We invite you to come in and meet with us to see how we're doing things differently and experience what your clients will experience. If you're ready for a change click here and we'll set up a time to meet.

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Seen This? "Scary Business Stats"

Scary Business Stats

· 79% of all leads generated at a trade show aren’t followed up.

· Only 3% of our mail is personal…how do you feel when you walk out to the mail box and see a personal card addressed to you? Your clients/prospects are no different.

· Average company loses 50% of its customers every 5 years…Cost of replacing them can be 6-7 times more expensive.

· 5% increase in customer loyalty will yield 20%-80% to our bottom line profit…Much wiser to spend money on customer retention than acquisition.

· For every month that we don’t contact or communicate with our client, we lose 10% of our influence.

· 82% of all homeowners can’t tell you the name of their Mortgage Broker or Realtor if they bought or refinanced their home more than two years ago.

· Just saying thank you to our clients…particularly new clients even with only a phone call to do nothing more than saying thank you…(do not try to sell on this call) it will increase your business by 17%.

· 95% of our customers will purchase from a competitor even if you provide a great service on an impulse.

Helping take you from where you are to where you want to be, we are your GreenHouse Group of Mortgage Planners. What is your lender doing with you right now to make sure your "stats" aren't "scary"?

Email Us to address these one by one,
Green Team

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Lenders Block Home Equity Line Withdrawls

More recently Banks have mad it extremely easy for Homeowners to get HELOCs (Home Equity Lines Of Credit). These lines of credit were extended to borrowers based on the amount of equity they had at the time of application. It was not unusual for banks to hand out Lines of $100,000 or more. The risk didn't seem very high a year ago. As home values soared most Homeowner found they had more equity than they new what to do with.

Some borrowers used these lines as play money to buy big screen TVs and go on vacation. Others used their lines to fund investments in the stock market, college funds, or tackle additional Real Estate endeavors. Some even utilized the philosophy of leverage and the concept of Be-Your-Own-Bank. They paid down their expensive mortgage and credit card debts costing them 8-22% rather than building a savings account that only pays 2-6%. The bottom line is that many Homeowner have become used to the idea that this safety net was available for them when they needed it.

However, as reported in the NC Times on Friday, Several of the big Banks - WAMU, Wells Fargo, BofA and CountryWide announced that they would be temporarily blocking withdrawls from some HELOCs for fear that borrowers would be owing more than the value of their home. For those who have grown to rely on this financial tool this could be devastating. If you are concerned with how this might effect your financial livelihood shoot us an email with "HELOC Lock down" in the subject line and we'll schedule an appointment to review your options with you.

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(...Enough Said...)

When you look out over the horizon on the next 12 months of your Loan Business, do you see growth or do you see more of what is represented in this chart?

Im not so nieve to believe that the environment we have created would be your best fit, becuase we would have to figure that out together. but what i will say is that i know how it feels to NOT KNOW what tomorrow is going to look like (whether you will still have a place to come to work or not), and that is more damaging then actually knowing.

Why dont you shoot me a call and we can spend about 5 minutes discussing how you WANT your next 12 months to be?

858-273-3629
Jesse

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Lehman Brothers Close Mortgage Office as 160 Lose Job

After closing subprime subsidiary BNC Mortgage LLC in August – a restructuring move resulting in 1,200 layoffs - Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. has eliminated 160 positions with an office closing at its mortgage subsidiary, Aurora Loan Services LLC.

With the rapid deterioration of the mortgage industry, Lehman Brothers announced a major restructuring of its residential loan business that would be felt across its global business.
In June, Lehman Brothers had announced plans to merge BNC with the firm’s Aurora Loan Services LLC platform, which originates both prime and subprime mortgages.
By August, the New York-based bank said it planned to completely shutter its BNC operations and eliminate 1,200 jobs in 23 cities across the United States.
Lehman Brothers said it planned to deepen the job cuts by 850 positions the following month.
As part of the strategy announced in September, the company closed a regional operating center in Gaithersburg, Maryland.
The office closing resulted in job losses for 160 employees, according to a notice filed with the state Labor, Licensing and Regulation Department.
The filing said that “a substantial reduction" in resources was demanded by market conditions.
In compliance with the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, Aurora Loan must provide workers with at least 60 days' notice of plant closings and mass layoffs.
In addition, the subsidiary also had to notify the state and local governments of the moves.
Earlier this month, Aurora Loan Services unveiled a 175,000 square-foot servicing center to hold up to 900 employees in Scottsbluff, Nebraska.