Sustainability In Business

“In a speech to the National Association for Business Economics, the New York Fed’s Brian Sack remarked that this go-slow approach would be easier for the market to digest and should limit any uptick in interest rates from the sales.”

” It’s all about one question after all now, isn’t it? Who is the weakest link on the globe today that’s worth going after? Like a pride of lionesses watching a herd of wildebeest, gazing through the long tall grass, patiently - but increasingly hungry- looking for the proper prey. “

“A lot of conflicting data came in last week. There is a lot of positive news, but does it all add up to a recovery or is the cyclical recovery headed for a stall? Nothing has changed the underlying conditions that would relieve the credit freeze. And without credit, the economy will stall.”

“It was heartening to see mortgage servicers taken to task and forced to follow the rules, but even in the oft-cited Byrd case, the real victory was scaled back considerably by the appellate court. While the dismissal was affirmed, the appellate court ruled that it should have been without prejudice… Those cases in which demanding the note and dissecting the paper trail resulted in a windfall for the homeowner were few and far between.”

“Late payments on mortgage loans declined slightly during the fourth quarter of 2009 — compared to the previous quarter — representing the first quarter over quarter decrease since mid-2006. Some analysts believe that the drop in 30-day delinquencies may be a positive indicator that the mortgage market is starting to stabilize, and that the number of foreclosure actions may start to decline.”

A Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. plan to auction more than $1 billion in assets seized from failed banks next month, including a loan to build a W Hotel in Atlanta, may trigger writedowns that weaken lenders nationwide. … “These banks can’t believe that the regulator they pay to protect them is going to sell these loans to someone who can flip them and cause them serious losses,” said Robert Reynolds, a lawyer at Reynolds Reynolds & Duncan LLC in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, who represents 25 lenders that took part in financing the W Hotel. “Our banks just cannot believe they’re being treated in a way that ultimately hurts the FDIC’s insurance fund, because some of them are right on the edge.” That’s funny, Robert Reynolds of Reynolds Reynolds & Duncan LLC; most of the rest of the country (and there are many more of us than of bankers) just cannot believe the banks made such idiotic loans at inflated values, with virtually no fundamental due diligence, even as many of us warned about the bubble. In fact, forget about the “tin foil hatters” (like us here at Implode); how about ground-shaking financial crashes as some sort of “signal”: The loan for construction of the W Hotel in downtown Atlanta was made in April 2008, a month after the collapse of Bear Stearns Cos., according to Reynolds. The developer of the property is Atlanta-based Barry Real Estate Cos., which owns commercial projects in Atlanta, Dallas, Orlando, Florida and Birmingham, Alabama. Who-coulda-known? We would add also that it is not the FDIC’s mandate to go into the commercial property business. It has already held onto these properties too long. It is, however, unfair that the mega-banks have all gotten an unscripted and unjustified mega-bailout from the Fed and federal monetary authorities, while everyone else gets tough love. We say: tough love for all

“A consortium of mortgage finance trade associations filed public commentary with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), voicing its objections to a number of policies in the government’s proposed rule for the enforcement of the Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing (SAFE) Act.”

“A senior official of LendAmerica, a nationwide lender of U.S.-backed mortgages recently shut off from government programs, was permanently banned from the industry, according to a court filing.”

“…,an independent Consumer Financial Protection Agency - an agency charged with protecting individuals and families from risky financial products - should be a keystone in this year’s urgent drive for financial reform.”

” Miami and Orlando top the ZipRealty price reductions list for February. “Contrary to the national trend, sellers in Florida seem to be cutting their asking prices aggressively to attract buyer interest,” stated ZipRealty CEO Pat Lashinsky. “First-time buyers looking to take advantage of the $8,000 tax credit, those looking for a second home and real estate investors are finding there are deals to be had in South Florida, Orlando and Jacksonville.”"