Mortgage Professor

  First of several parts The TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure Rule (TRID), in development by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) for several years, became effective… Read more »

Second of two parts In our current housing-finance system, appraisals are issued in the name of the lender to whom a prospective borrower has applied… Read more »

First of two columns on consumer empowerment There are two ways to make the home-loan market much more efficient by empowering borrowers. The first is… Read more »

The home-equity conversion mortgage (HECM) is an excellent tool for helping senior homeowners meet the financial challenges of retirement. They have to have some equity… Read more »

    The phrase “weird trick” seems to have great sales appeal, judging from the frequency with which it appears in my in-box. I see… Read more »

For many borrowers, it is easier to accelerate the pay-down of a mortgage balance if the process of making extra payments is made routine. Then… Read more »

  This is the second of a series on questions about mortgage repayment. The first article looked at mortgage repayment as a type of investment…. Read more »

First in a series Questions from readers about why and how to pay off a mortgage early out-number those I receive on any other topic,… Read more »

Investment in a home is often the largest investment a consumer will ever make, so any measures to reduce the risk deserve careful attention. The… Read more »

First of two parts I set out recently to write about a new program of down payment (henceforth DP) insurance, but quickly realized that such… Read more »

An investment in an annuity, possibly combined with a HECM reverse mortgage, can make a lot of sense to a retiree, as I noted in… Read more »

My article last week discussed the longevity annuity as a tool for protecting retirees who are heavily dependent on a stock of financial assets against… Read more »

Retirees’ capacity to fund retirement comfortably has been declining. The population 65 and older is expected to rise to about 73 million in 2030. Meanwhile,… Read more »

“The Big Short” reinforces a widespread misperception about the financial crisis. This highly rated new movie is about a few sharp operators who saw the… Read more »

  Many wannabe house purchasers wonder whether they can afford the price quoted on the house they would like to buy. Or, if they have… Read more »

Homeowners sell their homes and buy other homes for a variety of reasons, including a need to live closer to a place of employment, to… Read more »

A lease-to-own house purchase (henceforth LTO) is a lease combined with an option to purchase the property within a specified period, usually three years or… Read more »

I don’t review many books but I felt impelled to report on “How to Make Your Money Last,” by Jane Bryant Quinn, because as I… Read more »

Q. I represent a couple facing the foreclosure of their home…My clients’ loan is currently being calculated as a daily simple interest loan which is… Read more »

Second of 2 parts Q: Are there any substitutes for a down payment? A: In principle, any collateral acceptable to the lender could serve as… Read more »