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Questions on Public Policy Issues
Why Are Settlement Services Overpriced? Why Has the Real Estate and Settlement Procedures Act of 1974 (RESPA) Failed to Reduce the Cost of Settlement Services? What Is Needed to Reduce the Cost of Settlement Services?
Does a Rule Prohibiting Lenders From Marking Up the Price of Services Purchased From Third Parties Protect Borrowers? How Can Borrowers Protect Themselves Against Unwarranted Markups?
Why Does the Good Faith Estimate of Settlement Fail to Protect Borrowers? What Could Be Done to Improve It?
Why Does Government Require Lenders to Itemize Loan Charges?
Why Is Mortgage Insurance Overpriced? Why Is it Useless For Borrowers to Try to Shop for Mortgage Insurance? How Can the Cost of Mortgage Insurance Be Reduced?
Why Are the Rules Regarding Termination of Mortgage Insurance So Complicated?
Does FHA Mislead Home Buyers About FHA Responsibility For the Condition of Their Homes?
What Are the Questionable Features of Special Assistance Programs for Cash-Short Borrowers Using FHA Mortgages?
Should FHA Loan Limits Be Raised to the Level of Those Applicable to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac?
What Are Yield Spread Premiums (YSPs) and Why Are They Controversial? Why Has HUD Not Been Able to Restrict Excessive Broker Fees? Is There a Way They Could Do It Effectively?
Why Should Yield Spread Premiums Be Credited to Borrowers?
Do Any of the State Requirements For Disclosing Broker Fees Help Borrowers? What Disclosure Would Help Borrowers?
What Are the Various Types of Predatory Lending?
What Are the Various Proposed Remedies For Predatory Lending, and Which Make the Most Sense?
Why Do Rising Rejection Rates During 1993-98 Indicate a Greater Rather Than a Lesser Willingness by Lenders to Make Loans to Disadvantaged Borrowers?
How Is Truth in Lending (TIL) Supposed to Help Borrowers? What Information Does it Provide to Borrowers? How Useful Is This Information?
What Is the APR? What Is its Purpose? How Can the APR Mislead Borrowers? When Can a Borrower Safely Rely on the APR?
Why Is the APR on a Cash-Out Refinance Not Comparable to Any Other APR?
Why Doesn't Government Fix Obvious Flaws in the APR?
Can the APR Be Below the Interest Rate?
Why Does the Disclosure of a Prepayment Penalty on the Truth in Lending Statement Sometimes Confuse Borrowers?
Why Must a Borrower Who Wishes to Refinance a First Mortgage Need the Permission of the Second Mortgage Lender? What Are the Different Policies that Second Mortgage Lenders Have in Permitting This? Why Is This Not a Required Disclosure?
When a Home Buyer Assumes the Seller's Mortgage, Who Is Responsible For Accurate Disclosure of the Terms of the Mortgage?
Under What Circumstances Do Federal Disclosure Rules Allow Mortgage Brokers to Conceal Some of Their Charges?
Is Mandatory Disclosure Unfair to Mortgage Brokers?
Why Aren't Lenders Required to Disclose Their Total Fees Anywhere? How Can a Borrower Estimate Total fees From the APR?
How Did HUD Propose Changing the Regulations Regarding Loan Originations in 2002? What Problems Was HUD Trying to Resolve? How Well Would the Proposals Work?
Under What Conditions Should Borrowers Have a Legal Right to Fire Their Servicing Agent?
What Might Happen to the Housing Market If a Rate Spike and Decline in Property Values Occur Together?
How Can the Mortgage System Be Fixed So That It Works For Borrowers?
Why Should a Lender Be Allowed to Mark Up the Prices of Third Party Services if the Lender Guarantees Their Own and All Third Party Charges?
Should the Law Impose a Suitability Requirement on All Mortgage Loans?
What Are Referral Fees? Do Referral Fees Raise Settlement Costs to Borrowers? Has RESPA Succeeded in Eliminating Them? How Can Settlement Costs Be Reduced?
What Were the Causes of the Marked Rise in Sub-Prime Defaults in 2007; What Should Government Do (And Not Do); Can the Sub-Prime Market Be Replaced?
Should Government Require That All Mortgage Loans Be Affordable?
Should Mortgage Escrows Be Required by Law?
Should Mortgage Brokers Be Required to Be Agents of Borrowers? How Can Such a Requirement Be Made Effective?
Should Stated Income Loans Be Barred by Law?
Does the Sub-Prime Market Reduce Home Ownership?
What Is YSP Abuse, and What Is the Best Remedy For it?
How Would HR 3915 Impact the Market in Early 2008?
How Bad Is the Current Financial Crisis, How Long Will it Last, Will the Relief Plan Have a Major Impact?
Where Do the Federal Reserve Board's Proposals to Fix the Home Loan Market Fall Short?
Why Are the Interest Rate Risk Premiums Paid by Borrowers Both Too Large and Too Small?
How Did HUD Propose Changing the Regulations Regarding Loan Originations in 2008? What Problems Was HUD Trying to Resolve? How Well Would the Proposals Work?
What Are the Problems of the Treasury/Fed Proposals to Buy Mortgages and Mortgage Securities, and What Are the Alternatives?
What Is a "Bail-Out"?
Was Deregulation Implicated in the Financial Crisis?
What Happened to the Interest Rate on Low-Risk and High-Risk Mortgages as the Financial Crisis Evolved During 2007-2008
What Is the Professor's Plan For Breaking the Back of the Financial Crisis?
Would the FDIC Plan For Promoting Loan Modifications Work?
Are the Banks Hoarding the Capital They Have Received from Government, Rather Than Using It to Make Loans?
Why Should Government Give Priority to Reducing Foreclosures As Opposed to Assisting Banks?
Would Tougher Rules on Mortgage Brokers Help Prevent Financial Crises?
What Kinds of Regulation is Needed to Prevent Another Crisis in the Future?
What Is the Administration Plan to Help Beleaguered Borrowers ("Making Home Affordable"), and Where Does It Fall Short?
What Is "Desecuritization", and How Could It Unlock Value During a Financial Crisis?
What Are the Strengths and Limitations of the Obama Administration's Plan to Help Mortgage Borrowers in Trouble?
Is It a Good Idea For the Government, as a Crisis Measure, to Help Undeserving Borrowers?
In Qualifying For a Mortgage Modification Under the Making Home Affordable Program What Is the Borrower's Obligation to Make Payments Out of Savings?
What Changes Are Required In the Regulatory System to Prevent Another Financial Crisis?
Why Has the Pace of Mortgage Modifications Been So Slow, and What Can Be Done to Speed it Up?
Why Has the Attempt to Enforce the Independence of Appraisals Created More Problems Than It Has Solved?
Would It Make Sense to Consolidate All Federal Consumer Protection Regulation In One New Agency?
Why Do the Fed Proposals to Reform TILA Constitute Evidence That the Fed Should Relinquish Its Responsibilities For Consumer Protection?
Will Fed Proposals For Early Disclosure Prompt Borrowers to Shop?
What Is the Best Single Measure of the Total Cost of a Mortgage to a Borrower?
Why Did the Financial Crisis Impact the Danish Housing Finance System Much Less Than the US System?
What Is the Case For Establishing a Financial Commission in 2010?
Is There a Way to Convert Firms That Are Now Too Big to Fail Into Firms That Can Be Allowed to Fail?
Why Don't Regulators Prevent Excessive Risk-Taking by TBTF Firms?
Is There an Effective Way to Prevent TBTF Firms From Taking Excessive Risks?
In What Ways Is the Danish Mortgage System Superior to That of the US?
What Should Be Done With Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac?
What Is the Best Way to Protect Mortgage Borrowers?
Are Financial Disasters Easier For Government to Deal With Than Natural Disasters?
On Whom Should "Skin in the Game" Requirements Be Imposed?
Is an Inter-Agency Committee the Best Way to Identify Emerging Systemic Problems?
In What Way Does the Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010 Reverse Long-Standing Policy of Favoring Disadvantaged Borrowers?
Does the Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010 Improve the Prospects For Better Mortgage Disclosures?
Do the New Disclosure Rules Mandated by HUD in the GFE and HUD-1 Adequately Quantify the Risk of Rate Increases on ARMs?
Is There a Danger That the Volume of Strategic Defaults Will Increase Sharply?
Why Was Housing So Weak in 2010 Despite Substantial Monetary Easing?
Can Government Make Markets Work Better?
Why Do Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Refuse to Reduce the Balances of Borrowers Who Need Payment Relief and Have Significant Negative Equity?
Why Can't Mandated Disclosures Prior to Application Make it Easier For Borrowers to Shop?
In What Way Is the Fed's New Rule on Compensation of Loan Originators Muddled?
In What Ways Are the Administration's Plans For Housing Finance Bad News For the Industry?
What Specific Problems Do the Administration's Plans For Housing Finance Not Address?
How Might These Problems Be Addressed Effectively?
How Would a Debt Default by the Federal Government Impact the Home Mortgage Market?
Why Has There Been an Explosion of Late-Stage Mortgage Rejections?
What Has Been the Role of Appraisals in the Rise of Late-Stage Mortgage Rejections?
What Policy Remedies Are Available For Late-Stage Mortgage Rejections, and What Can Borrowers Do Now?
Should the Conservator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Restrict Mortgage Lending Terms, or Liberalize Them?
What Specific Measures Are Needed to Jump-Start the Home Sector?
What Other Measures Would Help?
What Have Been the Major Reasons Why the Government's Mortgage Modification Program Has Not Made a Serious Dent in the Foreclosure Problem?
Why Was it Ill-Advised For the Federal Government to Require Mortgage Loan Servicers to Designate One Person as a Point of Contact For Every Borrower Seeking a Loan Modification?
MY QUESTION IS NOT HERE. I WOULD LIKE TO LEAVE IT FOR THE PROFESSOR