Hathaway Duke

Graphic via MSNBCLast Week:The Fed Cut the Fed Fund and Discount Rate, and mortgage rates of the 30 year fixed variety went up. This may seem counter-intuitive, but it’s all about inflation. Here’s How (gross oversimplification alert): The Fed move weakened the dollar, and a weaker dollar ads inflationary pressure on the economy, and long term yields (30 year fixed rates, for instance) have to rise to offset the projected inflationary pressure. In other words, if you are a mortgage bond investor, inflation will eat into your return, so in order to attract these investors, lenders must give them a higher rate of return. That higher “rate of return” for a mortgage bond is, of course, a higher interest rate for you on your home loan.This Week:The economic calendar is adorned with mostly second-tier data this week. Friday’s personal consumption expenditure index - a measure of inflation - will be the key release that could drive interest rates on its own. However, any “upside” suprises in the other reports (home sales, durable goods, and GDP data) could rally stocks and send rates higher.This Week’s Economic Calendar [barrons]

James F. Stovall III, 56, Roswell, Georgia, pleaded guilty in federal district court to charges of conspiracy to commit bank, mail and wire fraud, bank loan application fraud, money laundering, and wire fraud. United States Attorney David E. Nahmias …

Phillip E. Hill, 51, Sumatra, Florida, was sentenced to serve 28 years in prison for perpetrating a massive mortgage fraud scheme that targeted the metro Atlanta housing and condo market from 2000 through 2003.  “The mortgage fraud scheme …

Nicholas St. Nichols, 54, Dayton, Ohio, was sentenced in United States District Court here to one year and one day in federal prison for his role in a mortgage fraud scheme to sell homes in the Dayton, Ohio Metropolitan area at inflated prices to a buy…

Gary James Sroka and Joseph Terrazas were each issued Cease & Desist Orders by the Director of the Idaho Department of Finance, Gavin Gee.  Sroka is a real estate broker and Terrazas is a mortgage loan originator, both based in San Clemente, C…

Ramzy Moumneh, a/k/a Ramsey Moumneh was sentenced to 60 months in prison, 3 years of supervised release thereafter and must pay $94,088 in restitution.  Moumneh was found guilty along with four of his co-defendants stemming from an indictment alle…

Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Alvarez has launched a task force to combat the growing number of mortgage fraud reports in the county.

Massachusetts Attorney General will hold hearings across the state next week on amendments her office has proposed to current mortgage lender and mortgage broker regulations to address unfair and deceptive tactics used in the mortgage industry.  T…

HGTV’s show Decorating Cents has apparently been trolling the local blogs for home makeover candidates. First, our Man, WCCO news Reporter, blogger, new dad x2 (and darling of the internets) Jason Derusha will have his home invaded by the crew in October. While Girl Friday/Alexis McKinnis, (who has just been all over the local media place lately) will be getting a living room makeover in December. While we don’t go in much for HGTV’s programming, Mrs. Behind The Mortgage does in a BIG way, and reports that ‘Cents host Joan Steffend and her guest designers tastes tend to be on the hokey side. We’re not sure what that means they are in for, so we will wish them both luck.