Real Estate Information

What is a Predatory Lender?


Several months ago, the 3,000-member California Association of Mortgage Brokers (CAMB) created the first real definition to describe the abusive lending practices of predatory lenders. According to the CAMB, predatory lending was described as "placing consumers in loan products with significantly worse terms and/or higher costs than loans offered to similarly qualified consumers in the region for the primary purpose of enriching the originator and with little or no regard for the costs to the consumer."

Most mortgage brokers provide good service to their clients, yet there are a few who use unethical practices. Those brokers, called "predatory lenders" by the CAMB, not only over-charge consumers, but they also get paid in other hidden ways.

For instance, avoid lenders who charge more than the usual three percent fees for a conventional loan or four percent fees for a government-sponsored loan. Even non-prime lenders can't justify excessive fees.

Also watch for hidden loan costs, such as the Yield-Spread Premium. This term refers to a rebate that's given to brokers when they place a borrower at an interest rate higher than the rate for which they qualify. Refuse to pay yield-spread premiums and unwarranted fees, and avoid brokers who include these charges in their loans.

Besides charging high points and fees, predatory lending practices may also include such things as "packing" credit insurance on to a loan, making mortgage loans to homeowners who don't have the income to repay them, and repeatedly refinancing loans.

When it comes to obtaining a real estate loan, it's your responsibility to become a knowledgeable consumer, which means you'll need to keep asking questions of your lender. If you aren't able to get clear, easily understandable answers to your questions, it's possible that you may be dealing with a predatory lender.

Copyright © 2005 Jeanette J. Fisher - All Rights Reserved.

Jeanette Fisher, author of "Credit Help! Get the Credit You Need to Buy Real Estate," helps people buy their dream home or finance multiple investment properties. Jeanette teaches real estate investing and Design Psychology. For help with your credit or answers to your questions, visit the Real Estate Help Credit Center at http://www.recredithelp.comSubscribe to Credit Help! Tips. Send a blank email to CreditTips at reCreditHelp.com

Get the credit you need to buy your dream home or multiple investment properties!


MORE RESOURCES:

Press-Enterprise

REAL ESTATE: California receives up to $18 billion in multistate settlement
Press-Enterprise
“It is a good first step but only a step toward the solutions we need,” said Kevin Stein, associate director of the California Reinvestment Coalition, a real estate consumer advocacy group. In California, the banks have guaranteed more than $12 billion ...
Will bank settlement help Florida's real estate market?Palm Beach Post (blog)
$25B settlement reached over foreclosure abusesSacramento Bee
States, banks reach foreclosure-abuse settlementAlbany Times Union
LoanSafe -KTAR.com
all 2,909 news articles »


Chicago Tribune

Shrinking the foreclosed real estate glut
Boston Globe
But it isn't going to fix the nation's residential real estate mess. That mess - millions of homeowners underwater on their mortgages, a stagnant residential sales market that lacks buyers and a clog of foreclosed property - can't be cleaned up with ...
REAL ESTATE: Refinancing program expands for Fannie/Freddie borrowersPress-Enterprise
Online Offers for HomePath Properties Expanded by Fannie MaeLoanSafe

all 149 news articles »


Fort Worth Star Telegram

Evangelical real estate developer brought Santorum to North Texas
Fort Worth Star Telegram
If Rick Santorum eventually wins Texas Republicans over, one of Texas' leading real estate developers should share credit. Last month, Jeff Blackard of the McKinney-based Blackard Group went undercover in South Carolina as a walk-in Santorum volunteer.
Donald Trump: Rick Santorum 'Wants To Be President? Give Me A Break' (VIDEO)Huffington Post

all 445 news articles »


The Free Lance-Star

Vakos Real Estate opened this week in the Southpoint II shopping center.
The Free Lance-Star
BY BILL FREEHLING BY BILL FREEHLING One of the Fredericksburg area's oldest and most prominent development firms has started a full-service real estate brokerage arm. Vakos Real Estate opened this week in a 5200-square-foot space next to a Tropical ...
Who's who at new Vakos Real Estate firmFredericksburg.com (blog)

all 4 news articles »


Real Estate Agent Highlights New Technologies by Bicycling 700 Miles to Mid ...
MarketWatch (press release)
His route takes him across the breadth of four states and through 12 overnight stops, ending on stage before an expected 4000 attendees of the Coldwell Banker Real Estate's International Business Conference. Dyer aims to use a 150-year-old ...

and more »


DOJ: Three NorCal Real Estate Investors Agree to Plead Guilty to Bid Rigging ...
San Francisco Chronicle (blog)
Three Northern California real estate investors have agreed to plead guilty today for their roles in conspiracies to rig bids and commit mail fraud at public real estate foreclosure auctions in Northern California, the Department of Justice (DOJ) ...
Three to plead guilty in foreclosure auction fraudSan Jose Mercury News

all 6 news articles »


CBRE Clarion Global Real Estate Income Fund (NYSE: IGR) Declares Monthly ...
EON: Enhanced Online News (press release)
PHILADELPHIA--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--The Board of Trustees of the CBRE Clarion Global Real Estate Income Fund (NYSE: IGR) (the “Fund”) declared a monthly distribution of $0.045 per share for the month of February 2012. The following dates apply: ...

and more »


Real-Estate Crash Aids the Green Movement
Wall Street Journal
By LAURA KUSISTO The real-estate crash left pockets of the region's rural areas littered with the remnants of would-be golf courses, shopping centers and luxury subdivisions that never got off the ground. But the market swoon has yielded an unexpected ...



ETF Trends

Top 10 Global Real Estate ETFs
TheStreet.com
By Dave Fry 02/09/12 - 03:03 PM EST There is currently an expanding list of nearly a dozen ETFs oriented to primarily to global REITs (Real Estate Investment Trusts) with more on the way no doubt. In the following analysis we stick with our top ten ...
Investments for Income-LoversMotley Fool

all 24 news articles »


South Bay commercial real estate market heats up
San Jose Mercury News
Silicon Valley developers are racing to erect office and R&D buildings to meet a fresh surge of expansions by tech companies that's turning the region into a commercial real estate boomtown. Last year, the South Bay added about 26000 employees, ...

and more »

Google News

home | site map
© 2006