New Fannie Mae Rules For all conventional loan applications dated on or after June 1, 2010, Fannie Mae has instituted some new rules as part of their Loan Quality Initiative.  They are not fooling around this time.  Their goal is clear: to reduce loan fraud and the number of foreclosures.  There are many new changes, but borrowers need to be aware of one change in particular. Lenders must ensure that borrowers have not taken on any additional debt between the date of loan application and the date of closing.  If a lender does not follow the new rules, Fannie Mae will refuse to buy the loan from them.  To remain compliant, Fannie Mae suggests that lenders do the following: Refresh the borrower's credit report just prior to closing, in order to uncover additional debt or credit inquiries. If the borrow has new debt that was not included on the loan application, the additional debt must be considered in qualifying the borrower. Credit inquiries must be researched to determine whether the borrower has obtained additional debt that is not yet shown on the credit report. It is not longer an acceptable practice to "suggest" that borrowers refrain from taking on additional debt before closing.  Now, new debt will, at the very least, delay the closing.  If the new debt pushes the borrowers outside of the qualifying debt-to-income ration for the loan, then the deal will die. To avoid problems, borrowers must exercise will power and deny the urge to go shopping until after their mortgage has closed and funded.  This isn't easy, because its human nature to want that new washer and dryer delivered to the house on the day after closing.  But the rules have changed and borrowers who want their loans to go through without a hiccup need to follow the rules. Source:  The Mortgage Experts, Chris & Debbie Thomas (6/3/10) Posted 6/3/10 Top 10 Best Cities for Borrowers Areas where home prices rose the most in 2009 were:Some cities are better than others for borrowers.  The best cities have the lowest percentage of foreclosures and delinquencies, including a low percentage of bank-owned homes. In most of the cities on this best list, home prices are actually rising.  This kind of solid housing market motivates banks to offer lower rates and better terms. Here are the 10 cities that Forbes ranks as the best for borrowers: 1. Kansas City, Mo. 2. Houston 3. Dallas 4. Virginia Beach, Va. 5. San Antonio, Texas 6. Boston 7. Pittsburgh 8. Denver 9. Seattle 10. Portland, Ore. Source: Forbes, Francesca Levy (03/22/2010) Posted 3/26/10   Centennial Ranks Safest City in Colorado for 5th Year For the fifth consecutive year, Centennial is ranked as the safest city in Colorado with a population of more than 75,000. In a recent new release, CQ Press announced the release of its annual publication City Crime Rankings 2009-2010: Crime in Metropolitan America. Centennial ranks 15th nationally out of 393 cities. Other Colorado cities and their national rankings include: Arvada (58), Boulder (64), Westminster (115), Fort Collins (122), Thornton (144), Greeley (174), Lakewood (181), Aurora (207), Denver (227) and Colorado Springs (228).  The crime rate rankings of the cities and metropolitan areas are calculated using six crime categories: murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, and motor vehicle theft. These categories have been used for determining city crime ratings since 1999. The rankings include all cities of at least 75,000 residents that reported crime data to the FBI in these categories. Posted 12/15/09