Monday, April 28, 2008 - Where in the world is Jerry Rutledge?

Jerry Rutledge, DREI, CREI, President of Alliance Academy, has been a featured speaker all over the country.  He has recently presented his topic, “Mortgage Market, Compliance, and Fraud” for the Mississippi Association of Realtors, the Real Estate Educators Association (REEA), South Central
Educators Group (SCEG), the Dallas Association of Mortgage Brokers (DAMB), and most recently at the Texas Real Estate Teachers Association (TRETA).

Jerry was also a featured speaker at the Texas Real Estate Commission’s (TREC) annual Enforcement Division conference.  He was the only outside speaker invited to participate in the conference.

Mortgage Market, Compliance and Fraud is a hot topic and includes the legislative changes in the industry, which is Jerry's area of expertise.  Jerry has again been requested as the guest speaker to several other state's annual conferences.

Thursday, April 17, 2008 - COOK JOINS LENDER LEAD SOLUTIONS’ REVERSE MORTGAGE TEAM

Senior Lending Network, a reverse mortgage wholesale lender and a division of KBC Bank, recently named David Cook as vice president of sales for the Western Wholesale Division.

Cook’s responsibilities include overseeing customer relationships for the western region of the United States.

Prior to joining Lender Lead Solutions, Cook was regional vice president of Financial Freedom, managing the central region.

Cook has more than 40 years experience in the mortgage industry and began his career as a loan officer in Irving, Texas.

Cook has been active on the committees for the Austin Mortgage Bankers Association and Texas Mortgage Bankers Association. He is also a member of the Texas Association of Realtors and an MCE Instructor approved by the Texas Real Estate Commission.

David can be reached at 512-267-6790 or at dcook@LenderLeadSolutions.com.

David is the author and educator for
our Reverse Mortgage Fundamentals Seminar. 
Please see our course calendar online for scheduling information.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008 - FHA Modernization and Loan Limits

The FHA Modernization Act has now passed both the Senate and House.  Now they are working on merging the two different versions of the bill before it can be put before the President for signature.

It has not been made clear whether or not the Surety Bond program, as was being previously promoted to bring in Mortgage Brokers into the origination business, will pass or what the dollar amount of the bond will be.  The program would allow Brokers to get a Surety Bond in lieu of high net worth requirements and expensive annual HUD audits.

In the meantime, the HUD loan limits have increased through December 31, 2008 to allow more people to borrow via the FHA loan program.

See the attachment for specific TX guidelines.