Home Mortgage Refinancing Guide

Wells Fargo Mortgage is a division of Wells Fargo Bank, one of the largest banks created following a merger with Norwest bank and is currently the second largest mortgage lender behind Countrywide home loans. Are you considering refinancing with Wells Fargo Mortgage or do you already have a mortgage from Wells Fargo? Here are several tips you need to know about bank originated mortgage loans to avoid paying too much for your home loan.

Wells Fargo mortgage has earned a reputation similar to Countrywide as a predatory lender. They hook their customers with a free checking account and then sock it to with ridiculous fees and overpriced mortgage and investment accounts. Consumer watch groups like ACORN are constantly charging Wells Fargo with predatory lending especially with their home loans targeted to people with poor credit and home equity loan offerings.

Wells Fargo has even had their home office picketed on several occasions by consumer activists. As a former Wells Fargo Customer I can tell you that I recently switched my checking account to Bank of America and have never been happier. For checking and savings accounts you can’t beat B of A’s free accounts. But what about mortgage loans?

What’s Wrong With Bank Originated Mortgage Loans?

There’s plenty wrong with bank mortgage loans that your banker isn’t telling you. The biggest issue you need to be aware of is called Service Release Premium. Simply put this bank premium is the difference between the mortgage rate you could have had and the one the bank gives you. There are two types of mortgage rates out there today…wholesale rates offered by wholesale lenders and mortgage rates that have been marked up by banks and other mortgage companies for profit.

Another important distinction about banks…they aren’t legally required to play by the same rulebook as other mortgage companies and brokers. Banks are exempt from a very important law that protects homeowners from predatory lending practices called the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA). The Banking Lobby spent millions of dollars bribing your elected officials (after all, that’s how Washington works now) to have the disclosure laws changed so that banks are not required to disclose their profit margin or markup on your loan. Mortgage brokers are now required to disclose their markup known as Yield Spread Premium on the Good Faith Estimate and HUD-1 Statement; however, banks are not required to comply with the same law.

With this in mind why would you even consider taking out a mortgage from a company that doesn’t have to play the rules? It’s not just Wells Fargo that uses this unfair practice to exploit homeowners; it’s every bank and credit union out there. Banks do this because they make the majority of their profit by selling their mortgage loans to investors. The bank knows that loans with above market interest rates bring them the most profits and this is how they run their businesses.

If you’re not yet convinced that bank originated mortgage loans are not the way to go, try comparing true wholesale rates offered by an honest mortgage broker to the rate sheets offered by your bank and you’ll see that Wells Fargo Mortgage is not the way to go when refinancing your home loan. If you’d like to learn more about refinancing your mortgage with a wholesale rate and finding an honest broker to help you, register for our free video tutorial.

You may have heard in the news that Bank of America recently acquired Countrywide, the largest mortgage lender in the United States. Given the fact that Countrywide was on the verge of collapse and being investigated for predatory lending practices that caused a financial nightmare for countless American homeowners, this buyout by Bank of America could only be a good thing right? While Bank of America has a good reputation as a Bank, the fact that they are a bank is not a good thing for homeowners. Here are several things you need to know about bank originated mortgage loans to avoid paying too much for your next home loan.

Countrywide Mortgage Fiasco

The mortgage meltdown of 2007 happened largely because of the irresponsible lending practices of Countrywide Mortgage. Countrywide was so focused on their profits and closing loans regardless of whether or not the borrower had the ability to repay that many people dug themselves into holes they could not get out of and lost their homes. Since Bank of America has taken over the company I suspect they will return to responsible lending practices…as much as bank is willing to be responsible that is.

The Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA)

You may have heard of RESPA legislation before; however, this is not something your banker is going to discuss with you. RESPA laws protect homeowners from predatory mortgage lending by requiring most lenders to disclose their profit margins. This law has undergone a number of changes over the years, most notably was the Banking Lobby spending millions of dollars to have the law amended to require mortgage brokers to disclose their markup on the Good Faith Estimate and HUD-1 Statement. Sound like a good idea right? One small problem…the banking lobby had themselves excluded from this disclosure. That’s right, while mortgage brokers are required by law to disclose their commission based markup of your mortgage interest rate (called Yield Spread Premium) your bank is not. What does this mean for homeowners? Basically anyone that takes out a mortgage from their bank will pay too much for that loan.

Service Release Premium

Many homeowners are under the impression that once they take out a mortgage the lender sits back collecting their monthly payments and makes money from the interest. This simply isn’t true. The microsecond that your mortgage closes the bank or lender pools your loan with other mortgages and the debt is insured and sold to investors on the secondary mortgage market. This is where mortgage lenders and banks make the majority of their profits. Home loans with above market interest rates bring in the largest profits when sold to investors. This is why mortgage brokers are rewarded with Yield Spread Premium (a commission for overcharging) and why banks build Service Release Premium into their rate sheets without disclosing their markup.

Why should the bank disclose this markup? After all, the only thing they are required by law to disclose is the Annual Percentage Rate (APR). Truth in Lending laws require banks to disclose the APR but the law does not tell them how they have to calculate this percentage or even what fees they have to include in the calculation. This is why APR is all but meaningless when comparison shopping for a mortgage.

So how does this Service Release Premium work? Your bank follows the mortgage industry very closely…they know exactly what wholesale mortgage rates are and how much profit loans are bringing when sold on the secondary market. The bank marks up mortgage rates to boost their profits when the mortgage is sold. This profit based markup of bank mortgage rates is called Service Release Premium. Because banks are not required to disclose their profit margins under RESPA, if you don’t compare wholesale rates from those offered by the bank you’ll never know the difference.

Most bank employees know very little about mortgage rates and will show the current rate sheet for the day swearing that they are not marking up your mortgage rate. The problem is that bank rate sheets have service release premium built in them. If you want the absolute lowest mortgage rate possible you must find a mortgage broker willing to give you access to wholesale rates; you’ll never get this from Bank of America.

Countrywide Home Loans and Bank of America

Hopefully the buyout of Countrywide Mortgage by Bank of America will put a stop to the predatory lending practices they have become known for; however, you can bet Bank of America will restructure the mortgage lender to take full advantage of the loopholes in the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act enjoyed by banks today. Want to save money on your mortgage loan with a low rate and no garbage fees? Stay away from banks…and stay away from Countrywide home loans.

You can learn more about refinancing your home loan with a wholesale mortgage rate while avoiding garbage fees with a free video tutorial. Register today while this is still a free offer…these videos will teach you everything you need to make an informed decision as to which home loan is right for you.

No fee mortgage refinancing simply doesn’t exist. You’ll see advertisers on television like Bank of America bragging about their no cost, no fee mortgages; however, no cost mortgage refinancing is a lie. Here is the truth you need to know about no fee mortgage refinancing to prevent falling victim to these empty promise of no fee mortgage loans.

Every mortgage loan sold today has closing costs and fees that have to be paid one way or the other. When an advertiser claims that their loans have no fees, they are not telling you the whole story. Mortgage closing costs get paid in one of three ways:

You can pay cash at closing.

You can roll the costs into your loan balance.

You can take a higher mortgage rate instead.

In the case of “no fee” mortgage you see advertised on the radio and television you are taking a higher mortgage rate in exchange for the lender covering your costs. This is also true of the “low flat fee” mortgages you see advertised by companies like Ditech. There are always closing costs including those paid to third party companies when taking out a mortgage. When you fall for one of these “no fee” mortgage loans your lender is locking your mortgage rate high enough to pay your closing costs.

You might be asking how a higher mortgage rate could cover your closing costs. The reason this happens is what’s known as the mortgage industries dirty little secret. Yield Spread Premium is the industry term for the fee wholesale lenders pay for closing loans with above market mortgage rates. The higher mortgage rate you agree to pay when refinancing, the more profit your lender makes when the loan is sold to investors on the secondary market. This is why lenders pay a commission to loan originators for closing loans with above market rates.

Lenders that you see advertising “no fee” mortgage loans are simply using this fee to pay your closing costs. Banks do the same thing as other mortgage lenders they just give it a different name. You are simply agreeing to a higher mortgage rate which results in a higher payment amount every month that you keep the loan to avoid paying closing costs. What’s wrong with using Yield Spread Premium to pay closing costs?

Yield Spread Premium Can Be Avoided

This markup of your mortgage interest rate is not only completely unnecessary, but is dishonest. It is possible to pay a reasonable fee for loan origination and refinance your mortgage with a wholesale rate. A reasonable origination fee to pay is one percent of your mortgage amount and there are honest mortgage brokers willing to work for that. Sure you’ll have to pay closing costs; however, if you plan on keeping your home refinancing with a wholesale mortgage rate can save you thousands of dollars in the long run.

You can learn more about refinancing your mortgage with a wholesale mortgage rate while avoiding broker and lender junk fees with a free mortgage refinancing DVD. Click the DVD image at the top of this page to order your free copy today.

You’ve probably seen the television ads claiming that no cost mortgage refinancing is “a no brainer.” Advertisers love to claim that they’ll pay your closing costs and offer zero cost refinancing. Most homeowners responding to these offers don’t realize how much of a lie no cost refinancing is. Here is the truth you need to know about the no cost mortgage refinancing lie.

Most homeowners don’t understand how mortgage lenders make their money. The majority of lenders today don’t sit on your loan collecting interest month in and month out. Most lenders make their money by selling loans to investors on the secondary market; the profit they make by selling your loan is called Service Release Premium. The fact that lenders sell your mortgage loan has more to do with you than you think; lenders reward brokers for charging you an above market interest rate to boost their profits when the loan is sold.

Your mortgage broker simply acts as an agent reselling loans for a wholesale lender. Mortgage brokers mark up the interest rate you qualify because the wholesale lender pays them a bonus for every .25% they overcharge you. This means the loan you get is anywhere from 100 to 150 basis points higher than what you could have had. This is why the average homeowner gets a retail rate on their mortgage loan. The interest rate has been marked up to give the broker a bonus.

The problem with this markup is that most brokers do not tell you what their doing and frequently omit what they’re doing on your Good Faith Estimate. Because you’re already paying your mortgage broker a fee for originating your loan any markup of your mortgage interest rate for a commission is not only unnecessary, but is taking advantage of you as a consumer.

In addition to marking up your mortgage interest rate for a profit, many brokers invent fees when processing your loan. These junk fees are often for thinks like “locking in your mortgage rate,” “application fees,” and “courier fees.” Most of these junk fees go straight into your mortgage brokers pocket for no good reason. So what about these companies claiming to offer no fee mortgage loans?

No Fee Mortgage Refinancing is a Lie

The truth is that every mortgage has legitimate fees that must be paid. If the lender is paying these fees upfront they are being paid on the back end in the form of Service Release Premium. When you refinance your mortgage with a “no fee” mortgage you’ll be accepting a much higher mortgage rate meaning that you’ll pay more than you need to for the loan. The lenders know they’ll make up the fees they’ve paid for you and double, even triple their profits when the loan is sold on the secondary market. You’ll be stuck paying hundreds of dollars more each month while the lender makes a handsome profit selling your loan. You can learn more about your refinancing options, including expensive pitfalls to avoid with this free mortgage tutorial.

Bank of America recently announced that their no fee mortgage is now available nationwide. Are no fee mortgages simply a marketing gimmick? Before you rush over to the nearest branch there are a few things you need to know about bank originated mortgage loans.

No cost mortgage loans come with above market interest rates to cover the lender’s origination fees and sometimes closing costs. If you read the fine print on Bank of America’s offer they say traditional closing costs still apply; however you will not pay the 1% fee typically charged by the company originating your loan.

The tradeoff is that you accept a higher than market mortgage rate for your loan. Remember the saying “There is nothing new under the sun?” Mortgage lenders have been running scams like this for years only they have a different name for it. When you take out a mortgage from anywhere other than a bank this markup is called Yield Spread Premium.

Mortgage companies and brokers mark up your interest rate because wholesale lenders pay a premium for loans with above market interest rates. They do this because mortgages with above market rates bring higher profits when the loans are sold to investors on the secondary market. Banks charge customers above market rates for the same reason; the difference with a bank is that there is no wholesaler involved with the transaction, only the bank.

Another problem with bank originated mortgage loans is that banks are exempt from the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act that required lenders to disclose their markup and profit margin on your loan. The Banking Lobby spent millions of dollars romancing Congress to have the law changed so that they’re exempt. (The Republic is beautiful thing isn’t it?) This alone should leave a bad taste in your mouth and is reason enough never to refinance your mortgage with a bank. Bank mortgage rate sheets have this markup, called Service Release Premium, built into them and this should convince you to avoid your bank altogether.