New fees, rules roil home-loan market

The San Francisco Chronicle reports:

Jeff Lipes, president of Family Choice Mortgage Corp., which serves the Hartford area, says the net effect of the underwriting, credit score and pricing changes is to "squeeze some people who are credit-worthy by any reasonable standard out of the market."

For instance, as a result of the restrictions on condos, Lipes says "whenever we hear the word 'condo' (from an applicant), we shiver" because the deck is stacked against them. Even for prime borrowers with 800 FICO scores and 50 percent down payments, said Lipes, "I can't tell them that we're certain we can get you a mortgage." A welter of recent rule changes from Fannie Mae have made some condo units in projects with commercial tenants or high percentages of investor units almost impossible to refinance.

You'll want to read this one.