Although evidence suggests widespread disparaties in the treatment of borrowers at different lending institutions, regulators have done little in the way of enforcement.

Two pieces of data really help to make that point.

On one hand, the General Accounting Office in report GAO-09-704,  has shown that enforcement agencies (HUD, FTC, DOJ) were provided with many cases of violations of the Fair Housing Act, it was very rare that any of those cases were followed up with an enforcement action.  In fact, although the FDIC, OTS, and Federal Reserve submitted 100s of cases to enforcement agencies, only eight led to settlements.  Of those eight, only three involved mortgage lending and only four involved depository institutions.  The rest involved things like auto loans or other consumer debt products.

Moreover, DOJ reports that most of their settlements were the result of independent investigation – only two came from (more…)

Pacific Capital Bancorp missed its scheduled date to report earnings, and is not offering any specifics on when investors might be informed.

PCBC was supposed to reports its third quarter results on October 27th.  It is hardly a good time.  Pacific Capital has been the focus of a lot of attention lately, most of it negative.  So, they missed their reporting date.  It is hard to know why, but of course, there are more than a few possibilities:

One, PCBC could just be slow in getting its administrative work done.  That doesn’t seem likely, though.  Two, PCBC could have some horrible losses.  They might be working overtime to try to find a way to shine a better view on them.  They might be deciding which leader should be scapegoated, and if such an offering might be enough to quench the thirst of their investors.  Third, they could be negotiating a sale.  Fourth, they could be in hot water with the FDIC.  That’s not likely to change reporting deadlines, though, as the FDIC doesn’t give much notice before it arrives on any Friday afternoon.

I asked Debbie Whiteley, who leads investor relations, about when people might get to find out what is going on.

In an email, she said that, “We have not announced.  The 10-Q is due to file on Monday, November 9th.”

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There are pigs, and then there are capitalist pigs.  And among the capitalist pigs, Maurice “Hank” Greenberg can rut like none other.

[video

As much as C.V. Starr deserves genuine credit for founding and developing AIG, his close friend Hank Greenberg is often thought of as the man who built AIG.  Greenberg has been on the sidelines, at least by his own standards, since he was ousted from AIG in 2005 over violations of accounting rules.  Since then, he has been battling AIG in court.  He was able (more…)

CRA-NC is organizing a tour to the nation’s capital.  We’re bringing housing counselors from all over the state.  The counselors are angry.  They are tired of getting the run-around from servicers.  They see the press about HAMP’s 500,000 loan modifications.  They aren’t seeing that on the ground.  Maybe that is because they are trying to get real modifications – not ones that merely extend the life of a loan, or reach a modification agreement that actually results in a higher monthly payment.

We’re going to bus people from Durham, Rocky Mount, Winston-Salem, and Rich Square.  The Durham bus holds 55, and the other buses are taking about 15 people.

The Modify This Tour takes place October 29th.

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I just reached a contract to purchase a home.  In doing so, I had a chance to survey loans from about 10 lenders.  While there is no change in the homogeneity of interest rate pricing, I was surprised to see incredible variations in origination fees.

About the deal: I bought a home with the intention to utilize it as an investor property.  It is a modest brick three-bedroom in a quiet neighborhood.  I got a distress price, in my mind, because it was being sold by two heirs that needed their money quickly.  The house itself is in fine shape.  It won’t require a 203 loan.  The home cost $83,000 after the sellers threw in $2,000 for closing costs.  Was it a distressed price?  Well, I believe so.  The county assessment, conducted in May 2008, (more…)