Mortgage News: Good credit may not be good enough
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, credt, mortgages March 21st, 2008HOUSING: Lenders get tough as areas such as the South Bay grow in risk. Some insurers rate the region as `distressed.
By Muhammed El-Hasan, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 03/20/2008 11:24:51 PM PDT
Warren Snyder, who co-owns Carriage Realty & American Broker Loans in Torrance, has already seen his business slow because of the weak housing market.
It may come closer to a halt with tighter lending standards. And Snyder says he’s OK with that.
“If they’re taking steps to get back to the old rules and regulations, I think it’s going to be very, very good,” said Snyder, a longtime critic of loosened mortgage requirements that have contributed to the nation’s current credit crunch. “These steps that they are taking are not enough, but they’re in the right direction.”
Just when consumers and the U.S. economy need banks to lend more freely, the mortgage industry is making it harder to borrow - even for those with good credit.
In recent weeks, mortgage insurers, whose backing is required for borrowers who can’t afford the traditional 20 percent down payment on a home, have already flagged nearly a quarter of the nation’s ZIP codes where they refuse to insure some home loans.
