Mortgage Brief…Bank of Canada doesn’t change rate.. + MORE Jul 17th

Company: Peoples Trust Company Position: Mortgage Administrator Location: Vancouver (888 Dunsmuir St) Apply to: Click here Mortgage Administrator It is an exciting time to join Peoples Trust Team!  We are growing and looking for an experienced Mortgage Administrator ready to make an impact. Do you want to be part of a smaller more personal organization?  One that recognizes that people are the cornerstone of its continued success.   If so then Peoples Trust is where you want to be. We offer long-term careers, competitive compensation packages and a great place to work, combined with the opportunity for personal and professional growth. READ MORE

This week, the Bank of Canada Governor, Stephen Poloz, held rates steady.  No increase or decrease. click here for BoC report. The Bank of Canada meets 8 times a year, at preset meeting dates.   The Target Rate is used by Canadian Banks to set their Prime rate.  This also affects Variable rate mortgages and […]

Is foreign money the driving factor behind skyrocketing home prices in Toronto and Vancouver?

Yes, if you ask BMO chief economist Douglas Porter.

He issued a chart Friday in an effort to confirm the role of foreign money in rising property values.

(Chart: Bank of Montreal)

The chart shows that, historically, house prices tracked growth in mortgage borrowing. (The big exception being during the 2008-09 financial crisis, when house prices fluctuated wildly.)

But now house prices are spiking upwards, even as mortgage borrowing has slowed from a few years ago.

“Something besides domestic borrowing has clearly fanned the flames. We will simply note the anecdotal evidence that many foreign buyers do not borrow to buy,” the economist wrote.

Vancouver’s False Creek. (Photo: Kim Rogerson via Getty Images)

Porter’s analysis came in response to an analyst who had said that blaming foreign money for the house price spike is “complete nonsense.”

The Financial Post attributed that quote to Paul Ashworth, an economist with Capital Economics…

A few months back, B.C.’s mortgage broker regulator fined and banned Jorawar Singh Gosal from the broker industry for 10 years. Mr. Gosal admitted to doctoring a client’s income documents to get his mortgage approved. Given Gosal’s admission, we asked FICOM if it had referred his case to the authorities for prosecution (hoping it would say “yes”). Unfortunately, FICOM’s spokesperson couldn’t speak to the specifics of the case, citing legal reasons. He did say this: “As a matter of course, in any file where there may be potential criminal activity or breaches in other regulatory areas, we refer files to READ MORE

SEATTLE – Laura Jordan came home from work one day to find herself locked out. She had missed two mortgage payments, and the company servicing her loan had changed the locks without warning.
In a ruling this month, the Washington Supreme Court found that action illegal — a decision that clears the way for a federal class-action case that Jordan brought on behalf of at least 3,600 borrowers in the state, and one that could have broad ramifications on how some lenders respond when homeowners miss payments.
“This is criminal trespass and theft, and it should be treated as such,” said Sheila O’Sullivan, executive director of the Northwest Consumer Law Center. “There’s no basis for them to walk in and change the locks on a person’s home until they have foreclosed. It’s an important ruling.”
The mortgage industry is wrestling with the significance of the 6-3 ruling, which found that provisions standard in mortgage documents around the country conflict with state law…