H&R Block loss nearly doubles on mortgage weakness

NF Reporter · 11-30-2006, 05:29 PM

Reuters - H&R Block Inc. , the largest U.S. tax preparer, on Thursday said its quarterly loss nearly doubled, and was larger than analysts expected, as the struggles of its mortgage lending arm worsened.

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waltky · 08-16-2010, 07:51 PM

Kinda like sellin' candy in front of a kid with no money to buy it...

The wasted 4.44% mortgage rate
August 16, 2010 -- It appears even the bright spots of this tired economy are still working against heavily indebted homeowners. Mortgage rates have hit new lows nearly every week, but many borrowers are still unable to take advantage of them.

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Like it is in so many parts of today's sideways economy, relief is out of reach. Stimulus dollars are everywhere, but somehow never where they're needed most. Last week, U.S. mortgage rates fell for the eighth consecutive week to a record low after the Federal Reserve said it would buy more government debt to help the economy recover. A 30-year fixed-rate mortgage in the week ending Thursday dropped to 4.44% from 4.49%, according to Freddie Mac, which noted it was the lowest since the mortgage finance company began collecting data in 1971. The 15-year rate averaged 3.92%.

The fall in rates ostensibly means homeowners can lower their monthly loan payments by refinancing their existing loans. They're certainly trying -- the Mortgage Bankers Association reported last week that 78.1% of all mortgage applications fell under the refinance category, up from 58.7% in April.

But many of them are filling out all that paperwork only to get a rejection letter in response. The mortgage association does not quantify how many of those who apply for refinance actually get approved, but mortgage brokers say many homeowners are ineligible. Last year the Home Affordable Refinance Program, or HARP, was created to help homeowners get new loans, but the program has only resulted in a small fraction of the refinancings the government aimed to enable.

"The qualifications are so much stricter," says Dale Robyn Siegel, CEO of Harrison, NY-based Circle Mortgage Group and author of The New Rules for Mortgages. "Banks have realized that even the best of borrowers have lost their jobs. A lot of people are really tapped out."

Doors closing