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Did You Know That ... ?

The spread between the 3-month indexes of the US Treasury
bill and LIBOR (known as the TED spread) is a widely
recognized indicator of confidence in the financial markets.

TED is an acronym formed from T-Bill and ED, the latter being the
ticker symbol for the Eurodollar futures contract which has now been
replaced by LIBOR. The US Treasury bill represents a public
investment vehicle where yields decrease during times of uncertainty
due to rising prices (i.e. the flight to quality). Conversely, LIBOR (the
London Interbank Offered Rate) indicates a more private transaction
between British banks where rates increase during times of
uncertainty due to the perceived risks in the banking system. While
the spread is typically in the 20 to 30bp range, it reached over 400bp
in November, 2008, during the recent world financial crisis.

tedspread.com

Affordable housing deed restrictions can limit a bank's
foreclosure opportunities.

A recent New Jersey court decision upheld the validity of affordable
housing deed restrictions that are intended to designate a property
as part of a local government's affordable housing purchase program.
The decision limited a bank's foreclosure recovery to the amount
approved under the respective program and disallowed an additional
claim resulting from a second mortgage mistakenly made in an
amount above the program valuation (but within market value
parameters). Lenders should always review deed condition language
in order to protect their foreclosure interests, especially relating to
second mortgages and home equity loans. However, this court
decision should in no way deter lenders from participating
appropriately in affordable housing purchase programs.

The word "mortgage" derives from the French words "mort"
(death) and "gage" (pledge).

A literal translation might be "gage de mort" or "pledge of death"
which might imply a rather severe result in the event of delinquency!
The more likely translation is "dead pledge," meaning that the
pledge ends (dies) either when the obligation is fulfilled or the
property is taken through foreclosure.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mortgage

Mortgage buttons traditionally were placed on staircase
newel posts when a mortgage was paid off.

In early Colonial times, mortgage buttons represented a public
disclosure that indebtedness on the subject property had been paid
off or retired. A more recent tradition is the burning of the mortgage
document. The links for two websites where reproduction mortgage
buttons can be purchased are shown below:

www.oatlands.org/giftshop/Step2.asp?ID=44

www.scrimshanders.com/pages/store.php?sid=1&id=227

Moving day for renters in Quebec, Canada, is traditionally the
same day every year.

Moving Day or "Fête du déménagement" is a tradition in the province
of Quebec, Canada, dating from the time when the province used to
provide fixed terms for leases of rental properties. It is currently set
to July 1. The tradition began as a humanitarian measure of the
French colonial government of New France, who forbade the
semi-feudal landlords from evicting their tenant farmers before the
winter snows had melted.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moving_Day

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