T’was the fright After New Years
When all through the land
Not a Realtor was stirring
No matter the brand

The buyers all paused
By the homes with care
In hopes low-down programs
Soon would be theirs

The regulators were nestled
All safe in their beds
While visions of money
Danced in their heads

The Fed raised the interest rates
Not giving them a cap
Settling down the housing market
For a long winters nap

When announced on the media
There arose such a clatter
We sprang from our chairs
To see what was the matter

When what to our wondering eyes
Should appear
But 3200 pages of Dodd Frank
And all of their puppeteers

With too many drivers
Not sure of what to do
We needed to decipher
Compliance and RESPA too

More rapid than open houses
QM courses they came
They threatened and shouted
And called them by name

And then in a twinkling
We hear through the grapevine
The Ability to Repay
Will be here in no time

The new HUD-1
Delayed until August, 2015
Is expanded to seven pages,
And that is obscene

43% ratios will be the norm
To prevent another mortgage storm
Reminiscent of the one in 2008
Which caused foreclosures to procreate

Underwriting guidelines are comical
Will they really make borrowers more responsible?
The Hurricane of compliance
Scares away all our clients

The scare tactics are surely overblown
Yet, everyone needs a home
We will all adapt to the change
Don’t we always, no matter how strange?

Please do not fret
2014 will be the best year yet
So Happy New Year
And to all lots of Cheer!

Eric McAllister