Due diligence provider American Mortgage Consultants recently purchased the like-minded JCIII & Associates for an undisclosed sum, a transaction that could be a harbinger of additional consolidation in the sector. In fact, market sources contend that eventually American Mortgage Consultants will hit the auction block too – it’s just a matter of when. According to one due diligence source, the purchase of JCIII helps AMC build “critical mass,” which will attract buyers or at least ...
It’s not too late for lenders to catch the home-equity lending wave, which has rebounded after the housing market collapse and steadily gathered strength for well over a year now, according to Sam Khater, deputy chief economist at CoreLogic. “Home-equity lending, for years the red-headed stepchild of our industry, is coming back into favor, thanks to the growth in equity that millions of American homeowners are experiencing, and the improving economy,” Khater said ...
RealtyTrac recently launched a beta version of a new tool that it hopes will become the “Carfax” of the residential home market by telling the homebuyer as well as the lender all the foibles of a residential property. The product’s official name is Home Disclosure and it promises consumers a comprehensive view of a property that they plan to buy or rent in the future. Current property owners, as well as lenders, can access the information as well. The report is broken down into ...
The legalization of marijuana has had a lucrative impact on Colorado’s economy, increasing tax receipts to the state. But housing professionals aren’t quite sure if the pot “boom” is also responsible for driving up home values. “We don’t have current statistics related to that industry,” said Kelly Moye, a spokesperson for the Colorado Association of Realtors. According to Moye, that’s partly why it’s difficult to attribute the increase in home prices to the booming weed market. But Moye notes ...
Mortgage lenders became gradually more pessimistic about profit margins in 2015, according to Fannie Mae’s most recent lender sentiment survey. In the fourth-quarter survey, 42 percent of respondents expected profit margins to shrink over the next three months. Back in the first quarter of 2015, only 10 percent were in that camp, though the group grew to 25 percent in the second and 38 percent in the third quarters of last year. A minority (13 percent) said they expect margins to ...
Broad changes to federal bankruptcy forms that went into effect on Dec. 1, 2015, should help reduce the likelihood of a procedural challenge to mortgage lenders’ and servicers’ claims, according to attorneys with the law firm of Ballard Spahr. The revisions pertain specifically to proofs of claim for residential mortgage loans. Many of the alterations are technical or designed to modernize the forms, but a few of the changes affect the substance of the information and analysis ...
While Fannie Mae recently said it would announce details this year about its plan to let lenders pay a risk fee as an alternative to repurchase for some defective loans, Freddie Mac said it’s “business as usual” and the GSE doesn’t plan to make lenders pay a fee for retaining some loans with defects. “We did look at charging a fee, but we believe we have an alternative of recourses, which means the lenders are not paying any fee up front, and if the loan performs there is no repurchase,” Christopher Mock, Freddie’s vice president of quality control, told Inside The GSEs. He said this allows the lender and the GSE to walk together down the performance trail of the loan.
Fannie Mae plans to move its Dallas headquarters to nearby Plano, TX, and consolidate three area offices into one new location by sometime in 2018, thanks to an improvement in loan quality resulting in the need for less staff. The Dallas-based offices are focused on mortgage servicing, working with borrowers if they’re behind on their mortgages and managing foreclosed properties. But with foreclosures lessening, plans include downsizing office space from about 450,000 square feet to an approximately 300,000-square-foot office. “It’s important to have our teams in one place to do that work together,” said a GSE spokesman who confirmed the move.
Fannie Mae has changed the guidelines for loans with age-related resale restrictions in response to lenders’ requests about second homes and investment properties in these communities. Currently, Fannie limits occupancy on a loan with resale restrictions to a borrower’s one- and two-unit principal residence, but it has now expanded the eligibility to permit all occupancy types. The GSE said this will allow borrowers to purchase a property for the benefit of older family members or for future use. It said the criteria of the deed restriction must continue to be met and those requirements typically apply to the unit occupant and often requires just one resident to be 55 or older.
Freddie Announces New Alliance with Lenders One. Freddie Mac has teamed up with Lenders One Mortgage Cooperative, based in St. Louis, to give Lenders One members who are Freddie seller/servicers pricing and execution benefits, enhanced access to mortgage products, and professional training and development opportunities. Freddie did not provide additional details on specific pricing benefits .Chris Boyle, senior vice president of single-family sales and relationship management at Freddie, said Freddie Mac is pleased to “help its members reach more eligible borrowers, achieve new efficiencies in the origination process and build strong, competitive businesses.” In related news, Lenders One is still...