Vendor Resource Management, which the VA hired in June to service its nationwide mortgage portfolio and real estate-owned assets, has subcontracted a significant portion of the servicing to BSI Financial Services. According to VRM, BSI took over the servicing of the VA’s national portfolio beginning Dec. 1, 2017. VRM retained the REO servicing. VRM was first awarded the servicing contract in 2012, and the company initially subcontracted Ditech Financial to service VA’s larger national portfolio. The contract was later amended to facilitate a pilot whereby a portion of VA properties would be managed under the award. A new 10-year contract was awarded subsequently to VRM, which became effective on July 1, 2017. Based in Irving, TX, BSI Financial is a loan subservicer and a provider of technology and outsourcing services to banks and institutional investors in the ...

FHFA Announces Maximum Conforming Loan Limits for 2018. On Nov. 28, the Federal Housing Finance Agency announced the maximum baseline loan limits in 2018 for one-unit properties, which are increasing to $453,100, and up to $679,650 in most high-cost areas. Loan limits may be higher for Alaska, Hawaii, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands. TOTAL Scorecard Database Upgrade Postponed. FHA has postponed its planned upgrade of the TOTAL Scorecard database that was scheduled initially on Nov. 22, 2017. Additional details will be forthcoming. VA Data Collection: Lender Satisfaction Survey. The VA is seeking approval from the Office of Management and Budget to conduct a survey to gauge lender satisfaction with the various aspects of the VA Home Loan Guaranty program. PennyMac Provides Update to FHA DTI Overlay. Previously, PennyMac’s debt-to-income ratio requirements for ...

Agency MBS data indicate that first-time buyers have been key to this year’s surge in purchase-mortgage activity...

If the Texas Republican gets his way, investment firms including Pershing Square and Fairholme Funds stand to lose the millions of dollars…

Acting Ginnie Mae President Michael Bright also issued a warning that expulsion from the program for “lenders who produce pools with inexplicably fast prepayment speeds” was a distinct possibility.

It's only a matter of time before the White House officially nominates acting Ginnie Mae president Michael Bright to be the permanent head of the agency...

However, Hensarling is adamant that the plug be pulled on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac...

The CFPB and VA recently issued their first WARNO, or “warning order,” to members of the U.S. armed forces and veterans with VA home loans, urging them to stay on their toes and avoid deceptive mortgage refinance offers. “If you have a VA home loan, then there is a good chance that you have already come into contact with unsolicited offers to refinance your mortgage that appear official and may sound too good to be true,” the two agencies said. Many of these solicitations promise extremely low interest rates, thousands of dollars in cash back, the ability to skip mortgage payments, and no out-of-pocket costs or waiting period. “Don’t be fooled,” the CFPB and VA said. “Before responding to any ...

Language in the pending Senate tax bill that could hammer the value of mortgage servicing rights is causing grave concern in the industry and, if the wording remains, nonbank mortgage firms could get hammered financially.

Ginnie Mae will soon announce a series of measures to resolve improper refinancing of VA loans that is causing rapid prepayments in the agency’s MBS, according to Michael Bright, Ginnie’s acting president.