VA Announces Changes to Processing Site Condos in Michigan. The Department of Veterans Affairs has announced new guidance requiring lenders to process site condominium loans in Michigan in a manner similar to a single-family detached home. The VA made clear that the change covers only Michigan. All other geographical areas are excluded. A “site condominium” is a single-family dwelling that is totally detached from any other structure, such as shared garages or any other attached buildings, and encumbered by a declaration of condominium covenants or condo form of ownership. Historically, many development projects in Michigan have offered single-family detached housing as site condominiums as a way to provide housing through a faster and more efficient development process. As condo developments, site developments are subject to VA’s condominium approval and processing ...
Mortgage brokers and their wholesale funders gained some share in the FHA/VA market during the first quarter of 2018, according to a new Inside FHA/VA Lending analysis. Survey data collected by Inside Mortgage Finance show that all three production channels took big hits in FHA/VA volume in early 2018. The $49.11 billion in government-insured lending reported by participating lenders was down 20.7 percent from the previous quarter and 10.8 percent below the volume the group generated in the first three months of 2017. Correspondent production remained the biggest source of FHA/VA loans, accounting for 53.5 percent of the survey sample in the first quarter. But production through this channel was down 22.2 percent from the previous three-month period, a slightly larger decline than seen overall. Four of the top five lenders in the group have strong correspondent platforms, especially ... [Chart]
The Department of Veterans Affairs has issued guidance to VA program participants to ensure that all mortgage loans meet the requirements of the recently enacted Dodd-Frank Act reform law prior to endorsement.
Treasury Official Sees Major Impact from Single Security. A key Treasury Department official suggested that issuers of non-agency MBS may someday participate in the common securitization platform being developed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Craig Phillips, counselor to the Treasury, said the industry has made a lot of progress toward the launch of the single security that is scheduled for June 2019. “Industry preparedness is about an eight or nine on a scale of 10,” he said during remarks at this week's secondary market conference sponsored by the Mortgage Bankers Association in New York. Phillips characterized the...
The Senate this week confirmed Brian Montgomery as the next FHA commissioner and assistant secretary of housing at the Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Most of the decline in FHA business was in purchase-mortgage lending while VA business took a hit due to reductions in the Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loan program.
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