The FHA has announced new streamlined procedures to help delinquent homeowners avoid foreclosure and stay in their homes. The agency is revising loss-mitigation procedures servicers use when evaluating and choosing the best home-retention options for delinquent borrowers by reducing waiting time for results. The new streamlined procedures are designed to enhance servicers’ ability to evaluate foreclosure-avoidance alternatives, especially for the FHA-Home Affordable Modification Program (FHA-HAMP). Specifically, FHA will require servicers to convert successful three-month trial modifications into permanent modifications within 60 days instead of the average four to six months. Borrowers who have three missed mortgage payments would be able to opt for a partial claim to bring their arrearages current versus the previous four-month minimum. In addition, the FHA will eliminate the ...
Despite the FHA loss of market share to the private mortgage insurance business in the second quarter of 2016, stakeholders continue to believe that an FHA premium reduction is not likely to occur any time soon. Analysts with Keefe Bruyette & Woods said that, while investor concern about an FHA price cut remains elevated, the likelihood of a cut “is not very high” and the impact would be limited since the FHA is likely to cut rates only by about 30 basis points before hitting the ...
The Department of Housing and Urban Development is seeking comment on a supplemental proposal, which would require an FHA lender to file a claim when a Home Equity Conversion Mortgage loan reaches 98 percent of the maximum claim amount. The proposal stems from another proposed rule published by HUD last May that would codify previous revisions to the HECM program and make additional changes. The proposal would provide the lender an opportunity ...
Lenders originated home loans that included primary mortgage insurance at a hectic pace during the second quarter of 2016, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance ranking and analysis. A whopping $196.23 billion of new mortgage originations carried private MI during the second quarter, including significant increases in both private MI and government-insured mortgage insurance. That was up 34.1 percent from the first three months of 2016, and represented the biggest quarterly total on record. Private MI posted...[Includes three data tables]
The agency single-family MBS market gained speed for the sixth consecutive month in July and appeared on track to top last year’s annual total by the time 2016 is over. According to a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis and ranking, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae produced a hefty $129.30 billion of new single-family MBS in July. That was up 7.7 percent from June and represented the biggest month in new issuance since August 2013. While the year-to-date totals were still slightly below the volume produced in the first seven months of 2015, this year’s market probably hasn’t...[Includes two data tables]
Despite quickening refinance activity, the FHA single-family market soared over the $1 trillion mark in loans pooled in Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities during the second quarter of 2016, according to a new Inside FHA/VA Lending analysis. A record $1.001 trillion of FHA single-family loans made up the lion’s share of collateral backing Ginnie MBS as of the end of June. That was a 1.3 percent increase from the previous quarter and a 5.5 percent gain from the midway point in 2015. Steady growth in FHA loans helped push Ginnie single-family MBS to $1.576 trillion outstanding, topping Freddie Mac for second place in the agency market. The VA loan guaranty program was still the fastest-growing corner of the government-insured market, with total VA loans in Ginnie pools up 3.8 percent from March and 16.7 percent higher than a year ago. The actual amount of FHA and VA loans outstanding is somewhat ... [ 4 charts ]
Senate legislation that would make it easier to obtain FHA financing for condominium projects has been sent to the president for signature, though lenders seem to be more eager for long-anticipated condo reform guidelines from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Senate lawmakers unanimously approved H.R. 3700, the “Housing Opportunity through Modernization Act,” before Congress retired for the August recess. The bill passed in the House of Representatives by a vote of 427-0 back in February. Industry observers said the bill would essentially codify FHA condo-financing guidelines, which HUD recently drafted and are currently undergoing clearance at the Office of Management and Budget. Under H.R. 3700, the FHA would be required to establish and implement a recertification process that is substantially less burdensome than the ...
CIT Group this week revealed that it was shoring up loss reserves tied to a reverse mortgage servicing operation it absorbed as part of its acquisition of OneWest Bank and its parent holding company, IMB HoldCo., last August. The loss of $167 million in discontinued operations relates to Financial Freedom, a reverse mortgage servicing subsidiary of OneWest Bank, which CIT shut down in December last year. In an earlier filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, CIT management identified a material weakness in Financial Freedom related to estimates of the interest-curtailment reserve in its Home Equity Conversion Mortgage portfolio. The flawed estimates apparently have resulted in a material misstatement of CIT’s consolidated financial statements. Due to a change in estimates, and taking into consideration an investigation being conducted by the ...
MBS prepayment speeds are likely to climb higher because of falling mortgage interest rates, but industry analysts are undecided about how big a factor borrower burn-out will be. The Mortgage Bankers Association said its refinance loan application index climbed to 2575.9 in the week ending July 1, its highest level since early 2015. The index fell last week to 2295.8. The average interest rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate conventional conforming mortgage fell...
Ginnie Mae issuers produced a hefty $125.42 billion of new single-family mortgage-backed securities during the second quarter of 2016, according to a new Inside FHA/VA Lending analysis of MBS data. The government-insured market continued to run hotter than the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac sector. Ginnie MBS issuance – including FHA’s home-equity conversion mortgage program – was up 31.1 percent from the first quarter, while single-family MBS issuance by the two government-sponsored enterprises rose 26.2 percent over the same period. Excluding HECM, Ginnie issuance was up 31.5 percent in the second quarter. While FHA forward mortgages continued to be the biggest source of collateral, the VA program actually produced a bigger gain, 42.4 percent, from the first to the second quarter. VA production saw a major boost in refinance activity, up 58.4 ... [Includes four charts ]