Real estate industry groups are urging the FHA to align a forthcoming proposed rule for private transfer fees with a final rule recently adopted by the Federal Housing Finance Agency. In a joint letter to Acting FHA Commissioner Carol Galante, the National Association of Realtors and the Institute of Real Estate Management expressed support for the FHFA rule on transfer-fee covenants and asked that a mortgagee’s compliance with the FHFA rule be deemed as compliance with the FHA’s own rule regarding such covenants. The two groups urged the FHA to ...

FHA-approved reverse mortgage lenders conducting any new financial assessments of elderly borrowers should not be overly restrictive to ensure that the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage program remains a viable option for cash-poor seniors, according to the National Council on Aging. The NCA, an advocacy group for elderly Americans, noted that lender assessments of borrowers’ ability to repay a HECM loan may be tough seniors with modest income who could not qualify for a conventional home loan would be left with fewer alternatives to tap home equity. The FHA does not have specific income requirements for HECM borrowers. However, policymakers are ...

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has paid a total of $962,600 in incentive payments to servicers that used special forbearance for unemployed homeowners since changes to FHA forbearance rules were announced in July last year. The payments covered 6,116 claims filed with HUD under the FHA’s revised special forbearance program from July 2011 through March 2012. The program helps unemployed FHA borrowers stay in their homes while seeking reemployment. Changes to the program require servicers to extend the forbearance period for qualified FHA borrowers from the minimum four months to 12 months. In addition, upfront hurdles were ...

Incentive payments to FHA servicers based on a compliance score will soon replace the current tier ranking-based inducements used by the Department of Housing and Urban Development to reward above par servicer performance. In an update to its servicer evaluation process, HUD said implementation of the National Servicing Center’s Servicer Performance Scorecard (SPS) is underway and the transition from Tier Ranking System (TRS) incentive payment to an SPS payment scheme will be announced in a mortgagee letter as soon as the implementation is completed. In the future, the SPS may be used as ...

The Department of Housing and Urban Development is evaluating potential changes to its tough condominium requirements, some of which could be announced soon. A department spokesperson declined to comment on specific requirements that may be included in new guidelines but said the agency is working to respond to industry concerns. Industry observers say the rules, which HUD put in place in 2009, have left many condominium units ineligible for FHA-insured financing. Condominium association boards have been ...

The FHA saw its total originations drop 5.4 percent in the first three months of 2012 compared to the same period last year but posted a modest gain on a quarterly basis, according to Inside FHA Lending’s analysis of FHA data. Excluding Home Equity Conversion Mortgage loans, FHA originations in the first quarter totaled $50.0 billion, of which 79.0 percent were originated in-house. Sponsored third-party originators accounted for the remaining 21.0 percent, or approximately $10.5 billion, data showed. Production jumped 12.0 percent in the first quarter of 2012 from $44.6 billion in the fourth quarter of 2011. The top 50 FHA lenders accounted for ... [With 1 chart]

Effective June 2012, Ginnie Mae will provide monthly disclosures about accumulated multiple issuer pool (MIP) activity in terms of dollar amount and number of loans as well as by pool term, pool type and security interest. The information provided will apply to issuances for the current month. The disclosure will provide issuers and investors additional insight into the multiple issuer pools in process. However, the information can change any time until the completion of the MIP process at the end of the month, Ginnie Mae cautioned. A final list will be ...

One of the newly filed Senate bills to advance the White House’s election-year refinance initiatives would pay for itself by extending the decade-long hike in loan guarantee fees for “just one more year” through 2022, according to the bill’s Democrat sponsor. Last week, Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-CA, introduced the Expanding Refinancing Opportunities Act of 2012, to allow more homeowners the chance to refinance via FHA mortgage insurance. The bill is geared toward mortgages not already guaranteed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or the FHA. Feinstein’s bill would create a $6 billion FHA fund to provide...

The paint is still wet on the expanded Home Affordable Refinance Program, but the Obama administration says it is firmly behind efforts by Senate Democrats to expand the program for underwater Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac borrowers even further. Sens. Robert Menendez, D-NJ, and Barbara Boxer, D-CA, are preparing to file legislation that would force Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to waive representations and warranties on new HARP loans regardless of whether the refinance lender serviced the previous mortgage. The forthcoming Responsible Homeowner Refinance Act of 2012 would also prohibit the government...

Mortgage servicers could find themselves in a quandary as they implement the national servicing standards outlined in the March foreclosure settlement agreement, especially if they run into conflicting FHA requirements. Compliance experts say that while many of the settlement standards could be carried out within the FHA program without being at odds with existing FHA requirements, conflicts do exist with the guidelines that cannot be resolved. Even when it is technically possible to comply with both FHA guidelines and the settlement standards, it is still going to ...