The share of “unacceptable” ratings for defective FHA loans following a post-endorsement technical review has dropped from double- to single-digits in FY 2015 due to lenders’ mitigation efforts, according to the FHA’s latest loan-review results. FHA’s initial unacceptable rate has remained at 45 to 47 percent over the last four quarters, but lender submission of mitigating documentation has reduced that rate to 5 percent as of Oct. 31, 2015, the FHA report said. This means an overall mitigation rate of nearly 90 percent of the FHA-insured loan sample. The number of initially unacceptable findings and those findings subsequently mitigated are based on 6,415 FHA-insured mortgages that underwent post-endorsement technical reviews between April 1 and June 30, 2015. Of the total loans reviewed, 68.6 percent were purchase loans, 17.9 percent streamline refinance and ...

Joint civil fraud initiatives have resulted in $558.5 million in recoveries and receivables to the Department of Housing and Urban Development in FY 2015, according to the HUD inspector general’s semiannual report to Congress. The amount includes civil settlements of $212.5 million from First Tennessee Bank, $29.6 million from Reverse Mortgage Solutions, and $1.8 million from three other settlements. The settlements resolved enforcement actions brought by the Department of Justice on behalf of HUD in pursuit of civil remedies under a variety of statutes, including the False Claims Act, Program Fraud Civil Remedies Act, and the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act. Recoveries and receivables for other entities during the reporting period – April 1 to Sept. 30, 2015 – totaled $86.9 million and $268.2 million for the entire fiscal year. Some of the payments were made to the ...

The national loan limit for FHA-insured single-family mortgages will remain unchanged throughout 2016, but 188 counties will see their high-cost limits rise due to house-price changes. The FHA national loan limit “ceiling” for forward mortgages will remain at $625,500, while the FHA “floor” will stay at $271,050 for next year. For example, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Marin, and Silicon Valley, where the loan limits are currently at $625,500, will see no change in 2016. The same will be true for many counties whose FHA loan limits fall between the national floor and ceiling, like Sacramento and Fresno, for instance. On the other hand, 188 counties like Napa, Riverside, San Bernardino and San Diego will see their forward loan limits increase by at least $1,150 to as much as $30,240. Each year, FHA readjusts its loan limits based on 115 percent of the median house price in the area. The loan-limit floor is set at ...

Approximately $191.8 billion in FHA-insured mortgage loans were securitized during the first nine months of 2015, surpassing the $158.1 billion of FHA loans that were placed in Ginnie Mae pools last year, agency loan-level data show. Securitized FHA purchase loans accounted for $111.7 billion of Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities issued over the same period. FHA refinance securitization totaled $66.8 billion. Modified FHA loans were also included in Ginnie MBS totals. The FHA loans in Ginnie MBS had an average loan-to-value ratio of 92.9 percent and an average FICO score of 677.5 percent, reflecting the single-family program’s traditional borrower base. The loans had an average debt-to-income ratio of 39.8 percent. FHA loans accounted for 19.8 percent of loans that underlie Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae MBS. On the other hand, the same loans accounted for 41.2 percent of insured loans in ... [ 1 chart ]

The Department of Justice has announced settlements with two nonbank FHA originators to resolve allegations of FHA underwriting fraud and False Claims Act violations. Franklin American Mortgage in Franklin, TN, recently agreed to pay $70 million to resolve allegations it knowingly originated and underwrote FHA-insured loans that did not meet agency guidelines. There were also quality-control issues. According to the DOJ, Franklin Mortgage, a direct endorsement lender, agreed it had certified ineligible loans for FHA insurance starting Jan. 1, 2006, including single-family residential loans, reverse mortgages and streamlined refinances. Those loans later resulted in claims submitted to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, causing losses to the FHA insurance fund. The DOJ also alleged that the nonbank lender employed unqualified junior underwriters and set high quotas for its ...

Quicken Loans’ chief executive officer reiterated threats by company owner Dan Gilbert to exit the FHA business amid concerns about a forthcoming lender-certification rule and an ongoing court battle with the Department of Justice. A report by Reuters quoted Gilbert earlier this week as saying he is considering pulling Quicken Loans out of the FHA market. In an interview with IMFnews, Quicken CEO Bill Emerson said top management would be remiss if it did not think about exiting the business. Quicken will decide whether to stay or go after the FHA releases its revised rule on lender certification later this month, he said. The revised proposal restores a provision initially removed from the original proposal, which would require lenders to certify that neither the firm nor its officers have been suspended, debarred or excluded from participation in any federal agency transactions. In addition, the revised proposed rule requires ...

An Urban Institute analysis echoed observations in the FY 2015 actuarial audit of the FHA Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund, calling for the separation of the highly volatile reverse mortgage portfolio from the fund. Assessing the performances of the larger forward mortgage portfolio and the smaller Home Equity Conversion Mortgage portfolio when determining FHA’s financial status results in an inaccurate picture, warned Laurie Goodman, director of the institute’s Housing Finance Policy Center. Including the highly unstable, unpredictable HECM business in FHA’s solvency calculation severely distorts the fund’s true financial condition, she said. Goodman’s dire warning puts a damper on the actuarial audit, which, for the first time since 2009, reported the fund’s capital ratio over the 2.0 percent statutory threshold, up from 0.41 percent in FY 2014 and a year earlier than projected in the ...

A coalition of financial services trade groups expressed support for the permanent extension of the one-year protection from foreclosure for service members who have just left the military. The provision under the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act will expire at the end of 2015 and revert to the original 90-day protection unless extended by legislation. Eight industry trade organizations in a joint letter urged House lawmakers to extend the provision through 2016 if they cannot make it permanent. Some service members continue to face financial hardship upon returning to civilian life, the groups noted. Slow recoveries in real-estate markets in certain areas of the country, particularly those around military bases, make it difficult for those retiring or opting out after their tour of duty is up to sell their houses. The protection becomes effective on the date the service member is ...

The Urban Institute has suggested separating FHA’s reverse mortgage business from future actuarial audits of the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund because it is producing a skewed picture of MMIF finances. In a recent blog, Laurie Goodman, director of the institute’s Housing Finance Policy Center, said including the highly volatile and unpredictable Home Equity Conversion Mortgage portfolio in FHA’s solvency calculation severely distorts the fund’s true financial condition ...

The first nine months of 2015 have seen a tremendous increase in FHA single-family originations as borrowers took advantage of a 50 basis-point premium reduction implemented earlier this year, according to Inside FHA/VA Lending’s analysis of agency data. Total FHA loan production during the first nine months of 2015 was up a whopping 81.3 percent increase. Data also showed a 13.1 percent increase in the third quarter from the prior quarter. It is hard to imagine that back in February this year, we reported a dismal ending for 2014, where overlays and high-loan costs caused an 8.1 percent decline in FHA endorsements in the fourth quarter and a 36.6 percent drop from 2013. In 2015, FHA fixed-rate originations increased 12.7 percent from the second to the third quarter, and rose 86.0 percent on a year-to-date basis. In 2014, conversion ... [ 2 charts ].