Retail mortgage production units accounted for over half of new loans originated during the third quarter of 2009, topping the 50 percent mark for just the second time in history, according to a new market analysis and ranking by Inside Mortgage Finance. Although all three production channels took significant declines in volume during the third quarter... [Includes seven charts]
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Mortgage lenders are praising the Department of Housing and Urban Development for announcing restraint in enforcing new regulatory requirements under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act for the first four months of the new rule, due to take effect on Jan. 1, 2010. The Mortgage Bankers Association and the Consumer Mortgage Coalition said they are pleased with HUD’s instruction last...
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Department of Housing and Urban Development officials are pinning a lot of their optimism about the health of the FHA mortgage insurance fund on the better-quality loans insured in 2009, but the long-awaited audit report released late last week didn’t ease all concerns about the program. The FHA ended its fiscal year in September with an 0.53 percent capital reserve ratio, well below...
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The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.’s board of directors last week approved a final rule requiring residential mortgage originators employed by federally regulated financial institutions and their subsidiaries to register with the state-run Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry and obtain a unique identifier. The FDIC final rule implements the Secure and Fair Enforcement for...
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Fannie Mae may have to write down its entire $5.2 billion in low-income housing tax credits after the Treasury Department nixed the transfer of about half that amount in a deal that had already been approved by the government-sponsored enterprise’s regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency. According to the terms of a proposed transaction, Fannie would sell about $2.6 billion of its tax...
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The Department of Housing and Urban Development this week said lenders and other settlement service providers may add extra worksheets or separate pages as long as they are not meant to expand the new, standardized three-page good-faith estimate form under Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act rules that go into effect Jan. 1, 2010. Industry participants can provide other...
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Regulators all over the planet should set minimum underwriting standards for mortgage loans in their countries, according to John Dugan, comptroller of the currency, in a speech in Japan this week.Although minimum mortgage underwriting standards should not dictate every feature in a...
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