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Inside Mortgage Finance

January 28, 2010

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Government Intervention Helps 2009 Mortgage Originations Bounce Back Stronger Than Expected

The federal government’s strong commitment to the mortgage market – launched in the waning months of the Bush administration and sustained by President Obama – fueled a stronger-than-expected rebound in mortgage originations in 2009. An estimated $1.815 trillion of home mortgages were originated in 2009, up 21.0 percent from the year... [Includes two charts and one graph] Read More

Rep. Frank Proposes Abolishing Fannie and Freddie While Concerns Grow About Commitment to GSEs

What would mortgage finance look like without Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac? That future suddenly seemed more possible late last week when House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank, D-MA, announced that the committee will soon propose doing away with the two government-sponsored enterprises and establishing a new approach to housing finance. “The committee will be... Read More

Latest IMF Survey Results Highlight Problems Surrounding Big Drop in Existing Home Sales

This week’s news from the National Association of Realtors that existing home sales fell a whopping 17 percent in December – the biggest drop in 40 years – rattled a mortgage industry that is counting on rising home purchase activity to prop up mortgage originations in 2010. The latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance Monthly Survey of Real Estate Market Conditions shows... Read More

FHA Lenders Brace for Strict Enforcement as HUD Uses Default Rates As Red Flags, Many Servicers in Danger Zone

The FHA sharpened the focus on its speeding cameras late last week, announcing a more rigorous system for assessing whether a company’s serious default rate is excessive for the markets in which it operates. The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced in Mortgagee Letter 2010-03 that it will systematically review all direct-endorsement lenders’ 90+ day... [Includes one chart] Read More

Foreclosure Situation Won’t Get Back to ‘Normal’ Until 2013 as New Wave of Defaults Approaches

While the U.S. economy may be getting statistically stronger in 2010, the mortgage industry should still brace for a third wave of foreclosures, experts warn. A surge of foreclosures on option ARMs is likely to hit the industry this year, following the initial wave of defaults by subprime borrowers and last year’s problem loans, many of which resulted from high unemployment... Read More

FHA Gives More Options For Borrowers Close to Default

Servicers now have more options in dealing with FHA borrowers who are having financial problems but are not yet in default. The Department of Housing and Urban Development last week said in Mortgagee Letter 2010-04 that servicers can use principal forbearance or loan modification to lower the payments of these borrowers. The Helping Families Save Their Home Act of 2009... Read More

AMCs Oppose Reform Provision that Would End HVCC as New Group Lobbies for Change

Vendor management companies are sounding the alarm on legislation that would dismantle Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s Home Valuation Code of Conduct, while a newly established advocacy group for independent mortgage brokers and settlement service providers is lobbying for changes to the controversial code. The Title/Appraisal Vendor Management Association, which represents more than 75... Read More

Despite Webinars and HUD Guidance, Lenders Still in a Fog On How to Disclose Items in New GFE, HUD-1, Experts Say

Mortgage lenders will have to get on a faster learning curve in order to learn the intricacies of the changes to Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act rules that went into effect Jan. 1 if they want to avoid increased liabilities, according to mortgage compliance experts. Nearly a month after implementation of the RESPA rule – and despite the comprehensive ... Read More

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