A political storm is brewing over a controversial bid by federal and state regulators to force mortgage servicers to make principal reductions and significantly increase the amount of work they do to mitigate losses and pursue foreclosures. A 27-page draft of proposed settlement terms does not cite...
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Just over two thirds of the home mortgages originated in 2010 were to refinance an existing loan, a surprisingly low figure given the historic lows in mortgage interest rates seen last year and the still weak state of the housing market. A total of $1.055 trillion of refinance loans were originated...[Includes three data charts]
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The refinance share of total mortgage originations hit a record high of 78.4 percent in the fourth quarter of last year, according to numbers compiled by Inside Mortgage Finance. That made 2010 the second year in a row that the refi share has topped 67 percent. But 2011 is expected...
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Essent Guaranty has enhanced its master policy for private mortgage insurance with language designed to reduce exposure to mortgage insurance claims arising from misrepresentations, underwriting errors and missing loan documents. The enhancement, Clarity of Coverage, is an endorsement to the company’s new master policy that applies...
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FHA’s already-vulnerable insurance fund will suffer more than $11 million in losses due to the inadequate underwriting of loans originated by direct endorsement lenders, according to a recent report published by the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of the Inspector General. The findings were discovered...
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This week, the House Financial Services Committee approved two bills to kill the Home Affordable Modification Program (H.R. 839) and the Neighborhood Stabilization Program (H.R. 861) as Republican lawmakers continued their push to terminate some Obama administration housing programs that are widely regarded...
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A group of six real estate finance trade organizations has called upon the Federal Reserve to con-sider easing up on its revised interim rule implementing provisions of the Mortgage Disclosure Im-provement Act citing “serious problems” with the Fed’s revisions that have resulted...
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The consensus among panelists and policymakers at a hearing in the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee this week is that the housing market’s condition remains fragile, severely affected by inventory issues, home price trends and the uncertain impact of regulatory reform. Senator Jack Reed, D-RI, noted...
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We have made some minor revisions to our tables ranking top conventional-conforming and FHA/VA lenders for 2010. They are available for subscribers at our website, www.imfpubs.com.