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Inside Mortgage Finance

July 5, 2012

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GSE Business Volume Down in Second Quarter As Refi Market Continued to Lose Momentum

Despite a late surge in refinance business for seriously underwater home mortgages, new business volume at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac declined by 10.2 percent during the second quarter, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance analysis and ranking. The two government-sponsored enterprises securitized a total of $273.95 billion of conventional single-family mortgages during the second quarter. Thanks to the huge $305.21 billion of GSE business recorded during the first three months of 2012, the market was still 39.3 percent ahead of the pace set during the first half of last year. Refinance activity... Read More

Stevens’ Decision to Stay at MBA Is Plus for Trade Group and Industry, Observers Say

Mortgage industry insiders are applauding the decision by David Stevens to stay on as president and CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association rather than take the number two post at SunTrust Mortgage as he had previously announced. Stevens was to resign from the MBA on June 30, but the trade group this week announced that he had changed course and decided to stay. “After serious thought and consideration, I simply cannot leave the MBA at such a critical time for the industry and the association,” said Stevens. “Frankly, at the end of the day, stepping away now when so much progress is being made and... Read More

How Much Traction Will Small Lender Arguments Have with CFPB on Points and Fees Rulemaking?

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is proceeding with its effort to develop a rule to limit the upfront points and fees mortgage originators could collect from borrowers – an initiative it began by assembling a small business regulatory review panel to consider the bureau’s initial direction. But one panel participant isn’t confident that their views are going to make much headway with an agency that may already have its mind made up. The CFPB is considering a handful of related proposals, one of which would require an interest-rate reduction when consumers elect to pay discount points. Specifically... Read More

Senate Democrats Pressure United Guaranty To ‘Do the Right Thing’ on HARP 2.0 Changes

A trio of Senate Democrats is squeezing the only private mortgage insurer not fully onboard with the Obama administration’s recent enhancements to the Home Affordable Refinance Program. Last week, Sens. Barbara Boxer, D-CA, Robert Menendez, D-NJ, and Herb Kohl, D-WI, dispatched a critical letter to United Guaranty Corp. CEO Kim Garland. The letter came attached with a set of eight questions for the MI and a less than subtle hint that the mortgage-insurance unit of Ameri-can International Group Inc. should get with the program just like everybody else. “Despite the industry consensus that removing... Read More

U.S. Supreme Court Punts ‘Actual Harm’ RESPA Dispute Back to the Lower Courts

The Supreme Court of the United States had a chance to resolve the issue of whether an individ-ual who has not suffered any actual damages from violations of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act has legal standing to sue in federal court. But instead, SCOTUS decided not to explore it. “The writ of certiorari is dismissed as improvidently granted,” the high court said in a terse an-nouncement late last week regarding First American Financial v. Edwards, a case it agreed to hear al-most to the day one year ago. The ruling means the plaintiff will in fact be able to move ahead and sue, as the... Read More

Appraisers Warn Against Potentially Excessive Regulation Even as Regulators, Other Groups Call for Closer Scrutiny

The appraisal industry is calling upon Congress to enact legislation to reform the current regula-tory structure for appraisers, at the same time warning that any unauthorized action by appraiser regula-tory agencies to toughen oversight would hurt and jeopardize the profession. Testifying before the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Insurance, Housing and Economic Opportunity last week, the Appraisal Institute said the Appraisal Subcommittee of the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council and the Appraisal Foundation, an authorized private regula-tory body, have agreed to... Read More

U.S. Foreclosure Mitigation Efforts Found Insufficient, States Play More Active Role

Federal officials deny that they’re growing weary of and disinterested in the ongoing foreclosure crisis, even while observers are calling for more effective solutions. “Folks in Washington tell me there is a general sense of foreclosure fatigue in our nation’s capital,” wrote Jean Braucher, a professor of law at the University of Arizona, in the finance blog Credit Slips. “It’s just so boring to keep thinking about all the people losing their homes year after year. Can’t we move on to something new? This attitude goes along with a failure to do anything meaningful to get out of the five-year-old mortgage crisis, still... Read More

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