The Obama administration pressured mortgage servicers this week to sort out the mess that is causing massive foreclosure problems across the country, and FHA officials echoed that message. A national foreclosure moratorium would be problematic and may do more harm...
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Applications for FHA-insured loans spiked in late September, as borrowers tried to get their apps in before higher FHA premiums took effect Oct. 4, according to the latest industry surveys. A recent Mortgage Bankers Association weekly application survey showed that a significant increase in purchase activity was led...[Includes one data chart and one graph]
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The Department of Housing and Urban Development is still mulling over how much to change its policy on allowable seller concessions, but industry experts say the agency will most likely back off its original proposal to lower the limit to 3.0 percent. “HUD is continuing...
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A new version of the FHA’s Home Equity Conversion Mortgage, dubbed the HECM Saver, is a cheaper option for borrowers that became available last week, but reaction to the new product has been mixed. The HECM Saver, which the FHA outlined in Mortgagee Letter 2010-34, became available Oct. 4 and was the product of Department of Housing and Urban Development officials’ attempts...[Includes one graph]
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The Department of Housing and Urban Development unveiled the last set of changes increasing its authority to force lenders to indemnify the agency for poorly underwritten mortgages. The expanded power in the proposed rule published in the Oct. 8 Federal Register wraps up...
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Ginnie Mae officials are building up the agency’s staff resources to cope with the rapid growth of the government mortgage-backed securities program in the wake of the explosion in FHA lending. Even though Ginnie Mae continues to rely heavily on third-party contractors for most of its processing and back-office operations, the agency will have increased...
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Borrowers refinancing using the FHA short refi program must sign an additional form certifying that they have not been convicted in the last 10 years of a crime in connection with a real estate or mortgage transaction, larceny, theft, fraud, forgery or money laundering, the Department of Housing and Urban Development said...
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