Home Equity Loans

Browse articles from all of our Newsletters related to Home Equity Loans.

May 11, 2012 - Inside FHA Lending

Independent Lenders Fill Void in MetLife's Wake

Home Equity Conversion Mortgage loans remain widely available, thanks to the independent lenders that rallied to plug the gaps as major players bolted from the reverse mortgage market, an industry executive told lawmakers this week. In testimony during a House subcommittee hearing on FHA regulation of the HECM market, Jeffrey Lewis, CEO of Generation Mortgage Co., said MetLife’s departure from the market and closure of its traditional mortgage-origination business say nothing about the value of the HECM product to consumers. Lewis said MetLife’s decision was a strategic one and had nothing to do with ... (1 chart)


May 11, 2012 - Inside FHA Lending

FHA to Filter Out Unsuitable HECM Borrowers

The FHA and the reverse mortgage industry are working on guidelines that would help lenders in the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage program identify unsuitable borrowers. Financial assessment guidelines that are currently in development would limit the pool of HECM applicants to those who can afford to meet the program’s financial obligations in a timely manner, said Jeffrey Lewis, chairman and chief executive officer of Generation Mortgage in Atlanta. HECM loans account for 90 percent of all reverse mortgages originated in the U.S. Loan volume had contracted in the wake of the financial crisis, down ...


May 2, 2012 - Mortgage Beat

Fannie Mae Announces Changes to Pricing Terms

Fannie Mae is asserting its right to change pricing terms under standard purchase agreements, master agreements or mortgage securitization contracts, according to an alert issued on May 1. The government-sponsored enterprise made clear its right to change the pricing...


April 27, 2012 - Inside FHA Lending

Around the Industry

MetLife, Inc. has announced that it is leaving the reverse mortgage business as part of a broader business plan to exit the mortgage market and focus strategically on global insurance and employee benefits. Nationstar Mortgage will purchase MetLife’s reverse mortgage servicing portfolio. MetLife Bank will no longer accept new reverse mortgage loan applications and registrations. MetLife’s entire retail banking business, including mortgages, accounted for less than 2.0 percent of the company’s 2011 operating earnings. Last year, the company decided to ...


April 27, 2012 - Inside Nonconforming Markets

News Briefs

DBRS this week said seven firms are approved to provide third-party due diligence on non-agency mortgage-backed securities rated by the company. The companies are Allonhill, American Mortgage Consultants, Clayton, Digital Risk, Opus, RMG and R.R. Donnelley. Meanwhile, CoreLogic announced last week that Standard & Poor’s has approved the company as a third-party due diligence provider for non-agency MBS ... [Includes four briefs]


April 27, 2012 - Inside Nonconforming Markets

Banks Reclassify Home-Equity Loans, But Little Impact Expected From Change

The four major banks reclassified $6.0 billion in home-equity loans to nonperforming status this month due to guidance from federal regulators. While the holdings have been seen as an impediment to loss mitigation efforts, the banks said the accounting change was essentially cosmetic. Bank of America classified $4.36 billion in HELs as nonperforming as of the end of the first quarter of 2012, up from $2.45 billion at the end of 2011. The increase was due to ...


April 24, 2012 - Mortgage Beat

PPIP Investments in Non-Agency MBS Increase in First Quarter of 2012

Funds participating in the $29.4 billion Public-Private Investment Program increased their holdings of non-agency mortgage-backed securities in the first quarter of 2012, according to data released by the Treasury Department. The six remaining ...


April 18, 2012 - Mortgage Beat

HUD, DOJ Crack Down on FHA Mortgage Fraud Schemes

The Departments of Housing and Urban Development and Justice continued their crackdown on mortgage fraud schemes against the FHA with debarment orders against conspirators in a reverse mortgage scam and a prison term for a loan officer who facilitated fraud by lying about borrower...


April 17, 2012 - Mortgage Beat

Report: Borrower Assistance Program Limited by GSEs, Servicers, Treasury

The Treasury Department’s $7.6 billion Hardest Hit Fund is all carrot and no stick, according to a housing finance agency official in Florida. The HHF announced in February 2010 includes $1.5 billion in federal funds allocated for principal reductions and second-lien reductions...


April 13, 2012 - Inside FHA Lending

HUD Hires Texas Servicing Contractor for HECMs

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has hired a new contractor to service Home Equity Conversion Mortgages and other secretary-held mortgage assets. Irving, TX-based Deval, LLC, officially took over from C&L Service Corp. as HUD’s new loan servicing contractor effective March 1. Servicers may assign loans through Deval once they reach 98 percent of the maximum claim amount. As part of its servicer duties, Deval will handle borrower inquiries, payoff requests for Hope for Homeowners mortgages, HECM servicer inquiries and certain HECM-related requests. In addition to assigned HECM loans, Deval will be ...


April 13, 2012 - Inside FHA Lending

HECM Lenders Should Learn from ‘Robo’ Probes

The focus on foreclosure documentation on forward mortgages has set the stage for similar scrutiny on reverse mortgages, and the extra documentation required in a reverse mortgage adds to this challenge, according to compliance experts. In a recent legal analysis, Christopher Willis and Mercedes Kelly Tunstall, litigation attorney and of counsel at the Washington law firm Ballard Spahr, respectively, said reverse mortgage lenders and servicers could avoid many of the problems encountered by forward mortgages by examining their foreclosure process carefully and learning from ...


April 13, 2012 - Inside Nonconforming Markets

HEL Holdings Decreasing, Concerns Persist

Bank and thrift holdings of home-equity loans continue to decline, particularly holdings of closed-end second liens. Even though performance on the loans currently remains strong, industry analysts warn that these assets could cause major losses. Banks and thrifts held $1.18 trillion in home-equity lines of credit, unused HELOC commitments and closed-end seconds at the end of 2011, according to the Inside Mortgage Finance Bank Mortgage Database. That was down 1.5 percent from the third quarter of 2011 and down 8.8 percent from the end of 2010 ... [Includes one data chart]


April 10, 2012 - Mortgage Beat

The Top Holders of Home-Equity Loans

This week’s issue of Inside Nonconforming Markets will include a ranking of the top 50 banks and thrifts in total home-equity lending business. Overall, banks and thrifts held $1.18 trillion in home-equity lines of credit, HELOC commitments and closed-end seconds at the end of...


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