FHA Commissioner Julia Gordon spoke Tuesday at an online housing counseling conference hosted by the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Housing Counseling.

Refinance activity drove much of the increase in Ginnie MBS issuance between July and August. Freedom Mortgage remained the top Ginnie issuer, but its production was down 1.9% from July. (Includes two data tables.)

FHA Commissioner Julia Gordon is seeking more federal funding to address ongoing challenges in housing supply and affordability.

Better Mortgage launched the product as part of an effort by the lender to expand its government-insured mortgage originations.

FHA recently posted a draft mortgagee letter proposing revisions related to how it will handle partial claim document recording and payoff statements.

The Mortgage Bankers Association and the Housing Policy Council have called for specific changes to the proposed updates to FHA’s defect taxonomy for servicing loan reviews.

The changes are effective Sept. 28 and are necessary to improve the long-term stability of the HECM program, FHA said.

The court said a non-signatory to an agreement, in this case Ginnie Mae, cannot lay claim to the benefit of a forum selection clause.

A new Urban Institute paper called on policymakers to build on the Financial Stability Oversight Council’s recommendations to address liquidity vulnerabilities among nonbank Ginnie Mae issuers.

The Consumer Federation of America said buyers using FHA loans often face stigma when buying a home and cannot use many competitive strategies that are common to conventional and cash buyers.