After ending fiscal year 2012 at a negative $16.3 billion, the FHA’s mutual mortgage insurance fund is close to being in the black, according to an independent actuarial report released late last week. The FHA noted that it has shifted its focus from shoring up the MMIF to reducing lenders’ underwriting overlays and targeting poorly performing servicers. The net worth of the MMIF at the end of fiscal year 2013 was negative $1.3 billion, according to the report, due to pricing and policy changes by the Department of Housing and Urban Development along with improvements to the economy. The capital reserve ratio for the MMIF also improved from negative 1.44 percent at the end of fiscal 2012 to negative 0.11 percent at the end of fiscal 2013. HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan noted...

Concerns about red tape from lenders have prompted an increasing share of homebuyers to use all cash to purchase a home, according to the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey. Some 29.3 percent of home purchases completed in November relied solely on cash, based on a three-month moving average. That was the third monthly increase in the share of cash transactions. Tom Popik, research director of Campbell Surveys, said...

In just a few weeks, it will become clear whether the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s ability-to-repay rule will be the industry’s Y2K moment. But in the meantime, three top industry attorneys shared some final advice and guidance during a QM “double check” webinar sponsored by Inside Mortgage Finance last week. Joseph Reilly, a partner at BuckleySandler LLP, emphasized the critical importance of lenders documenting their compliance with the new regulation. “If a tree falls...

According to Inside FHA Lending, the top three VA lenders during the first nine months of 2013 were: Wells Fargo, USAA, and Freedom Mortgage.

FHA officials first asked for the servicing authority back in June, but the request has gone nowhere. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac already have transfer authority.

A BuckleySandler lawyer reached into Zen lore to make his point. “If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears it, does it make a sound?” he asked. Similarly, “Starting in 2014: If a lender complies with ATR/QM but cannot evidence it, has the lender complied?”

It may sound complicated, but it appears that Nationstar is selling a portion of its MSR fee on certain rights so it can deleverage and buy even more servicing.

Meanwhile, mortgage insurers are concerned that the new LLPA grid from Fannie and Freddie will throw cold water on their market share gains.

The FHFA MMI is in better shape? So what, says critic Ed Pinto. He believes that huge problems remain.

The drop in warehouse commitments mirrored, somewhat, the fall-off in residential originations, which declined almost 19 percent in the third quarter, according to figures compiled by Inside Mortgage Finance.