Mortgage lenders and servicers chalked up a win following a federal appeals court decision that would make it harder for the government and whistleblowers to pursue a claim under the False Claims Act.
Lenders continue to be hit with steep False Claims Act penalties despite assurances by Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson that he would address the FCA issue.
Correspondents, which account for a large percentage of government-insured lending, saw their share grow in 2017 even as retail went through a production slump, according to an analysis by Inside FHA/ VA Lending.
New Home Mortgage Equity Conversion production fell in the third quarter even as changes to the program, including a 200 basis point increase in the upfront HECM insurance premium, took hold in September, according to Inside FHA/VA Lending’s analysis of FHA reverse-mortgage activity.
Ginnie Mae’s latest efforts to rein in serial VA refinancing and rapid prepayments in mortgage-backed securities pools augur additional changes to pooling and refi requirements at Ginnie and the Department of Veterans Affairs, analysts said.
The Department of Housing and Urban Affairs plans to act on two new rules in 2018 relating to allowable fees and charges on VA loans as well as the type of loans that are “qualified mortgages.”
Wintrust Financial Corp. has announced an agreement to purchase certain assets and assume certain liabilities of iFreedom Direct Corp., which originates VA-backed loans as Veterans First Mortgage.
The mortgage industry is beginning to get a whiff of what reform of the nation’s housing-finance system might look like next year: a federal gurantee on a new breed of conventional MBS but no backing – at all – of the entities that issue guaranteed securities.
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