An official at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency warned that non-agency jumbos with interest rates lower than comparable agency mortgages are a sign that banks are chasing yield. Darrin Benhart, deputy comptroller for credit and market risk, said banks are taking on more interest rate risk and credit risk to maximize returns. “We are beginning to see signs of the classic cyclicality in banking where traditional lagging indicators are improving so bankers start to layer risk back into ...

Higher-priced mortgages accounted for 3.0 percent of the number of mortgages originated in 2012, according to a Federal Reserve analysis of Home Mortgage Disclosure Act Data released this week. The loans had a 3.7 percent share of HMDA originations last year and a 26.0 percent share in 2006. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau last week finalized a number of tweaks to pending mortgage rules. Adjustments were made to the servicing rule, loan originator compensation rule, definitions for ... [Includes three briefs]

The Office of Management and Budget has cleared a proposed rule setting qualified mortgage standards for FHA-insured single-family mortgages for issuance in the coming weeks. The OMB signed off on the proposed standards on Sept. 12 and the Department of Housing and Urban Development has a few more refinements to perform before publishing the proposal for public comment. HUD declined to discuss the contents of the proposed standards or indicate a timetable for a final QM rule. Industry participants, on the other hand, said they would be surprised if ...

The end of the fiscal year is drawing near, which means in a couple of weeks the FHA again will be in the hot seat as Congress, mortgage industry participants and consumer groups pore over the results of the latest fiscal year audit of the FHA’s Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund. This time, stakeholders might find some encouraging data, observers say. The findings of the FY 2012 actuarial review conducted by Integrated Financial Engineering, Inc. brought a lot of heat on the FHA and the Department of Housing and Urban Development, reigniting calls for FHA reforms in the House and the Senate. Reform bills are currently ...

The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s top internal cop has criticized the department before a congressional panel for its poor oversight of FHA’s single-family programs, particularly in short sales and disposition of real estate-owned properties. Testifying before the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, HUD Inspector General David Montoya said the department continues to face challenges in ensuring its single-family programs benefit eligible participants and are not paying improper claims. In a recent review of FHA’s preforeclosure sales program, the IG estimated that ...

Federal housing regulators and Congress may have relied on inaccurate and outdated data while keeping track of FHA loan defaults and identifying potential risk to the FHA insurance fund, according to a report from the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of the Inspector General. The HUD IG said it initiated an audit after observing delayed reporting of default information on loan histories. The OIG performed the audit between November 2012 and July 2013. HUD did not comment on the report.The department requires lenders to report monthly all loans that are 30 days past due. Prompt and accurate reporting provides ...

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has issued a final rule aligning its streamlined reporting requirements for small lenders with those of federal banking regulators. HUD’s regulations currently require all supervised lenders and mortgagees, regardless of their asset size, to submit annual audited financial statements as a condition of FHA lender approval and recertification. Federal banking regulators, on the other hand, do not require their “small supervised lenders” to submit audited financial statements, but allow them to submit unaudited financial regulatory reports. Unaudited financial reports include a ...

Freddie Mac had been lending Fed Funds (overnight loans) to Lehman Brothers since 2005. Then, in 2008, the nature of those loans changed to longer term borrowings.

Lenders such as Bank of America and Quicken are hooked on refis. What might the future hold for these funders as purchase loans begin to dominate?

In less than a month Wells Fargo has unveiled mortgage-related layoffs of 4,100. Some of those receiving pink slips could find other work at the bank.