A second-term Obama administration is expected to continue support for lowering maximum loan-to-value ratios and upward premium pricing to strengthen the FHA’s Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. While President Obama has indicated an interest in reducing the FHA’s presence in the mortgage market for a larger private sector role in mortgage finance, he is inclined to proceed cautiously so as not to disrupt consumer access to affordable FHA financing, said MBA President/CEO David Stevens. Stevens observed that Obama has been ...

Hurricane Sandy homeowners with FHA and VA mortgages have been given temporary relief, including a 90-day suspension on foreclosures and as much as 100 percent financing for victims who have lost their homes. The Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Veterans Affairs have announced federal disaster assistance to hard-hit areas in Connecticut, New York and New Jersey. Both agencies announced a three-month freeze on foreclosures in the affected areas as well as forbearance on foreclosures of FHA and VA home loans. The VA advised its lenders that careful counseling should ...

GSEs, Private MIs Agree to Drop Pre-Approval Requirements. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the private mortgage insurance industry have agreed to eliminate pre-approval requirements for foreclosure alternatives, such as short sales and deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure. The separate agreements with MIs should help distressed homeowners avoid foreclosure by doing away with costly, time-consuming MI reviews that delay foreclosure-prevention transactions, according to the government-sponsored enterprises. WIMC Fully Acquires Reverse Mortgage Solutions. Walter Investment Management Corp. has completed its $120 million acquisition of ...

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac this week reported a combined $4.74 billion in net income during the third quarter, as the two government-sponsored enterprises avoided taking further draws from the Treasury Department by staying in positive earnings territory. The GSEs’ combined third-quarter income was down 41.7 percent from the previous three-month period, mostly because Fannie’s net income fell 64.6 percent from second-quarter earnings that were pumped up by a $3.04 billion recorded benefit on credit losses. Fannie’s $1.81 billion in third-quarter net income was much more in line with the $2.72 billion it earned in the first three months of the year, as well as Freddie’s recent performance. Freddie reported...

An adverse independent actuarial report on the FHA’s Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund would set off another round of debate on higher downpayments, tighter credit and increased insurance premiums, along with dire warnings from lawmakers about a potential FHA taxpayer bailout, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association and other industry observers. The annual FHA actuarial review is expected to be released next week and reportedly has troubling news about the state of the MMI Fund, particularly its capital reserve ratio. The strength of the MMI Fund is conveyed through this capital reserve ratio, which has fallen far below its statutory mandate of 2 percent but has still remained positive in the past three annual actuarial reports. The Department of Housing and Urban Development reassured...

Three nonbank mortgage servicers moved to strengthen their positions in the market, but several of the top banks in the industry also showed no sign of backing off, according to the latest ranking by Inside Mortgage Finance. While a number of analysts have predicted that banks would flee from the servicing business because of rising operational costs, increased compliance scrutiny and proposed increases in capital requirements, Wells Fargo continued to grow its business. The company reported a total of $1.879 trillion in servicing as of the end of September, up 0.9 percent from the previous quarter. After absorbing Wachovia’s mortgage operations in the third quarter of 2008, Wells relied...[Includes one data chart]

In the past four years, Ocwen Financial has gone from the 24th-largest residential mortgage servicer with a declining portfolio of distressed mortgages to, on paper, the fifth largest servicer with a portfolio increasing in volume and product type. The growth of the nonbank has involved unique tactics, including a reliance on offshore employees and tax structures. Ocwen handled a $121.8 billion portfolio as of the end of the third quarter, including subservicing, but pending acquisitions of servicing from Residential Capital and Homeward Residential, will push that to $361.7 billion. And Ocwen is...

Mortgage market watchers should expect “business as usual” from a second Obama administration as the White House and Congressional Democrats are poised to preserve gains under the Dodd-Frank Act, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Both parties say they want to resolve the conservatorships of the government-sponsored enterprises, but experts say the necessity of addressing budget and tax issues will trump all other considerations next year. “Clearly a second term for the Obama administration would be business as usual as best they can,” explained Timothy McTaggart, partner at the Pepper Hamilton law firm during a pre-election webinar. “I don’t think Dodd-Frank will remain sacrosanct for all time. I think during a second term the [regulatory] agencies will get past the point of having to put the rules out, they will get some feedback and they will start making it known where they see gaps or deficiencies.” Karen Shaw Petrou, managing partner of Federal Financial Analytics, said...

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has found “significant non-compliance” during its examinations of mortgage lenders, compelling them to take a variety of steps deemed necessary to be brought into compliance, according to the CFPB’s first report on its examination findings. Violations under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act included failures to make proper and complete disclosures to consumers of costs and other terms because of errors in the good faith estimate and HUD-1 settlement statement, the CFPB stated. Truth in Lending Act violations included...

MGIC Investment Corp. announced last week it has reached a tentative agreement with Freddie Mac “on substantially all terms of a settlement” of a simmering and prolonged dispute over pool insurance between the mortgage insurer and the government-sponsored enterprise. If MGIC and Freddie are able to agree on matters “significant to final resolution” involving payments to be made to the GSE, it would resolve a coverage dispute that threatened to prevent the MI from backing some loans. “The principal economic terms concerning the amount of payments in settlement of MGIC’s obligations under the policies at issue have been...