Two schools of thought are emerging on Quicken Loans’ legal battle over FHA underwriting claims: Plenty of smaller nonbanks are eager to pick up any volume that the mortgage giant might cede, while others say Quicken should exit the space to teach the government a lesson. Glen Corso, executive director of Community Mortgage Lenders of America, said his members are eager to pick up the slack if Quicken makes good on its threat to pull back from FHA lending. The way things stand...
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have seen modest growth in programs launched early this year to serve downpayment-challenged borrowers, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance analysis of loan-level data on agency mortgage-backed securities. Ginnie Mae has accounted for 94.5 percent of purchase mortgages with loan-to-value ratios ranging from 95.1 percent to 97.0 percent that were securitized by the three agencies during the first 11 months of 2015. Because LTV data is not available for all loans in Ginnie MBS, the agency’s actual share of these high-LTV loans is likely somewhat higher. Fannie and Freddie have established...[Includes one data table]
The mortgage industry has notched one modest victory on Capitol Hill and continues to hope for more as lawmakers try to wrap up a spending bill for the government’s 2016 fiscal year. The victory is a new process for banks and others to petition the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to designate an area as “rural” or underserved for the purposes of the CFPB’s ability-to-repay rule. More flexible mortgage products, such as balloon loans, are permitted in such markets. The change was included...
Mortgage trade groups submitted a strongly worded brief last week calling for an order by the Federal Communications Commission to be overturned. In June, the FCC issued an omnibus declaratory ruling and order involving the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. The order placed restrictions on auto-dialed calls to cell phones. Violators of the TCPA can be subject to fines of $500 per phone call. A challenge to the FCC’s order led by ACA International is set...
Comments last week by a high-ranking official at the Treasury Department suggested that the Treasury was working toward making servicing standards in the Home Affordable Modification Program permanent. However, a source with knowledge of the Treasury’s efforts suggested that any continuation of HAMP servicing standards would be voluntary. Treasury Counselor Antonio Weiss said the Treasury has recently held several conversations with stakeholders to find common ground to continue the standardization and transparency that HAMP has brought to mortgage servicing. “Chief among these reforms are...
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