1st Alliance Lending of East Hartford, CT, has announced a new multi-channel lending platform to help underwater homeowners refinance into affordable government-backed mortgages and help those who have lost their homes previously in bankruptcy obtain a new mortgage. The platform focuses mainly on the FHA Short Refi program and the agency’s “Back to Work – Extenuating Circumstances” program. The multi-channel platform adds a wholesale channel to ...

The FHA is urging 203(k) program lenders and consultants to be aware of key policy revisions when reviewing the published versions of the 203(k) Rehabilitation Mortgage Insurance Program and 203(k) Consultant Requirements in the new Single-Family Housing Policy Handbook. The revised policies include changes to reflect a clearer, more direct and consistent language and terminology. However, they do not represent a significant departure from 203(k) origination policies or ...

The reverse mortgage lending industry is asking the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to clarify that reverse mortgages are excluded from proposed changes to mortgage servicing rules relating to “successors in interest.” In a comment letter, the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association warned that requiring lenders to determine which parties meet a new regulatory definition of “successor in interest” could expose lenders to numerous, costly risks. The requirement would ...

The FHA is looking at non-traditional factors in credit scoring that might be considered in determining a borrower’s creditworthiness. In remarks during a credit-access symposium co-hosted by the National Association of Realtors and other industry groups, Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro said the FHA is looking at various alternative credit-scoring models that might help increase homeownership opportunities for more people ...

First-time homebuyers and specialized loan products helped propel Navy Federal Credit Union’s mortgage originations over the $1 billion mark in March, the best month in the credit union’s 82-year history. Year-to-date, Navy Federal has made more than $2.5 billion in mortgages to members, which now include active-duty, retired and reserve personnel of all the armed services, as well as Department of Defense civilian employees and defense contractors. In March 2013, Navy Federal expanded its ...

A recent $36 million settlement agreement between Golden First Mortgage Corp. and the federal government is raising questions about the lender’s ability to pay. The Department of Justice apparently has a plan to collect from a company that is no longer in business and hardly generated enough revenue to pay the full settlement amount. Whatever that plan is, the agency is not disclosing it. Based in upstate New York, Golden First agreed to pay up to resolve allegations that it ...

The Federal Home Loan Bank of New York and MAX Exchange announced a pilot program that will allow members of the New York FHLBank to sell jumbo whole loans on an open exchange platform. MAX Exchange is a peer-to-peer trading platform and clearing house for mortgages. The pilot program will include a limited number of pre-approved traditional secondary mortgage investors and a limited number of New York FHLBank members ... [Includes six briefs]

The outstanding supply of VA home loans in Ginnie Mae pools continued to grow during the first quarter of 2015, climbing 2.9 percent from the end of last year, according to a new Inside FHA/VA Lending analysis of loan-level mortgage-backed securities disclosures. Meanwhile, the supply of FHA loans in Ginnie pools fell 0.5 percent during the first quarter. Similarly, FHA loans in Ginnie MBS declined by 2.2 percent from the first quarter of 2014 while VA loans ... [Includes three data charts]

Lenders of all stripes continue to push for changes to rules established by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. There are divisions among trade groups about which lenders deserve special treatment regarding qualified mortgages and portfolio lending, among other issues. This week, the Community Mortgage Lenders of America proposed that lenders should receive regulatory relief if they are small, largely focus on qualified mortgages and avoid regulatory ...

The Obama administration and the head of the Mortgage Bankers Association, among others, agree that the ongoing conservatorship of the government-sponsored enterprises is unsustainable. However, with a strong divide between political parties regarding the level of government support needed in a system that replaces Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, GSE reform remains a notion years away from completion. “Market participants are truly uncertain about the government’s longer-term ...