Weighed down by high premium costs and lender overlays, FHA lost more primary market share to private mortgage insurers and the Department of Veterans Affairs during the second quarter of 2014. Although June’s FHA endorsement numbers have not yet been released, the trend seen in April through May, along with Ginnie Mae securitization data, suggest that FHA business was up a modest 11.5 percent from the first quarter. But that increase provides no comfort to FHA, which saw its market share go down to 33.7 percent, a six-year low. From April to May, FHA forward endorsements rose by 2.4 percent to $10.61 billion. On a year-over-year basis, however, endorsements were down from $21.9 billion in May 2013, according to an Inside FHA Lending analysis of agency data. On the other hand, private MI companies reported a total of $44.19 billion of new insurance written (NIW) during the ... [2 charts]
Redwood, which had 140 active sellers at the end of June, plans to start testing its high-balance loan program with the FHLB system in the fourth quarter of this year.
The False Claims Act (FCA) and the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act (FIRREA) not only have become strong enforcement tools in the fight against FHA mortgage fraud but also an efficient means of recovering taxpayer losses. Having used both federal statutes effectively to wrangle huge settlements from large banks, federal prosecutors now have their eyes set on mid-level banks, according to compliance experts during a recent webinar hosted by Inside Mortgage Finance Publications. “Because these FCA [and FIRREA] lawsuits have been a cash cow for the Department of Justice and the Inspector General of the Department of Housing and Urban Development, I think these agencies will target mid-level banks next,” said ...
The Department of Housing and Urban Development failed to bill lenders for 486 loans with enforceable indemnification agreements that created losses for the FHA, according to the HUD Inspector General. The loans were originated between 2004 and 2014 and were either in the Accelerated Claims Disposition program or the Claims Without Conveyance of Title program, or they went into default before an indemnification agreement expired. Due to procedural errors and apparent lack of oversight, HUD failed to recover $37.1 million for 486 loans that had enforceable indemnification agreements. The unbilled loans represented 8.0 percent of total activity in the programs during that period. In addition, HUD did not ensure that indemnification agreements were extended to 64 of 2,078 loans that were streamline financed. As a result, HUD incurred losses of ...
FHA Commissioner Carol Galante has announced plans to step down from her current post, leaving behind a Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund that appears well on its way to recovery and a slumping FHA business. Industry response to Galante’s Aug. 12 announcement was mixed. Some stakeholders applauded her toughness and resolve in steering FHA through hard times, while others criticized her for policies that made it more difficult and costly for first-time homebuyers to obtain an FHA-insured mortgage loan. Galante’s nearly three-and-a-half year stint as FHA commissioner was highlighted by her efforts to stabilize the FHA’s ailing Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund, reduce losses and improve lender oversight. She achieved these goals by creating a comprehensive risk-management structure at FHA, revamping FHA pricing and credit policies, and ...
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s ability-to-repay requirements and standards for qualified mortgages have reduced originations of jumbo purchase-mortgages, according to 50.7 percent of the 67 bank jumbo lenders recently surveyed by the Federal Reserve. An Inside Nonconforming Markets analysis of the survey results reveals that the major impediments to originations are income verification requirements and ... [Includes one data chart]
The list of lenders preparing to offer loans that don’t meet qualified mortgage standards continues to grow. Most recently, a number of nonbanks have expressed interest in the non-QM sector, looking for a different business model than the banks that are holding non-QMs in portfolio. New Penn Financial rolled out its non-QM offerings this week. The wholesale “Home Buyer Power” product allows for debt-to-income ratios up to 55 percent and interest-only options, along with ...
It was business as usual in the subprime servicing market during the second quarter of 2014, save for the lack of large transfers of servicing from banks to nonbank special servicers. Subprime mortgage performance continued to improve and the amount of subprime mortgages outstanding continued to decline. Some $374.0 billion in subprime mortgages were outstanding as of the end of the second quarter of 2014 ... [Includes one data chart]
We only bring up the “going private” issue because class action attorneys have finally woken up to the fact that Ocwen’s shares have been clobbered over the past year...
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