The Department of Housing and Urban Development is planning to make housing counseling an integral part of FHA lending and will soon begin testing the process. HUD’s newly created Office of Housing Counseling (OHC) is working with the FHA to develop a pilot program to embed housing counseling in FHA lending to ensure that borrowers are better prepared for homeownership, said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. “Whether it’s buying or renting, improving financial literacy, protecting families’ rights against discrimination or even preventing homelessness, housing counselors play a critical role in helping families make ...
Funding for a federal program providing guarantees to mortgage loans to Native Americans and other indigenous peoples has been spared from mandatory budget cuts under a temporary budget measure signed into law by President Obama last month. The Department of Housing and Urban Development has resumed accepting new loan applications under the Section 184 Indian Home Loan Guarantee Program. The mortgage product is for American Indian and Alaska Native families, Alaskan tribal members and tribally designated housing entities. Congress established the program in 1992 to ...
Four private mortgage insurance companies this week agreed to pay $15.4 million in penalties to resolve government charges that they improperly paid kickbacks to mortgage lenders for business referrals in violation of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau filed complaints and proposed consent orders against Genworth Mortgage Insurance Corp., Radian Guaranty, Inc., Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp. and United Guaranty Corp. for the alleged illegal business practices that contributed to the financial crisis. The CFPB said the MI companies engaged in illegal ...
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s rural housing program finances only modest homes for low- to moderate-income borrowers, not properties for millionaires as alleged in a news account published by Reuters, according to the program’s top executive. “USDA continues to operate its housing programs under the law and in accordance with the will of Congress,” said Tammye Trevino, administrator of the USDA Rural Housing Programs. Trevino disputed the Reuters report, which claimed that the USDA had guaranteed loans to “dozens of millionaires” by backing at least 500 loans of $500,000 or more, including more than ...
Ginnie Mae issuance fell in the first quarter of 2013 but was easily offset by significant gains from a year ago, according to Inside FHA Lending’s analysis of FHA data. Mortgage-backed securities production at the government facility dropped 5.1 percent to $104.1 billion in the first quarter but increased 28.6 percent year-over-year , which was more than enough for an offset. The securities were backed mostly by FHA and VA loans with a combined total of $99.33 billion. Federally guaranteed rural housing loans totaling $4.84 billion were also in the mix. Wells Fargo and Chase Home Finance led the Ginnie Mae market with a combined ... [1 chart]
Consumer complaints about mortgage foreclosure relief and debt management services providers were fewer in 2012 than in 2011, according to the Federal Trade Commission. In the FTC’s annual report listing the top consumer complaints for the past year, mortgage foreclosure relief and debt management dropped to #15 (33,791 complaints) in 2012 from #13 (38,140 complaints) in 2011. For the 13th year in a row, identity theft complaints topped the list, representing 18 percent of all consumer complaints. Complaints about real-estate fraud remained at #25, although fewer consumers complained about it last year (8,468) compared to ...
Despite its efforts to enhance its hiring outreach to minority and women potential contractors and employees during 2012, the Federal Housing Finance Agency still faces challenges finding qualified and diverse candidates.
Home prices nationwide jumped in February by the largest margin in seven years, said CoreLogic while the SEC has decided to allow public companies to Twitter and Facebook.
An Arizona court is expected to rule soon on whether to approve a proposed asset and stock purchase agreement worth up to $267 million between the appointed receiver of PMI Mortgage Insurance Corp. and private-equity investor Arch Capital.
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