The FHA is nearing full implementation of a new loan review system (LRS) for managing FHA’s Title II single-family quality-control processes. No specific implementation date has been set but it could be sometime in the second quarter, the agency said. The LRS builds on FHA’s efforts to align the documentation of loan-review results. In addition, it incorporates the Single-Family Housing Loan Quality Assessment Methodology or defect taxonomy.The FHA said the new system would not be used to manage any aspect of the agency’s standard loan origination or endorsement processes. Rather, it would be used to review of test cases submitted by lenders seeking unconditional direct-endorsement authority. It would be used as well for various post-endorsement reviews of forward single-family loans. After the ...

Relators in a False Claims Act lawsuit must allege misconduct that has not already been publicly disclosed or risk dismissal of their qui tam claims, according to the U.S. Appeals Court for the Sixth Circuit. In U.S. ex rel. Advocates for Basic Legal Equality, Inc. v. U.S. Bank, the court ruled that whistleblowers cannot raise “substantially the same allegations or transactions” that have been previously alleged in an action or claim and publicly disclosed. The qui tam plaintiff must be the original source of the allegations, the court said. Only certain disclosures trigger the prohibition, the court noted. They include disclosures “in a federal criminal, civil or administrative hearing in which the government or its agent is a party,” or in a Government Accountability Office or other federal report, hearing, audit or investigation, or from the news media. n this case, the relator/plaintiff alleged that U.S. Bank initiated foreclosure proceedings ...

Lenders originated $4.93 billion of rural housing loans with a U.S. Department of Agriculture guarantee during the fourth quarter of last year, 33.2 percent more than volume reported during the same period the year prior, according to the Housing Assistance Council’s report on USDA Rural Housing program obligations. USDA provided guarantees under the Section 502 Guaranteed Rural Housing Loan program to 34,412 rural housing loans in the fourth quarter, up from 26,889 loans ($3.7 billion) at the end of 2015. The program is the largest of the USDA’s single-family housing programs. For the Section 502 Direct Guarantee program, guarantees exceeded $196.6 million (1,492 loans), up from $174.7 million (1,334 loans) at the end of 2015. Very low-income (VLI) loan obligations as a percentage of taxpayer funds allocated to the USDA direct loan guarantee program were 38.9 percent, exceeding the ...

But the numbers need to be put into perspective: Agency MBS production in the first two months of 2017 was up 36.3 percent from the same period last year…

Wells Fargo once again dominated the purchase business with $135.5 billion funded in 2016, more than double its closest competitor, JPMorgan Chase…

Lenders that have representatives who are members of the UI collaborative include Bank of America, Quicken Loans, and Nationstar Mortgage…

The bank statement loans and TRID exceptions prompted Fitch to apply higher loss severities to the MBS, which play a role in credit enhancement levels…

The MountainView package has no delinquencies, average FICO scores of 753 and a weighted average LTV of 72 percent.

Now that Carson is official, it's time to pick an FHA commissioner...

Recently, KBW hired Wall Street veteran Brian Wornow as managing director in charge of its financial services group...