The Federal Housing Finance Agency says it will finalize new plans for examining how well Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac manage the risks of mortgage servicing transfers this month. The agency has been under scrutiny by its Inspector General for failing to push the two government-sponsored enterprises to manage risks posed by nonbank servicers. In a new report, the IG said the FHFA has not fully made sure that both GSEs are following the three advisory bulletins it has issued that address nonbank servicer risks, among other things. The report is heavily redacted, making it difficult to determine where FHFA examiners have failed, but it appears that there have been shortcomings for one of the GSEs. The three advisory bulletins address...
With the formal transition of presidential power now a mere week away, Congressional Republicans and Democrats alike were busy this week reordering the teams that will take the field for the 115th Congress. Mortgage lenders are hopeful for at least some degree of regulatory relief from the Republican-controlled Congress and White House, but Democrats are vowing to defend the Dodd-Frank Act, one of the signature achievements of the outgoing Obama administration. Republicans in the House of Representatives got...
Some borrowers are obtaining mortgages for investment properties and occupying the home as a primary residence instead of renting out the home, according to industry analysts. Such “reverse-occupancy fraud” is especially prevalent among first-time homebuyers who might not otherwise qualify for a mortgage. Borrowers completing reverse-occupancy fraud aim to qualify for a mortgage with help from the theoretical rental income from the so-called investment property. Mortgages for a business purpose – typically including mortgages for investment properties – aren’t subject to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s ability-to-repay rule, allowing lenders to use looser underwriting standards. Fannie Mae issued...
Mortgage compliance experts say there’s still a strong need for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to provide more guidance about acceptable business relations under Section 8 of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act. One of the issues that came to the fore in the bureau’s enforcement action against PHH Mortgage was lenders’ relationships under marketing services agreements. Even though banks these days may be using MSAs to a lesser extent than nonbanks, there is still a need for the CFPB to more clearly delineate do’s and don’ts. “On the lender side of the mortgage industry, there is...
RPM Mortgage, Alamo, CA, is in serious negotiations to buy at least two other mortgage banking firms – or their assets – and has its eye on at least one other shop, according to investment banking officials who claim to have knowledge of the situation. If the acquisitions come to fruition, they could put the privately held nonbank on track to be a $14 billion a year originator, said a source who advises the company. One of the target acquisitions is a $4 billion a year lender, the other a $650 million funder. A spokesman for RPM declined to comment. A few weeks back, RPM made...
Banks and nonbanks alike are expected to unveil sizable mark-ups on the asset value of their mortgage servicing rights for the fourth quarter, with the general consensus being that increases will range from 20 to 25 basis points. One servicing advisor, requesting his name not be used, said he has some clients that will book gains of 30 to 35 bps, though he indicated this won’t be the norm. “In general, it’s going to be a huge move,” he said. This source made...
Any pushback against the FHA’s 25 basis-point cut in the annual mortgage insurance premium remains to be seen despite grumblings from Capitol Hill, said stakeholders and industry analysts. Earlier this week, the outgoing leadership of the Department of Housing and Urban Development surprised the industry by reducing the annual MIP for 30-year FHA mortgages by 25 bps, and eliminated the higher MIP for loans exceeding $625,500. There are...[Includes one data table]
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