The debate on what caused the financial crisis and how the federal government should respond continued this week in the House Financial Services Committee. At a hearing on the Financial CHOICE Act sponsored by Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-TX, Republicans and banking-industry participants largely supported the bill while Democrats and a consumer advocate offered dire warnings. The Financial CHOICE Act would allow banking institutions to opt in to a regulatory system that puts an emphasis on capital. Under the bill, firms with an average leverage ratio of at least 10 percent would be functionally exempt from provisions in the Dodd-Frank Act, Basel III capital and liquidity standards and other regulations. “Freeing well-capitalized, well-managed financial firms from the chokehold of an overly intrusive, heavily politicized regulatory regime will help create...
The J.G. Wentworth Company is in the process of being delisted from the New York Stock Exchange, sparking rumors that its mortgage subsidiary – a $1.5 billion-a-year originator – might find itself on the auction block. For now, the parent company is putting a good face on the delisting and said its mortgage division, J.G. Wentworth Home Lending, had a strong first quarter. A spokeswoman for the parent did not address a possible sale of the lender in an email exchange with Inside Mortgage Finance. In the first quarter of 2016, J.G. Wentworth lost...
The Obama administration’s top housing official took a beating from Republicans on the House Financial Services Committee during a hearing this week over recent changes to the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Distressed Asset Sales Program, also known as DASP. For more than two hours, HUD Secretary Julian Castro faced a relentless attack by Republicans angered by what they perceived as preferential treatment given to nonprofits and local government over private investors in the DASP bidding process. The federal program sells pools of severely delinquent FHA mortgages to investors to help distressed borrowers stay in their homes and, at the same time, minimize losses to the FHA Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund. Most of the nonperforming loans in the DASP pools are...
Florida and New Jersey lead the way in having the most borrowers who are likely eligible to take advantage of the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s principal modification program, according to a new map the agency released this week. The FHFA introduced the one-time loan modification program in April focusing on a highly targeted group of underwater borrowers. It is limited to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans that were seriously delinquent as of March 31, had remaining loan amounts of less than $250,000, and unpaid debt, including arrearages, exceeding 115 percent of the current market value of the home. The interactive map focuses...
One mortgage insurance lobbyist added: “Fannie and Freddie really don’t want to cut fees. It would hurt their earnings. It’s hard to imagine them doing anything right now that would reduce revenues.”
In 2015, Alterra Home Loans had a growth rate of 100 percent. The firm also has a small servicing portfolio but uses a subservicer to do the processing.
With the presidential election underway, many Americans are beginning to analyze and critique the candidate’s various policies – including their views on housing and finance.
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