While many applaud the Flood Insurance Market Parity and Modernization Act that passed the House unanimously late last month, one mortgage group says the bill could cause problems for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Currently, homeowners can only get coverage from the National Flood Insurance Program. The bill, H.R. 2901, expands flood insurance options by including private flood insurance, and requires the GSEs to accept any private flood insurance company a borrower chooses, as long as the company is financially sound. It also lifts certain federal restrictions placed on insurance companies and gives states more flexibility to license and regulate private flood insurance. Rep. Dennis Ross, R-FL, who co-sponsored H.R. 2901 with Rep. Patrick Murphy, D-FL, said the...

Although the GSEs are reviewing loans to make sure the new TRID forms are being used, not for technical compliance, Fannie Mae’s survey of lenders on the impact of TRID showed vendor coordination and communication with key players have been the biggest challenges.More than three quarters of the lenders surveyed cited challenges when it comes to managing and coordinating third-party technology vendors and communication with buyers, sellers and loan officers. In addition, smaller lenders said they feel more burdened since the rule took effect in October. Fannie said many small- to-midsized lenders indicated that they don’t have the same resources as larger institutions which can easily invest in upgrading systems and have in-house compliance resources to...

United Guaranty was the largest MI in terms of total policies written in 1Q16, but Arch Mortgage Insurance and National MI were the fastest growers.

Mortgage officials tracking the case note that almost a year ago Quicken raised $1.25 billion through a debt sale, money that can be employed for legal help as it fights the DOJ case.

Analysts at PiperJaffray said the agreement “removes the near-term risk of Altisource being liquidated.”

In general, private mortgages are extended by the owner of the property to a borrower through a private contract. Terms can vary greatly from deal to deal.

EverBank sold jumbos with an unpaid principal balance of $981.3 million, up 60.4 percent from the previous quarter.

Perhaps, the time is drawing near to once again raise the thorny issue of whether the Department of Housing and Urban Development should cut FHA premiums...

New primary mortgage-insurance activity was down slightly during the first quarter of 2016, with private MIs seeing the biggest slump in new business, according to a new analysis and ranking by Inside Mortgage Finance. A total of $144.11 billion of home loans were originated with some form of MI coverage during the first three months of this year, a 3.7 percent decline from the fourth quarter of 2015… [Includes four charts]

The recent adjustment in private mortgage insurance pricing could potentially draw high-quality borrowers away from FHA, leaving the agency with a disproportionate share of higher-risk borrowers, according to new research from the Urban Institute. The private MI premium cuts likely will increase the government-sponsored enterprises’ share of low-downpayment, high-credit borrowers, wrote authors Laurie Goodman, director of UI’s Housing Finance Policy Center, and fellow researcher Bing Bai. Announced by individual major private MI companies, the reductions would…