Piggyback mortgage financing structures appear to be creeping back into the market, a trend that some observers say could destabilize the industry. Before the financial crisis, many borrowers combined a first-lien mortgage for 80 percent of home value with a second lien of 10 percent or more in order to avoid paying private mortgage insurance. While many first-lien mortgages are still originated with a simultaneous second in recent years, the combined loan-to-value ratio of the two has been capped at 80 percent or less. “From what we’ve seen from lenders who are interested in expanding their customer base, there appears...

Processing times for income verification provided by the Internal Revenue Service have slowed in recent months, causing problems for lenders. The IRS pinned the delays on budget cuts, prompting the Mortgage Bankers Association to call for an evaluation of the “true cause” of the delays. The IRS charges $2 per request to provide a taxpayer’s tax transcript to lenders via a third-party vendor. Stephen O’Connor, a senior vice president of public policy and industry relations at the MBA, said historically, the turn time for the Income Verification Express Service program has been around two business days or less. “In recent months, however, lenders have reported...

Although PHH Corp. refuses to answer questions regarding a key private-label services contract to originate mortgage loans for Merrill Lynch, most analysts that follow the company believe the Wall Street giant will renew the agreement. To date, PHH will not say either way, but observers of the situation believe it’s more a technical matter than anything else. The general consensus is that Merrill has verbally agreed to renew, but hasn’t signed on the dotted line. On its recent earnings call, PHH management said...

Some lenders, such as PennyMac, have promoted the no-downpayment feature in their media advertisements.

The private mortgage insurance industry had its best quarter since the housing market crash during the second quarter of 2015, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance ranking and analysis. Private MIs provided insurance on $60.51 billion of new single-family mortgages during the second quarter, a strong 33.7 percent increase over the first three months of the year. It was the biggest three-month output for the industry since the first quarter of 2008. The sharp increase in purchase-mortgage lending during the second quarter helped float...[Includes three data tables]

Overall, delinquencies remained below levels seen a year ago...

HUD's Neighborhood Watch system is down, but this cabinet level agency has no explanations for the press or public

The sharp increase in purchase-mortgage lending during 2Q helped float the private MI boat higher.

Historically, the turn time for the Income Verification Express Service program has been around two business days or less. Not anymore.

Is the bulk MSR market in the doldrums?