The Department of Veterans Affairs will require lenders to provide early disclosures to veterans seeking to refinance into a VA Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loan. The new policy aims to ensure that the VA streamline refi loan they sought would actually lower their monthly mortgage payments and is not just a scam for lenders to charge higher fees. Loan churning, or serial refinancing, is at the root of the VA policy change. Churning refers to multiple refinancing of an unseasoned mortgage loan within a very short time, often within six months of origination. Serial refinancing may add more payments and interest to the new loan, prolonging debt repayment, and can strip equity. It also potentially raises the risk of default by the borrower. In addition, the risk of prepayment could affect pricing of Ginnie Mae securities, which could cause lenders to charge higher rates on VA loans to make up for the ...
Two recent internal policy memos from the Department of Justice suggest that the agency is reevaluating its approach in two key areas of enforcement, which may significantly affect False Claims Act litigation in FHA cases. Issued last month (one was actually leaked), the memos pertain to the dismissal of frivolous whistleblower cases when the government declines to intervene, and the prohibition of DOJ attorneys relying on an entity’s noncompliance with agency guidance as presumptive or conclusive evidence that the entity violated the law. Written by Michael Granston, director of the DOJ’s Commercial Litigation Branch, Fraud Section, the leaked Jan. 10 memo directs federal prosecutors to consider dismissing meritless FCA complaints by whistleblowers when considering whether DOJ should intervene in the ...
A surge in anti-churning efforts by legislators and regulators to address the churning of VA loans has prompted analysts to examine certain policy changes, potential cures and pending legislation designed to protect veterans from predatory serial refinancing schemes. For instance, bipartisan legislation introduced by Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-MA, and Thom Tillis, R-NC, would establish a minimum 50 basis point incentive for qualified VA refi mortgages, recoupment of refi costs within three years, and a six-month seasoning period before the initial loan could be refinanced into a new VA loan. However, Wells Fargo Securities analysts are concerned that S 2304, Protecting Veterans from Predatory Lending Act of 2018, does not distinguish between rate-term refinancing and cash-out refinancing and may wind up eliminating cash-out refi as an option for cash-strapped veterans. Although some lenders used ...
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit recently upheld a lower court dismissal of a False Claims Act lawsuit alleging a lender’s violation of the 2012 National Mortgage Settlement and of the Home Affordable Modification Program. In Laurence Schneider, Appellant, v. JP Morgan Chase Bank, N.A., et al., Appellees, the federal government declined to intervene, allowing the qui tam lawsuit to proceed. Schneider, the relator and an owner of a mortgage servicing company that purchased numerous loans from Chase, alleged that the lender falsely claimed compliance with the $25 billion landmark settlement negotiated in 2012 between the federal government, 40 state attorneys general, and a group of large banks, including Chase. The settlement resolved claims against the banks for allegedly improper origination and servicing of conventional, FHA and VA loans that were thought to ...
The U.S. Department of Agriculture provided $19.3 billion in rural housing loan guarantees under its largest single-family housing program in FY 2017, according to the USDA Rural Housing Service. Last year’s total guarantees were $2.92 billion more than in fiscal 2016. Approximately 137,071 USDA loans were securitized in 2017. According to RHS, in October 2017, the loan guarantee upfront fee fell from 2.75 percent plus a monthly 0.5 percent fee to 1.0 percent plus an annual fee of 0.35 percent. The fee drop helped reverse a decline in obligations from the previous year, RHS noted. The average income for a Section 502 single-family guaranteed loan borrower was $59,191 in fiscal 2017, up from $57,962 in the prior fiscal year. For the lower-income Section 502 Direct program, USDA provided approximately $1.0 billion in housing loan guarantees, about $41.7 million higher than the ...
FHA delinquencies rose sharply in Puerto Rico following the devastation brought by hurricanes Maria and Irma last year. At the end of 2017, 28.8 percent of FHA mortgages on the island were at some stage of delinquency, including 15.8 percent that have fallen 90 days behind on their mortgage payments. Deutsche Bank Securities analysts believe the spike in delinquency rates overall is “a short-term phenomenon.” They noted that FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have declared temporary moratoria on evictions and foreclosures in Puerto Rico and other hurricane-ravaged regions. Issuer exposures in devastated areas remain unclear and Ginnie Mae has not updated its MBS hurricane exposure data since October last year. In the initial disclosure, the agency reported 9.7 percent (1,066,028 loans) of its total MBS portfolio were impacted by Harvey, Irma and Maria. The affected loans’ unpaid principal ...
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling said The Mortgage Choice Act is needed because the CFPB wrote a flawed and problematic definition that grossly miscalculates points and fees...
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