Provident Funding, one of the largest wholesale mortgage lenders in the nation, has agreed to pay $9 million in damages for funding loans with higher broker fees on mortgages made to African Americans and Hispanics over a five-year period ending in 2011. According to a statement and notice of charges put out late last week by the CFPB, the privately held lender charged roughly 14,000 minorities higher “total broker fees” than white borrowers. The $9 million will feed a settlement fund that will pay minorities harmed by the practice. “The higher fees were not based on the borrowers’ creditworthiness or other objective criteria related to borrower risk or loan characteristics, but on their race or national origin,” the CFPB said...

Although Provident entered into a consent order, it said in a follow-up statement that it has no knowledge that brokers “were allegedly overcharging certain borrowers.”

By signing the addendum, the borrower certifies that he or she will make payments on the mortgage or become indebted to the federal government...

The higher loan limit for the jumbo program will go into effect early in the third quarter.

But the product does not come cheap. On an A- credit loan, the rate is set at 8.25 percent when CLTV is 60 percent.

Chase was the second-ranked jumbo lender in the first quarter of 2015, nearly closing the wide gap that Wells Fargo has maintained in recent years.

FHA Releases Planned System Enhancements for SF Policy Handbook. The FHA is providing an overview of the FHA Connection (FHAC) system enhancements to help lenders get ready before the Single-Family Policy Handbook’s Sept. 14, 2015, effective date. The system enhancements primarily affect three screens in the FHAC case assignments, appraisal logging and insurance application. In the coming weeks, FHA plans to provide technical details for entities using direct interface with FHAC. FHA Announces Availability of Recorded Training Modules for SF Policy Handbook. FHA-approved mortgagees may now use new-recorded training modules to guide them through the ...

Congress is considering streamlining the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s single- and multifamily housing programs as lawmakers expressed concern about reports of inefficiency, inflexible underwriting and weak risk management. In an oversight hearing conducted recently by the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance, lawmakers also considered a suggestion to merge the USDA’s Rural Housing Service and FHA single-family mortgage insurance programs because of overlapping functions and certain similarities in their borrower profiles. “The process of dealing with RHS is a nightmare,” said Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-MO), vice chairman of the committee. “It is 2015 but we have a housing program that operates like it is 1975.” Complaints against the RHS include little or no accountability across government programs, significant lack of ...

The Department of Veterans Affairs has issued a policy clarifying that VA lenders must treat veterans in same-sex or opposite-sex marriages equally and fairly when processing and underwriting their home-loan applications. The policy is effective immediately. Under the new policy announced on May 19, the VA will process all claims and applications involving same-sex marriages in the same manner as claims and applications based on opposite-sex marriages, “without any additional scrutiny or development.” Language on VA forms, web pages and other VA communication materials will be revised to ensure that all veterans, VA program administrators and personnel are aware of the equal-treatment policy. The new instructions require VA lenders to accept a claimant’s or an applicant’s assertion of ...

The Department of Veterans Affairs is looking into reports that a high percentage of VA loans are not closing on time, creating a disincentive for veterans who might want a VA loan. According to Jeff London, deputy director of the VA Loan Guaranty Service, his staff is researching the most recent closing times “to understand the reasons behind the increase for the industry as a whole” as well as how lengthy closing times are affecting veterans. “We have invested significant effort in reducing closing times so that our industry partners will seek to offer VA loans,” he said. Results of a recent Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey indicate that the share of VA loans closing on time fell to 55 percent in March 2015 from 70 percent in April 2014. The data suggest that 45 percent of VA loans are still experiencing serious delay. In addition, the average closing time for a VA loan was ...