Over the past few years Envoy Mortgage had a strong emphasis on purchase-money lending and in early 2013 branched out into third-party lending. Its original focus was on retail.

“In recent client meetings, Stratmor heard that lender fees are now being included in the rate sheet price,” Yung said. Indications are that the 3 percent cap is causing lenders to fold the lender fees into the rate – specifically on the retail side.

The high cost of FHA loans, due mainly to higher MI premiums and a requirement to maintain mortgage insurance for the life of the loan, has made it difficult for borrowers to obtain credit.

The price quotes can vary greatly depending on the size of the company being targeted, especially if there’s a servicing portfolio and platform that needs to be looked at.

The National Association of Federal Credit Unions is calling upon the CFPB and the Federal Housing Finance Agency to be more transparent about how they plan to use the information they want to collect for their joint National Mortgage Database. “First and foremost, NAFCU believes greater transparency should be provided by the FHFA and CFPB on what this information is being used for and which divisions within each agency have access to it,” NAFCU Regulatory Affairs Counsel Angela Meyster said in a letter to the FHFA. In addition, NAFCU urged the FHFA and CFPB to select only robust and representative subsets of the data when they seek to use it to support particular policies or rulemakings. “Further, the agencies should ...

The FHA has proposed to bring its adjustable-rate mortgage (ARM) rules in line with those of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to enable FHA lenders to comply with the new servicing requirements under the Truth in Lending Act. Specifically, two proposed changes would align both agencies’ interest-rate adjustment and disclosure-notification regulations for ARM borrowers as required by the revised TILA. The CFPB issued its final TILA servicing rule in February 2013 but delayed the effective date for another year to allow the Department of Housing and Urban Development sufficient time to write rules for new notification requirements for FHA-insured ARMs with a 30-day look-back period. Hence, FHA ARMs must comply with the new TILA rule on or after Jan. 10, 2015. The FHA insures 1-, 3-, 5-, 7- or 10-year ARMs. The CFPB’s revised look-back period and notification requirements would ...

Qualified mortgage guidelines under the CFPB’s ability-to-repay rule were among the top 10 issues identified as problem areas likely affecting home selling, according to a new Campbell Surveys study sponsored by Inside Mortgage Finance, an affiliated newsletter. Among real estate agents surveyed, 26.4 percent cited QM guidelines as an obstacle. “Due to the new Dodd Frank guidelines, fewer buyers will be qualified to purchase homes, which will ultimately affect my livelihood as well,” one Realtor said. Another commenter said, “QRM [qualified residential mortgage] and QM guidelines are already causing issues for some buyers,” even though the QRM has yet to be finalized. “Lenders won’t pre-approve but only pre-qualify. Buyers are frustrated even with good credit scores and good ratios.” A...

Echoing an assessment that has become all too common across the housing and mortgage markets, CFPB Director Richard Cordray said excessive student loan debt is keeping many young people from buying a house and taking on a mortgage. “The consumers we hear from tell us how their debt burden has stopped them from buying a home, opening a small business, or starting a family,” Cordray said in a speech last week. With student-loan debt now having reached $1.2 trillion, the CFPB estimates that more than 7 million Americans are in default on a student loan. “For those who default early in their lives, the negative consequences for their credit report can make it more difficult to pass employment background checks...

The slowdown in VA activity in the last quarter of 2013 spilled over into the first quarter of this year as lenders reported a 13.0 percent decline in loan production during the period, according to an Inside FHA Lending analysis of agency data. The downward trend in volume began at the end of the first quarter last year although VA still considered 2013 a record year for VA originations. VA lenders reported $19.5 billion in total production for the quarter, down from $22.4 billion in the previous quarter. Production, likewise, dropped 47.9 percent this year compared to the same period last year. Despite the slowdown, lenders remain optimistic about the VA market. “We have spent a lot of time understanding the perils of lending to veterans and learning to deal with the losses, and we are all in with VA lending,” said one lender. “When you do VA loans you talk about having ... [1 chart]

The Department of Veterans Affairs said there may be a need for further clarification of its newly issued qualified mortgage (QM) rule to allay lender fear of potential liability if they originate VA streamlined refinances, also known as Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loans (IRRRL), with a rebuttable presumption. Industry sources say VA lenders remain apprehensive despite assurances by agency officials that little has changed in the VA lending process as a result of the agency’s interim final rule. VA issued its QM document on May 9 in compliance with the Dodd-Frank Act, defining the types of VA loans that are “qualified mortgages” for purposes of the new ability-to-repay (ATR) provisions of the Truth in Lending Act. The Act also imposed similar requirements upon the FHA and the Department of Agriculture for the loans they insure or guarantee. The agency said it issued the rule on ...