The Department of Housing and Urban Development has charged Fifth Third Bank and a mortgage broker with discrimination for allegedly requiring medical proof from a couple with disabilities who were seeking FHA refinancing. Fifth Third Bank, Fifth Third Mortgage Co. and Cranbrook Mortgage Corp. were accused of violating the Fair Housing Act, which makes it illegal for creditors to deny or discriminate against borrowers based on disability, race, color, religion, national origin, gender or family status, including imposing different application or criteria on protected classes. The married couple, whose names HUD withheld, receive ...
Many of the lenders with high default rates are smaller companies while those with larger portfolios tend to perform better than the national average, according to Inside FHA Lendings analysis of compare ratios on two-year FHA loan portfolios. The compare ratio is the percentage of a lenders default and claim rate compared to the national average. It is shown as a numerical value, which HUD uses to determine lender performance. A compare ratio of over 150 percent will land a lender on HUDs watch list and a ratio greater than 200 percent could result ... [1 chart]
The Department of Veterans Affairs has announced it will accept electronic signatures in closing home loans with a VA guaranty. The VA said lenders are not required to use electronic signatures in VA loans but if they choose to, they must comply with the Federal Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act, or the E-Sign Act. The measure was signed into law in June 2000. The E-Sign Act establishes the baseline rules for Internet commerce, including nondiscrimination between handwritten and electronic signatures. The law also requires that electronic records be ...
Purchase-money lending increased by a hefty 37 percent, climbing to an estimated $163 billion in the second quarter, according to figures compiled by Inside Mortgage Finance.
Some trade groups, including the California Mortgage Bankers Association and National Association of Realtors are not happy with the idea of lower loan limits.
Look for an update late Thursday on the sale of Cole Taylor Mortgage. Meanwhile, does anyone care that credit unions are holding 30-year jumbo mortgages in portfolio?
Although agency originations and refinance activity continued to dominate residential mortgage lending during the second quarter of 2013, a new Inside Mortgage Finance analysis and ranking reveals that both those components were losing steam. In fact, the only product category to show growth during the period was the jumbo market, where originations increased by 9.3 percent and reached their highest quarterly volume an estimated $59 billion since the third quarter of 2007. On a year-to-date basis, jumbo originations were up 17.7 percent from the first half of last year. Agency production still accounted...[Includes two data charts]