The Department of Housing and Urban Development inspector general recommended administrative actions and monetary penalties against two lenders for allegedly improper origination of FHA loans with restrictive covenants. The HUD IG targeted SecurityNational Mortgage Co. and Venta Financial Group for audit because they were among the top lenders that originated FHA-insured loans with downpayment assistance from the City of Las Vegas. The audits yielded findings similar to those for Evergreen Home Loan, which the IG reviewed last year. The IG audit found that Evergreen Home Loan originated FHA loans with homebuyer downpayment assistance provided under a Las Vegas housing program that contained prohibited legal restrictions on conveyance. During the Evergreen audit, the IG concluded that the agreements used to secure those loans exposed the ...
A Ginnie Mae crackdown on abusive VA refinancing could be positive for housing finance reform, according to a Washington research organization. In a recent analysis, the Cowen Washington Research Group said Ginnie’s effort to rein in lenders that are engaging in churning might benefit those who are trying to revamp Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. “We expect Ginnie Mae will succeed in curbing prepayment speed on VA mortgages,” wrote Jaret Seiberg, a financial services and housing policy analyst with the Cowen Group. “The crackdown is positive for government-sponsored enterprise reform as it should restore the spread between Ginnie and Fannie/Freddie MBS.” According to Seiberg, GSE reform advocates could potentially use the spread to pay for a housing finance bill that includes a government guarantee on the resulting MBS. Acting Ginnie Mae President Michael Bright has pledged to ...
The Congressional Budget Office has put forth a white paper with several options to minimize taxpayer risk in the FHA program. Although FHA delinquencies are at historical lows, the CBO would like less government exposure to FHA risk, fearing that the growing popularity of private sector programs will leave the government stuck with bad loans. CBO estimates that “the share of FHA-insured mortgages going to such borrowers is likely to keep shrinking as credit standards in the private market continue to ease. That change would leave FHA with a riskier pool of borrowers, creating risk-management challenges similar to the ones that contributed to the agency’s high levels of insurance claims and losses during the recession.” According to Inside Mortgage Finance’s database, FHA lending accounted for approximately $70.6 billion, or 15.4 percent, of all first-lien lending in the second quarter. CBO’s white ...
In the second quarter, the top three HEL originators were Bank of America, Chase and Wells Fargo, according to a new ranking from Inside Mortgage Finance…
UWM isn’t alone among the optimists, but its closest brethren in the “feeling good” club are nonprime/non-QM lenders such as Angel Oak, Citadel and Caliber…
The supply of home-equity loan debt outstanding has been in such a steady decline since 2007 that even the mild revival in new lending has been unable to stop. At the end of June, there was $585.09 billion of HEL debt outstanding, including home-equity lines of credit and closed-end second mortgages. That was down 0.7 percent from March. The vast majority of those loans, some $556.94 billion, were held in portfolio by banks, savings institutions and credit unions. There was...[Includes three data tables]
Drawing to a close, the third quarter of 2017 is turning out to be modestly better than some lenders expected with both profits and production volumes getting a second wind recently thanks to falling interest rates. “We’re having a great quarter,” said Mat Ishbia, president and CEO of United Wholesale Mortgage, Troy, MI. According to Ishbia, not only will UWM post record originations of $8.6 billion in the third quarter, but volume at the privately held nonbank will be about 20.0 percent higher than ever before. According to figures compiled by Inside Mortgage Finance, UWM is...
LoanDepot has announced a key FHA disaster-related mortgage loan product to help families whose homes have been damaged or destroyed by hurricanes Harvey and Irma. Loans made through the FHA 203(h) Mortgage Insurance for Disaster Victims program are designed specifically for hard-hit homeowners in presidentially-declared major disaster areas (PDMDA) and can be used in tandem with a similar FHA product, the 203(k) property rehabilitation loan. Use of the 203(h) product spiked...
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