Reports that the Senate Appropriations Committee might include a proposed FHA administrative fee in the Senate’s spending bill for financial and housing agencies is causing a furor within the mortgage financing industry. Industry groups have come out in force, urging the leaders of the Senate committee to remove the provision from a continuing resolution to fund the government beyond Dec. 11. There is speculation that the House might go along with the fee. The provision, expected to raise $30 million for FHA quality assurance efforts, would allow the Department of Housing and Urban Development to charge a fee of no more than 4 basis points of the original principal balance of all FHA-insured mortgages a lender made in the previous fiscal year. HUD originally made the request in President Obama’s proposed FY 2015 budget. Over industry objections, the Senate later incorporated the ...
The FHA has announced loan limits in 2015 for high- and low-cost areas, virtually unchanged from the loan limits in effect through the end of the year. The new limits will take effect on Jan. 1, 2015. The maximum loan limits in high-cost housing areas will remain the same as the 2014 level of $625,500. The current standard loan limit in lower-cost areas will also remain unchanged at $271,050. The mortgage loan limits for Home Equity Conversion Mortgage loans will continue to have a maximum claim amount of ...
The delinquency rate for FHA-insured single-family mortgages increased slightly from June through September, with a slight uptick in the percentage of loans 30 to 60 days past due, according to an Inside FHA Lending analysis of agency servicing data. As of Sept. 30, FHA delinquencies across the board rose to 13.57 percent from 13.31 percent at midyear due to a slight pickup in 30- to 60-day delinquencies over the three-month period. The share of loans 30- to 60-days delinquent stood at 6.55 percent as of Sept. 30, up from 6.17 percent on June 30. Serious delinquencies dropped slightly to 7.02 percent from 7.14 percent over the same period as the FHA’s inventory of legacy loans continued to clean out and the more recent vintages continued to perform well. The overall foreclosure rate for FHA-insured loans fell to 2.15 percent from 2.30 percent, reflecting the ... [1 chart]
The FHA has extended a temporary waiver of insurance requirements to allow certain condominium projects or developments that otherwise would not qualify for mortgage insurance to remain eligible. Temporarily waiving provisions pertaining to master/blanket hazard, flood, liability and other insurance requirements will help ensure the availability of affordable housing units, including condos, to people who cannot afford to purchase a home or could not qualify for a mortgage loan, the agency said.The temporary waiver was issued on Nov. 27, 2013, and now has been extended to Aug. 31, 2016. It allows individual-unit owners to obtain and maintain their own insurance coverage on their condo unit.The waiver also requires condo projects to maintain a master/blanket insurance policy for hazard, flood and liability risks and any other insurance that may be ...
Final PMIERS Rule Expected in 1Q15. The Federal Housing Finance Agency has revised its timeline for publishing a final version of the Private Mortgage Insurance Eligibility Requirements, which Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac proposed in July at the direction of the FHFA. The PMIERS will establish capital and other requirements for private mortgage insurers. In a statement, industry trade group U.S. Mortgage Insurers said it has received word from the agency that the final PMIERS would not be published until at least late in the first quarter of 2015. The FHFA initially indicated that a final rule would be issued by yearend 2014. The USMI reiterated its support for an updated PMIERS. Mortgage Executives Concerned About G-Fee Increase. A survey of mortgage executives at this year’s Mortgage Bankers Association annual conference found 53 percent saying that ...
The MBA’s legal counsel tried to begin by focusing on the dividing line between interpretative rules and legislative rules, but soon found herself having to defend the trade group’s support for the DOL’s original 2006 position.
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