The $13 million settlement reached between the CFPB and Castle & Cooke Mortgage Co. back in November 2013 was not the end of the dispute for the mortgage lender. It now faces a possible class-action lawsuit brought by one of the aggrieved parties who had already been compensated under the terms of the settlement with the bureau. Homeowner Luis Cabrales, on behalf of himself and perhaps in excess of 9,500 similarly situated individuals, recently filed his complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, Fresno Division. The class, so far, has not been certified. The legal argument is that the applicable statutes of limitation of the claims alleged in the new complaint were “tolled” (suspended or ...

In a noteworthy concession to the mortgage lending industry, the CFPB last week finalized a “right to cure” loans in which a lender inadvertently breaches the 3 percent cap on points and fees for a loan that would otherwise be deemed a qualified mortgage under the agency’s ability-to-repay rule. Under amendments finalized this past Wednesday, if a lender discovers after the loan has closed that it has exceeded the 3 percent cap, there are limited circumstances in which it can pay a refund of the excess amount with interest to the consumer and the loan will still be considered a QM. First, the refund must occur within 210 days after the loan is made. The lender must also maintain and ...

Jumbo lending increased 14.2 percent in 2013 compared with the previous year. California posted a growth rate slightly above that level...

Industry consultant Joe Garrett notes that one of his clients (back in 2003) had 52 loan officers and “about 52 comp plans”…

HUD believes the program’s initial objectives have been attained and that prudence and vigilance are again called for to prevent abuses.

The investor-plaintiffs claim that Fannie and two of the company’s former executives made false and misleading statements about the mortgage giant’s internal controls and its exposure to subprime.

For a bond investor such as PIMCO, the attraction should not come as a total surprise.

FHA to Host First Briefing Session on the First Installment of the Single Family Policy Handbook. The FHA will have a webinar on Nov. 6, 2014, from 2 p.m.-3 p.m., for stakeholders in connection with the first completed section of the Single Family Housing Policy Handbook, the Origination through Post-Closing/Endorsement for Title II Forward Mortgages (Origination through Post-Closing). The new handbook is designed to make it easier for stakeholders to do business with the FHA and support greater access to mortgage credit for qualified borrowers. Once fully completed, the handbook will contain all FHA origination and underwriting policies that lenders use in making FHA-insured loans. The FHA published the first section of the handbook on Sept. 30, which becomes effective for FHA case numbers assigned on or after June 15, 2015. The agency urged lenders to ...

The FHA has announced plans to modify the Computerized Homes Underwriting Management System (CHUMS) while work continues on a new, improved replacement system. CHUMS provides support for automated processing, analysis and screening of appraisal documents. Specifically, it is used on first-time homebuyer loan applications, Home Equity Conversion Mortgages, Section 203(k) property rehabilitation loans, VA-certified FHA loans and other FHA-approved programs. The system is also used to assist in evaluations of borrowers’ mortgage credit and as a complement to FHA’s credit assessment tool, TOTAL Scorecard. A new Loan Application Management System (LAMS) is in development to replace CHUMS completely in about five years. In its initial release, LAMS will enable the Department of Housing and Urban Development to start collecting and incorporating ...

Total originations of FHA forward and home-equity conversion mortgages across the U.S. and in the territories increased from the first to the second quarter, with California accounting for the lion’s share of all FHA loans produced by state. Production of FHA-insured forwards, including jumbo loans, and HECM loans during the first half of 2014 totaled $68.3 billion, a whopping 49.0 percent drop from volume reported over the same period last year. On the other hand, total originations in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands rose 11.5 percent quarter-over-quarter. Originations totaled $36.1 billion in the second quarter. Forward mortgages accounted for $61.1 billion of new FHA-insured loans originated during the first six months while HECMs comprised $7.2 billion of loans produced over ... [ 1 Chart ]