Loan modifications by FHA, VA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture do not provide meaningful payment relief when the market interest rate is higher than the original note rate, according to a report from the Urban Institute’s Mortgage Servicing Collaborative. In a typical loan mod, payment reduction can be achieved by extending the term of the loan, lowering the interest rate, reducing the loan balance, or combining the three. However, FHA, VA and USDA mods cannot provide any of those options aggressively enough when interest rates rise, MSC’s brief noted. In addition, government loan mods rely on the willingness of servicers to cover some of the modification costs, such as for below-market rate mods or the VA’s principal forbearance. “[Such] restrictions limit the number of borrowers that can be assisted and the amount of payment reduction for borrowers who receive modifications,” the ...
FHA has issued policy waivers related to recent hurricanes and wildfires, including one for loan-level reviews for early-payment default. The agency announced the move as Black Knight reported another 60,000 mortgages becoming seriously delinquent in December because of hurricane-related fallout and other seasonal and calendar-related factors. The early-payment default waiver applies to FHA mortgages in presidentially declared major disaster areas (PDMDA) ravaged by hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria. The hard-hit areas are in Louisiana, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Puerto Rico, South Carolina and the U.S. Virgin Islands, as well parts of California that were scorched by recent wildfires. Due to the string of natural disasters, FHA anticipates an increase in EPDs – loans that become 60-day delinquent within the first six payments – in the affected areas. FHA believes that EPDs on loans closed before ...
President Trump this week signed a short-term spending bill that would keep the government operating until Feb. 8, 2018. The bill ended a three-day shutdown after the previous spending authority for most of the government expired at midnight on Jan. 19. However, the threat of another shutdown looms. FHA and Ginnie Mae both had contingency plans in place in case the short-lived shutdown dragged on, as it had in 2013. That event lasted for 16 days, at a loss of $1.6 billion a day to the federal government. Under FHA’s emergency plan, the agency would continue to endorse new single-family forward mortgages, but not Home Equity Conversion Mortgages and Title I loans. Ginnie would reduce staffing to essential personnel but continue its secondary market operations. It would continue to remit timely payment of principal and interest to investors, grant commitment authority and support issuance of ...
Recoveries from FCA Settlements Involving FHA Loans Down Dramatically in 2017. The Department of Justice reported collecting more than $543 million in False Claims Act settlements and judgments to resolve housing and mortgage fraud complaints in FY 2017, down from $1.6 billion in FY 2016. The largest settlement of a False Claims Act case was $296 million, which involved an FHA lender and the DOJ. In September 2017, a unanimous jury in Houston, TX, found that Allied Home Mortgage Capital Corp. and Allied Home Mortgage Corp. violated the FCA and the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989 by falsely certifying that thousands of high-risk, poor-quality loans were eligible for FHA insurance. The companies were also accused of originating FHA loans from more than 100 “shadow” branch offices without authorization from the ...
Losses on non-agency MBS backed by re-performing loans issued in recent years have been minimal, according to DBRS. Performance has been helped by home price appreciation, and the one deal to suffer significant losses was an outlier in terms of the types of loans it included.
In a statement issued to Inside Mortgage Finance, Sen. Mark Warner, D-VA – a key player in the process – said he is still interested in the topic, noting the panel wants a...
Investors are increasingly interested in financing mortgage servicing rights and investing in ex-cess servicing spread strips, according to the law firm of Hunton & Williams. The firm helped a number of companies structure MSR financing transactions last year.
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