The Association of Mortgage Investors last week urged the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to address ongoing issues raised by the so-called TRID mortgage disclosure rule. “The recent evidence is that the rule, while extremely well-intentioned, has resulted in a climate of legal uncertainty and is chilling private investment in the U.S. mortgage market,” Chris Katopis, executive director of the AMI, wrote to CFPB Director Richard Cordray. The rule took effect...

The Blackstone Group, which has several investments in mortgage finance and real estate, is contemplating taking its single-family rental business public. It’s just a matter of when. Late this week, a Blackstone media official declined to discuss the topic of an initial public offering of its SFR business, which was first reported by The Financial Times and mentioned in an investor note from Compass Point Research & Trading. The IPO has...

As interest-only mortgages originated in the run-up to the financial crisis reset, performance has varied depending on the extent of borrowers’ payment shock, according to analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. The analysts noted that delinquencies increase significantly when an IO borrowers’ monthly payment more than doubles, while some borrowers with strong credit or low loan-to-value ratios have been able to refinance or receive a loan modification. IOs include a ...

Policy changes are underway to prevent nonprofit groups from gaining an unfair advantage over legitimate investors in purchasing real estate-owned properties under the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s single-family property disposition program. An audit conducted by the HUD inspector general found that certain nonprofits were acting as investors while purchasing REO homes through HUD’s distressed-asset sales program. While this may seem to be a case of nonprofits gaming the system, the IG said no regulations were violated because program requirements did not explicitly bar nonprofits from acting as investors during the exclusive listing period. HUD’s distressed-asset sales program is designed to clear the department’s REO inventory in a manner that expands homeownership opportunities, strengthens neighborhoods and communities, and ensures a ...

The FHA has issued new, more permissive loss-mitigation guidelines for Home Equity Conversion Mortgages, including an optional extension for mortgagees when submitting due-and-payable requests. Additionally, the guidelines allow mortgagees to cure a HECM borrower’s taxes and/or insurance defaults as long as the FHA incurs no cost and the mortgagee agrees to refrain from seeking loan assignment for at least three years. The guidelines further remove a previous restriction prohibiting the use of the permissive loss-mitigation options announced in Mortgagee Letter 2015-11 for borrowers in foreclosure. Accordingly, for HECM loans that were in the process of foreclosure prior to the issuance of ML-2015-11, mortgagees may assess those borrowers for a repayment plan in accordance with the mortgagee letter. The repayment plan must have the ...

Cutting back on its FHA business helped reduce JPMorgan Chase’s foreclosure inventory but made it harder for the bank to meet its community reinvestment goals, according to the bank’s top executive. In a letter to shareholders, Jamie Dimon, president/CEO of JPMorgan Chase, said he would rather see the bank no longer service defaulted loans. “If we had our druthers, we would never service a defaulted mortgage again,” he wrote. “We do not want to be in the business of foreclosure because it is exceedingly painful for our customers, and it is difficult, costly and painful to us and our reputation.” Chase has cut back on FHA lending and has reinstated overlays in response to stiff penalties it paid to resolve False Claims Act allegations brought by the federal government. In 2014, Chase agreed to a $614 million settlement with the Department of Justice over allegations of ...

Freedom Mortgage is acquiring the correspondent origination assets of JPMorgan Chase’s rural housing business for an undisclosed amount. The Mount Laurel, NJ-based lender will operate the business under its own brand and retain the current executives and employees who have been originating rural housing loans through Chase’s 23-year old correspondent business. Loans backed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture comprise less than 5.0 percent of Chase’s 2015 mortgage banking business. USDA loans account for 1.04 percent of total mortgage originations in 2015, according to Inside Mortgage Finance. In its announcement, Chase said the move is part of a company effort to simplify its loan-origination business model and to focus its lending. Chase said it would continue to ...

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Housing Service (RHS) last week published a final rule revising current regulations regarding lender indemnification, refinancing and qualified mortgage requirements, only to withdraw it later without explanation. The final rule was published in the March 29, 2016, issue of the Federal Register and was withdrawn abruptly on March 31. The RHS’ one-paragraph correction notice said the rule had been “inadvertently published” and, thus, was being recalled. The agency neither elaborated nor returned calls seeking comment. The final rule would expand the RHS’ lender indemnification authority for loss claims in the case of fraud, misrepresentation or noncompliance with applicable loan origination requirements. By taking such action, the RHS aims to improve its ability to manage the risk of its single-family housing guaranteed loan program. In addition, the final rule would ...

Debt collection, mortgages and credit reporting are the top three most-complained-about products and services in 2015, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s fourth annual report on servicemembers’ and veterans’ complaints. Such complaints comprised a significant share of complaints from members of the military and their families logged by the CFPB last year. In 2015, the CFPB received 13 percent more military complaints compared to 2014, noted Barbara Mishkin, consumer finance attorney at Ballard Spahr. Of the 19,200 complaints received from members of the military last year, 46 percent (8,900) involved debt collection. The report indicates that military consumers submitted debt-collection complaints at almost twice the rate of the general consumer population, said Mishkin. Of the 8,900 debt-collection complaints, 44 percent involved attempts to collect a debt that the ...

FHA Total Delinquencies, Serious Delinquencies Show Remarkable Improvement Since Peak. The FHA total delinquency rate in 2015 was 13 percent, down 37 percent from 2012 when the rate peaked at 16.7 percent, according to the latest data from FHA Neighborhood Watch. Serious delinquencies (loans that are 90 days or more past due) have improved 19 percent in 2015, with rates down to 6.74 percent from 9.92 percent in 2012. As of February 2016, the total delinquency rate and serious delinquency rate improved further to 11.1 percent and 5.5 percent, respectively. VA Issues POC Guidance, Seeks Comments on Proposed Data Collections. The Department of Veterans Affairs has issued new guidance revising the point-of-contact for inquiries regarding paid-in-full notifications of loans guaranteed for repurchase under VA’s Regulation 4600 Loans. The ...