The Department of Housing and Urban Development sold 62,062 distressed loans in 2013 through its expanded Distressed Asset Stabilization Program (DASP) to increase recoveries to FHA’s Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund. HUD made 10 offerings of nonperforming FHA-insured loans in a series of quarterly competitive auctions last year, participated in by pre-qualified bidders, including nonprofit organizations. The defaulted single-family mortgages were provided by FHA-approved loan servicers and sold through large national pools and “neighborhood stabilization outcome” pools. The NSO pools consist of loans in ...

Program eligibility is one of the top five reasons a loan can get an “unacceptable” rating in a post-endorsement technical review of a targeted sample of FHA loans. In a sample review conducted by FHA between July 1, 2013, and Sept. 30, 2013, 10 percent of the 6,692 targeted loans were defective due to program eligibility. Of that 10 percent, 76 percent were rated unacceptable by FHA. The results reflect the initial rating of each file reviewed during the quarter, which include conforming, deficient and unacceptable. An unacceptable rating may change if the lender submits mitigating documentation to FHA. But even if subsequently mitigated, the fact ...

Lenders whose fiscal years ended on Oct. 31 or Nov. 30, 2013, must complete their annual recertification by their respective deadlines, Jan. 31 and Feb. 28, 2014, or face dire consequences, the FHA warned. These lenders must complete their recertification through the current system, the Lender Assessment Sub-System (LASS), which will soon be retired and replaced with the Lender Electronic Assessment Portal (LEAP). The LASS enables lenders to submit their information, including net worth, liquidity and audited financial data, electronically. LEAP will go live in April and ...

The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Mortgagee Review Board sanctioned 57 lenders in FY 2013 and withdrew the authority of 29 others to originate, underwrite and service FHA-insured loans due to various offenses. The MRB meted out civil fines of more than $2.5 million and imposed sanctions from Oct. 1, 2012, through Sept. 30, 2013, according to an agency report. Additionally, the FHA reached 21 settlement agreements with various lenders in FY 2013, and entered into indemnification agreements with 10 more lenders during the period. The agreements covered 187 FHA-insured mortgage loans. Cases heard by the MRB from ...

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has replaced the information brochure that goes with FHA lenders’ mandatory cover letter alerting delinquent borrowers of the possibility of foreclosure. HUD requires lenders to notify FHA borrowers in default no later than the 60th day of delinquency via cover letter and a copy of a brochure, “Save Your Home: Tips to Avoid Foreclosure.” This resource replaces the previous brochure, HUD-PA-426, and includes information on the revised loss-mitigation tools available for delinquent FHA borrowers. The new brochure has been ...

Citigroup marked up the asset value of its MSRs by 5 percent, on a sequential basis, to $2.718 billion. Compared to 4Q12, its MSRs are now worth 40 percent more - even though its overall portfolio has been shrinking in size.

It’s likely that little in the way of money is changing hands on the deal. By selling the MSRs to Fannie, Citi is also settling the payment of “compensatory” fee claims the GSE is owed by the bank.

According to figures compiled by Inside Mortgage Finance, Flagstar is the nation’s second largest wholesale/broker lender. It also has a fairly large presence in the warehouse market.

Ginnie Mae is telling sellers of mortgage servicing rights – and their advisors – that it wants upwards of 90 days to approve MSR transfers compared to just 30 currently. The agency gave seller/servicers a heads-up on the longer approval times in late November at an “education summit” in Washington attended by both new and existing issuers. A copy of Ginnie’s presentation was provided to Inside Mortgage Finance. Advisory sources said...[Includes one data chart]

According to the bank’s fourth quarter earnings statement, 68 percent of its originations were refis – the mirror image of Wells Fargo, which had 68 percent of its production in purchase-money loans.