Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac this week directed servicers to inform homeowners reeling from the damage inflicted by the tornados that swept through Oklahoma and other states that they may be eligible for a temporary reprieve on their mortgage payments. The GSEs’ disaster relief policies are targeted to borrowers with homes in jurisdictions President Obama has declared to be Major Disaster Areas where federal Individual Assistance programs are being made available to affected individuals and households.
Limiting the maximum amount of cash-out refinances to 80 percent of the current value of a home could significantly decrease defaults, according to new research by the Federal Reserve. Such limits on refis are already in place in Texas, with the Fed economist suggesting that the restrictions could be put in place nationwide, along with recourse provisions, in an effort to limit defaults. Steven Laufer, an economist at the Fed, looked into mortgage performance on a sample of properties in Los Angeles County ...
Loan sellers and servicers doing business with Freddie Mac will be charged a so-called low-activity fee for not meeting new quotas for loan deliveries and mortgage servicing beginning next year, according to a policy change announced recently by the government-sponsored enterprise. Freddie Mac said it will assess lenders a fee of $7,500 if they fail to deliver mortgage loans with an aggregate principal balance of more than $5 million or service mortgages for the GSE with an aggregate balance of at least $25 million. Freddie will begin monitoring loan sales and servicing beginning this year and imposing the low-activity fee on slackers on Jan. 1, 2014. There were at least 277 lenders that sold...
The lack of a specific computer code for reporting short-sale mortgage transactions is creating numerous false reports of foreclosure on consumer credit reports, inhibiting their re-entry into the housing market, according to lawmakers on Capitol Hill and consumer advocates. Earlier this month, Sen. Bill Nelson, D-FL, dispatched letters to the Federal Trade Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau citing the “disturbing” consumer credit reporting practice of lumping short sale within the same industry code as a foreclosure in consumers’ credit reports. “If a short sale is reported...
The mortgage M&A market is heating up and not just in the lending space. Moreover, a large insurance company is contemplating an entry into the business.
Ginnie Mae issuers may buy out mortgage loans that are due but unpaid for four consecutive installments even if the borrower has made partial payments.
Analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and elsewhere cite evidence of a “creeping goal line” to move back by 12 months the June 1, 2009, cut-off date for HARP eligibility.
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