Just how important are Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to the revenue picture of the U.S. government? According to calculations from The Collingwood Group, a Washington-based consulting firm, GSE dividends in 2013 will be the fourth largest source of federal revenue.
State attorneys general and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau reached a long-pending settlement with Ocwen Financial in December. Regulators suggest that additional actions are planned, and they have focused on the largest servicers as well as servicers involved with large transfers. As part of the settlement, Ocwen must complete $2.0 billion in principal reduction for borrowers with negative equity and refund $125.0 million to the nearly 185,000 borrowers who went through improper foreclosures from ...
The Department of Housing and Urban Development warned of tougher enforcement against servicers who do not make full use of HUD’s loss mitigation tools, as it announced the implementation of a newly revised tiered servicer ranking system. The new system, Tiered Ranking System II, features a new scoring mechanism that would help HUD determine which lenders get higher reimbursement rates on claim expenses based on their servicing performance.
FHA and VA loans backing Ginnie Mae pools in 2013 showed an average mid-range FICO score of 693, lower debt-to-income ratio and an average loan size of $187,268, confirming strict underwriting in both government programs, according to an Inside FHA Lending analysis of Ginnie Mae loan-level disclosures. Issuers securitized $370.4 billion of mortgages with first payment date in 2013 through November. Loan characteristics exclude loans with no information reported.
Freedom has big expansion plans for the new year. Company CEO and founder Stan Middleman recently told IMFnews Daily that he plans to hire between 200 and 500 residential loan officers in 2014.
Will well-known mortgage trainer Barry Habib stick with Residential Finance Corp., a company whose assets are in the process of being sold? It’s hard to say since RFC isn’t answering questions on about the firm’s future.
What's ahead for residential lenders and servicers in 2014? You might be surprised at some of our predictions. Hint: The servicing market looks good, at least.
“The recent decline in large-lender share of the primary market is temporary, and principally a result of cyclical factors that caused larger lenders to pull back from the market,” said Fannie Mae's Gerry Flood.
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