Mortgage brokers and their wholesale funders gained some share in the FHA/VA market during the first quarter of 2018, according to a new Inside FHA/VA Lending analysis. Survey data collected by Inside Mortgage Finance show that all three production channels took big hits in FHA/VA volume in early 2018. The $49.11 billion in government-insured lending reported by participating lenders was down 20.7 percent from the previous quarter and 10.8 percent below the volume the group generated in the first three months of 2017. Correspondent production remained the biggest source of FHA/VA loans, accounting for 53.5 percent of the survey sample in the first quarter. But production through this channel was down 22.2 percent from the previous three-month period, a slightly larger decline than seen overall. Four of the top five lenders in the group have strong correspondent platforms, especially ... [Chart]

Community mortgage lenders want the Federal Housing Finance Agency to put an end to pricing disparities caused by mortgage insurers offering discounts to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac lenders based on their size or volume. And they recommend doing so in the same manner the agency solved pricing disparities over guarantee fees. The Community Home Lenders Association wrote the FHFA last week requesting that Director Mel Watt investigate the practice that the trade group says has become more prevalent. CHLA said it puts small lenders and their borrowers at a disadvantage. As a result, some individual CHLA members are even boycotting private MIs that engage in volume discounts.

It doesn’t look likely that the Federal Housing Finance Agency is going to take up a call by community mortgage lenders to look into allegedly unfair volume discounts made by private mortgage insurers to large mortgage lenders.

New FHA endorsements and VA home loan guaranty volume were both down significantly in the first quarter, but the two programs followed different paths to mostly similar results. A new Inside FHA/VA Lending ranking and analysis shows that endorsements of FHA forward mortgages slipped 10.5 percent from the fourth quarter to $48.96 billion. That was the lowest quarterly output for the program since early 2015, when just $39.48 billion of FHA forward loans were originated. In the VA program, new loan guarantees fell 11.1 percent from the fourth quarter to $39.06 billion. That was the lowest three-month total since the first lap in 2016, with $37.09 billion produced. Most of the decline in FHA business was in purchase-mortgage lending, which fell 13.5 percent from the fourth quarter. While purchase loans still accounted for a hefty 71.1 percent of FHA forward endorsements during the ... [Charts]

A recent announcement by the Department of Housing and Urban Development to seek public comment on its 2013 disparate-impact rule is an opportunity for both HUD and the industry to clarify the liability issues it raises, said compliance experts. On May 10, HUD announced it would formally seek public input on whether the disparate-impact regulation is in tune with the Supreme Court of the United States’ 2015 decision in Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs v. Inclusive Communities Project, Inc. The HUD rule affirmed the use of disparate impact to establish liability for violations of the Fair Housing Act. It lays out a three-step approach to determining FHAct liability. The first step requires the plaintiff to demonstrate that a practice or a policy has a discriminatory effect on a protected class of persons. According to the rule, liability may be established even if the ...

Community mortgage lenders called for an investigation of pricing practices of private mortgage insurers regarding their use of volume discounts and other incentives to get more business from lenders selling loans to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. In a letter to Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mel Watt, the Community Home Lenders Association raised concerns about “pricing disparities” in lender-paid mortgage insurance based on lender size and volume. Such practices may involve better pricing offers to larger lenders or bidding out loan pools based on the percentage of discounts larger lenders get from their customary private MI pricing, the CHLA said. In addition, some private MIs offer special pricing to lenders that agree to do business exclusively with them – a type of proxy for volume discount. The group asked the FHFA, as the regulator of Fannie and Freddie, to investigate whether ...

Private mortgage insurers reported substantial declines in new insurance written during the first quarter of 2018, losing some market share to both the FHA and VA, according to a new analysis and ranking by Inside Mortgage Finance. [Includes two data charts.]

A top official at Arch Capital defended Freddie Mac’s new Integrated Mortgage Insurance (IMAGIN) credit-risk transfer program against charges that it creates an unlevel playing field.

Acting FHA Commissioner Dana Wade voiced concern over increasing shares of FHA-insured loans with high debt-to-income ratios, cash-out refinances and purchase loans with downpayment assistance. Testifying recently before the House Appropriations Committee on the agency’s FY 2019 budget, Wade warned that such disturbing trends suggest that FHA’s exposure to loss could rise and put the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund and taxpayers at risk. Wade said FHA’s financial health and the impact of the volatile reverse mortgage portfolio are a continuing concerns. Last year, the fund’s economic net worth declined by $1.9 billion and the capital reserve ratio fell to 2.09 percent from 2.35 percent the previous year due to losses associated with Home Equity Conversion Mortgage loans. Wade noted an increase in the proportion of borrowers with DTI ratios in excess of 50 percent. In February, the ...

An approved issuer suspended last month due to alleged VA loan churning activities is back in Ginnie Mae’s multi-issuer mortgage-backed securities program. Nations Lending, ranked 97th in Inside FHA/VA Lending’s top 100 VA lenders, was reinstated after reaching a confidential agreement with Ginnie Mae, according to a source familiar with the case. The Ohio-based lender has been “fully reinstated and [again] able to use all of Ginnie Mae’s programs that are available for lenders in good faith,” said the source, who asked not to be identified. The source declined to provide details of the agreement, maintaining Nations has been very transparent and was “ahead of the curve” in terms of dealing with the churning problem. “Nations began addressing the issue even before Ginnie took action,” he said. Ginnie neither confirmed nor commented on the report. “The evidence will show what is happening in the ...