USMI Names MGIC Chief as Chairman. U.S. Mortgage Insurance has tapped Patrick Sinks, chief executive of MGIC Investment Corp., to be the trade group’s new chairman. Sinks succeeds USMI Chairman Rohit Gupta, president and CEO of Genworth Mortgage Insurance. Sinks served previously as USMI’s vice chairman. Bradley Shuster, chairman/chief executive for NMI Holdings, will take overNew Reverse-Mortgage Product. California Mortgage Advisors has expanded its reverse-mortgage menu, with the addition of a non-FHA reverse mortgage option of up to $6 million for select clients. With the new product, CMA joins a handful of private reverse-mortgage lenders that will consider properties valued up to $6 million. Last year, American Advisors Group, the largest Home Equity Conversion Mortgage lender, announced its AAG Advantage lending program, which features the ...

In late January of this year, American International Group announced its intention to spin off 10 percent of its top-ranked mortgage insurance affiliate, United Guaranty Corp., but almost seven months later no deal has materialized. According to interviews conducted by Inside Mortgage Finance this week, it’s been “radio silent” regarding the initial public offering, but all that could change next week when AIG releases its second quarter results. A spokesman for UGC declined to comment on the matter. Most of the observers believe...

While some banks have reduced their FHA lending in recent years and alternatives from the government-sponsored enterprises are still gaining traction, homebuyers still have access to low-downpayment mortgage programs, according to the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey. “Most real estate agents say high loan-to-value ratio mortgages are readily available, especially for homebuyers with good credit,” said Tom Popik, research director for Campbell Surveys. The HousingPulse survey covering activity in June included...

The Government Accountability Office said regulatory uncertainty and other barriers may inhibit the use of private flood insurance. The Flood Insurance Market Parity and Modernization Act, H.R. 2901, which passed the House unanimously in April, expands flood insurance options by including private flood insurance. The bill also lifts certain federal restrictions placed on insurance companies and gives states more flexibility to license and regulate private flood insurance. The GAO reported...

The FHA this week clarified its policy on insuring mortgages with PACE (Property Assessed Clean Energy) senior tax liens to make it easier for borrowers to obtain FHA financing for such mortgages, but the mortgage and real estate industries continue to have concerns. The new guidelines address state programs where the PACE obligation is treated like a property tax with priority over an FHA lien. The program provides financing for home-energy improvements and water conservation, and is repaid through an assessment added to the property’s tax bill. The guidelines are designed...

House Republicans this week accused the Department of Housing and Urban Development of giving preferential treatment to political favorites in changes to FHA distressed asset sales. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-TX, denounced changes HUD Secretary Julian Castro made to the Distressed Asset Sale Program (DASP), saying the moves help liberal special interests at the expense of private investors. Hensarling said the changes would create “preferential bidding” for certain buyers and restrict investor options. HUD expanded DASP in 2012 as a conduit for selling nonperforming FHA loans to investors with the proviso they must first help borrowers save their homes from foreclosure and foreclose only if all loan-modification options have been exhausted. Distressed note sales also helped stabilize FHA’s Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund and have contributed more than ...

With the improvement in loan performance, credit quality and serious delinquency rate, some mortgage industry observers think the FHA is poised for another premium reduction before the end of the year. It is a better time for the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund, with fiscal year 2016 volume expected to exceed $220 billion, way more than the $170 billion the last independent actuarial report had predicted. Serious delinquency rates decreased in the first quarter to 5.31 percent, near the lowest level since 2008, according to FHA’s latest quarterly report to Congress. Rates for those vintages most affected by the recent economic recession (2006-2008) continue to decline. In addition, claims continue to be well below actuarial predictions – 32 percent less than predicted for the first quarter. Also, MMIF watchers are optimistic that the next actuarial report will show a higher capital cushion. According to the ...

The U.S. Senate this week passed legislation that includes reforms to current FHA restrictions on condominium financing, among other provisions. H.R. 3700, the Housing Opportunity Through Modernization Act of 2016, was approved without amendment by unanimous consent. The bill passed in the House of Representatives by a vote of 427-0 in February. The bill addresses problems facing buyers and sellers of condominiums. Specifically, the bill modifies the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s rental assistance and public housing programs, FHA’s requirements for condo mortgage insurance and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s single-family housing guaranteed loan program. Among other things, the bill requires the FHA to make recertifications “substantially less burdensome,” while lowering the ownership-occupancy requirement from 50 percent to 35 percent. The current ...

The Department of Veterans Affairs has clarified policies that have raised questions among VA lenders but were not addressed during the agency’s annual lender conference in San Diego, CA, back in May. ? What is the VA’s policy regarding a non-purchasing spouse’s (NPS) credit? VA: The NPS’s liabilities need to be considered but not its credit history. ? What is VA’s policy regarding a loss that an NPS reports on a joint tax return? If a joint tax return shows a business loss, then that loss will have to be deducted from the veteran’s income in both community and non-community property states. What is reported to the Internal Revenue Service must be used when applying for a federally guaranteed loan In a situation where a couple has been faced with business losses, the veteran and his or her spouse may want to consider both being on the loan in order to potentially qualify. ? The VA Pamphlet states: “Account balances reduced to ...

The Department of Veterans Affairs has spelled out steps for disputing and resolving audit findings with the agency. The VA Home Loan Guaranty program has a policy-resolution protocol in place to increase both consistency among the VA regional loan centers (RLC) and responsiveness to lender inquiries. In seeking to resolve an audit dispute with an RLC, the lender should first consult the VA Lender’s Handbook before contacting the VA. Lenders also are encouraged to check with colleagues who might be familiar with issues underlying the dispute. The lender should contact the RLC with jurisdiction for an official response to case-specific questions. When disputing an audit finding or a deficiency letter, the lender should contact the loan specialist who conducted the audit. If, after communicating with the loan specialist, the dispute remains unresolved, the lender should take its concern to ...