The delinquency rate for FHA-insured single-family mortgages increased slightly from June through September, with a slight uptick in the percentage of loans 30 to 60 days past due, according to an Inside FHA Lending analysis of agency servicing data. As of Sept. 30, FHA delinquencies across the board rose to 13.57 percent from 13.31 percent at midyear due to a slight pickup in 30- to 60-day delinquencies over the three-month period. The share of loans 30- to 60-days delinquent stood at 6.55 percent as of Sept. 30, up from 6.17 percent on June 30. Serious delinquencies dropped slightly to 7.02 percent from 7.14 percent over the same period as the FHA’s inventory of legacy loans continued to clean out and the more recent vintages continued to perform well. The overall foreclosure rate for FHA-insured loans fell to 2.15 percent from 2.30 percent, reflecting the ... [1 chart]

The FHA has extended a temporary waiver of insurance requirements to allow certain condominium projects or developments that otherwise would not qualify for mortgage insurance to remain eligible. Temporarily waiving provisions pertaining to master/blanket hazard, flood, liability and other insurance requirements will help ensure the availability of affordable housing units, including condos, to people who cannot afford to purchase a home or could not qualify for a mortgage loan, the agency said.The temporary waiver was issued on Nov. 27, 2013, and now has been extended to Aug. 31, 2016. It allows individual-unit owners to obtain and maintain their own insurance coverage on their condo unit.The waiver also requires condo projects to maintain a master/blanket insurance policy for hazard, flood and liability risks and any other insurance that may be ...

Final PMIERS Rule Expected in 1Q15. The Federal Housing Finance Agency has revised its timeline for publishing a final version of the Private Mortgage Insurance Eligibility Requirements, which Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac proposed in July at the direction of the FHFA. The PMIERS will establish capital and other requirements for private mortgage insurers. In a statement, industry trade group U.S. Mortgage Insurers said it has received word from the agency that the final PMIERS would not be published until at least late in the first quarter of 2015. The FHFA initially indicated that a final rule would be issued by yearend 2014. The USMI reiterated its support for an updated PMIERS. Mortgage Executives Concerned About G-Fee Increase. A survey of mortgage executives at this year’s Mortgage Bankers Association annual conference found 53 percent saying that ...

The majority of mortgage industry executives believe a proposal to raise Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac guaranty fees will hurt lenders, raise origination costs and lead to fewer loans being made, according to a survey by Genworth U.S. Mortgage Insurance. “The survey findings were in line with expectations and highlight the need for continued dialog on regulatory reform and credit access,” said Rohit Gupta, president/CEO of the company. An estimated 53 percent of executives believe raising the g-fees would result in fewer loans being closed. And 23 percent of executives said higher fees for the government-sponsored enterprises would increase demand for FHA loans. While 13 percent said an increase would limit industry competition, 11 percent said it would stoke competition. ...

The CFPB put out a bulletin last week advising lenders not to create illegal hurdles for recipients of Social Security Disability Income who apply for mortgages, warning that requiring unnecessary documentation from such consumers could raise fair lending risk. The new bulletin discusses standards and guidelines on verification of SSDI, including those under the CFPB’s ability-to-repay rule, the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s standards for FHA loans, the Department of Veterans Affairs’ standards for VA-guaranteed loans, and guidelines from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The bureau begins by noting that to verify income for qualified mortgage debt-to-income ratios under the ability-to-repay rule, lenders are required to look at whether the Social Security Administration benefit verification letter or equivalent document ...

FHA Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund ended fiscal 2014 in the black but was still far short of its statutory reserve requirement, prompting critics in Congress to renew their cries for FHA reform. An independent actuarial report sent to Congress this week showed that the MMI Fund now stands at $4.8 billion after a gain of nearly $6 billion over the last year. For the first time since 2009, the fund’s capital ratio also crossed into positive territory at 0.41 percent, up 52 basis points from the negative 0.11 percent posted in fiscal 2013. Overall, the economic value of the fund has risen by $21 billion over the last two years because of the aggressive steps the agency took to stabilize and strengthen the fund, the report said. Policy changes led to improved underwriting for single-family mortgages, increased mortgage insurance premiums, stronger loss mitigation policies and higher recoveries, it added. In addition, with ...

The economic value of the FHA’s Home Equity Conversion Mortgage legacy portfolio fell to negative $0.9 billion in fiscal 2014 due mainly to volatility in long-term house prices and interest rates, according to the latest independent actuarial report on the health of the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund. The latest result was a significant improvement from FY 2012, when the fund stood at negative $2.8 billion. In fiscal 2013, the HECM portfolio’s economic value of positive $6.5 billion appeared to be a whopping change from the previous year but that amount reflected a $4.6 billion cash infusion from the forward program and from the $1.7 billion mandatory appropriation, the report clarified. The report also showed a corresponding decline in the HECM capital ratio to negative 1.20 percent. Actuarial projections for fiscal 2015 place the HECM portfolio’s economic value at negative $1.1 billion. The fund’s capital resources for ...

Wells Fargo and the Department of Justice are reportedly at an impasse in their settlement talks in connection with a lawsuit accusing the bank of improper underwriting and false certification of certain FHA-insured loans. In an e-mailed statement to Inside FHA Lending, a bank spokesperson said Wells Fargo’s good faith effort to work with the federal government to resolve the complaint “has not yet resulted in a settlement.” Nonetheless, the bank “will move forward with presenting [its] case in support of [its] prudent and responsible FHA lending practices, which have produced high-quality FHA loans with delinquency rates that are half the industry average,” the spokesperson added. This week, citing an unidentified source, Bloomberg reported that lawyers for the government and the bank have told the presiding judge in the case that they ...

Thousands of military veterans in high-cost areas may be deprived of VA’s home-loan guarantee benefits unless Congress extends the current VA loan limits before the end of the year. Those loan limits expire on Dec. 31, 2014. The VA loan limits are based on median home values estimated by the FHA, providing loans up to 125 percent of local area median price. The program does not set a cap on how much a veteran can borrow to finance a home purchase but it does limit the maximum amount it can guarantee to 25 percent of the current loan limit. Veteran and industry groups are urging Congress to make the VA limits permanent. A VA spokesperson said the agency was not asked for a position on the issue since Congress did not put forward any bill in any of the hearings this year. “But as a general rule, VA wants to maximize the opportunities ...

Ginnie Mae is seeking comment on several proposed data collections, including those that would strengthen the agency’s ability to monitor participants in its mortgage-backed securities programs. Due to its growing concern over the influx of non-depository issuers into the single-family MBS program, Ginnie has proposed to collect more loan-level data to supplement the information already being collected and reported on a monthly basis. The proposed data collection consists of bankruptcy-related information (action type, case identifier, chapter type, bar date) as well as borrower-related information (borrower bankruptcy indicator, classification type, total mortgaged properties, counseling initiated indicator and credit score date). Other proposed new data include document custodian ID, type of insurance claim coverage, investor unpaid principal balance (UPB), adjustment to ...