BNY Mellon will launch a new business later this year that would enable it to purchase, securitize and service reverse mortgages and provide advisory services to lenders that offer such loans. The new business segment, Home Equity Retirement Solutions, is aimed primarily at retirees experiencing significant financial shortfalls. “We view the funds generated by suitable reverse mortgages as an additional fixed-income component of retirement portfolios, an important part of retirement planning that complements other aspects of the plan,” explained Michael Gordon, managing director for BNY Mellon Investment Management. Gordon noted BNY’s long record of accomplishment working with retirees, including managing assets for 401(k) and defined benefit investments. He said reverse mortgages may now be more prudent based on ...

NY Passes Bill to Reduce Number of FHA Loans that Would Fall Under Subprime. The New York Assembly recently passed legislation that would result in fewer FHA loans being classified as “subprime” under state banking law, according to the law firm Ballard Spahr. Already passed by the Senate, the bill would make permanent prior emergency rules issued by the Department of Financial Services, which raised the subprime threshold 75 basis points for those loans subject to the revised FHA mortgage-insurance premium cancellation policy. Although the emergency rules were set to expire on Dec. 31, 2013, the DFS granted an extension to allow the state legislature additional time to find a permanent solution, said Ballard Spahr attorneys. The bill passed with overwhelming bipartisan support and strong industry backing, and is expected to ...

Barring the discovery of a skeleton in his closet, Julian Castro’s nomination for secretary of the Department of Housing and Urban Development appears to be a lock in the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs. Appearing before the committee this week, Castro, a three-term mayor of San Antonio, TX, laid out his priorities for HUD if confirmed. He said he would emphasize working closely with agencies as well as the value of “measuring results” by setting precise goals, public consultation, development of a public report card and annual updates – tools he employed in his municipal housing education and affordable housing initiatives in San Antonio. Castro said...

SunTrust Mortgage has agreed to pay $968 million to the federal government and 49 state attorneys general to resolve allegations of improper FHA origination and servicing practices. The company will pay $418 million to resolve potential liability under the False Claims Act for flawed FHA loans made from January 2006 through March 2012. …

Production of “agency jumbo” mortgages fell sharply in the first quarter of 2014 and is likely to drop even more as new FHA loan limits show up in endorsement data. According to a new Inside Mortgage Finance analysis, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the FHA saw $10.5 billion in single-family business with loan amounts exceeding the traditional agency limit of $417,000 during the first quarter of 2014. That was down 30.6 percent from the fourth quarter. It was also the lowest three-month volume since the fourth quarter of 2008, not long after dramatically higher “emergency” loan limits were put in place by the agencies. In comparison, originations of non-agency jumbo loans fell...[Includes three data charts]

A potential conflict over funding of the FHA’s loan-quality improvement efforts and, possibly, of a pilot program that seeks to make broader use of housing counseling in FHA origination and servicing may be brewing as both the House and Senate moved towards finalizing their separate versions of fiscal 2015 appropriations for the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Last week, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted 29 to 1 to pass S. 2438, its FY 2015 HUD funding bill. Notably, it contains a provision authorizing HUD to charge and collect a new fee from FHA lenders in an amount of no more than 4 basis points of the original principal balance of mortgages originated by the lender that were insured during the previous fiscal year. According to the Senate provision, the new fee would be used...

Industry representatives and policy wonks diverge in their opinions about whether federal financial regulators will put out a final rule or another proposed final rule as the next step in the long-delayed risk-retention rule for asset securitizers. The qualified residential mortgage designation – which would exempt non-agency MBS from the five percent risk-retention requirement – has been one of the biggest controversies. According to Politico, the Securities and Exchange Commission continues to hold up a final deal because its staff thinks a minimum downpayment requirement for QRM would better protect investors. Under the latest version of the rule, the QRM definition would be synched...

Endorsement of FHA-insured reverse mortgages rose in the first quarter of 2014, although lenders say it may just be trailing figures reflecting the lag time between closing and approval for FHA insurance. Home Equity Conversion Mortgage guarantees totaled $4.0 billion in the first quarter, up 16.4 percent from the end of the fourth quarter in 2013 and up 4.1 percent from the same period last year, according to Inside FHA Lending’s analysis of agency data. Home purchase accounted for 92.7 percent of HECM volume but only 14.5 percent were fixed-rate. Initial principal amount at loan origination totaled $2.4 billion. The 16.4 percent increase was more likely due to the fact that a huge number of reverse mortgages closed in November and December were not insured by FHA until January, said Josh Moran, vice president of wholesale lending at Live Well Financial. Some lenders who delayed reporting to ... [1 chart]

FHA lenders are generally supportive of the agency’s proposal to add a new method for evaluating lender performance but may request certain adjustments to ensure they are not at great risk for enforcement action, according to compliance experts. Lenders believe the proposal for an additional performance metric to supplement the lender compare ratio under the Credit Watch Termination Initiative is a positive step toward providing a more well-rounded analysis of a lender’s performance when the FHA is considering further action. “In and of itself, the proposal is not a panacea, but it is certainly a step in the right direction,” said Brian Chappelle, a mortgage industry consultant. The proposal reflects the FHA’s belief that a number of factors influence a lender’s performance, not just its compare ratio. The compare ratio compares a lender’s rate of early defaults and claims to those for ...

The FHA is reportedly considering reinstating “spot” loans in condominium projects that were not on its approved development list to boost FHA-insured condo lending. Spot loans are currently prohibited, but the FHA is said to be reevaluating the product because of reports of first-time homebuyers having difficulty in obtaining FHA financing for condo unit purchases and seniors seeking reverse mortgages to tap the equity in their units. The National Association of Realtors is trying to break the impasse between the FHA and reluctant board of directors of condo projects that do not have FHA certification to resolve the financing issue. FHA-insured condominium lending has dropped to $884.4 million in the first quarter of 2014, down 70 percent from the $2.98 billion in total originations reported in the first quarter of 2013, according to Inside FHA Lending’s analysis of agency data. Even as the NAR tries to ...