Industry-wide mortgage originations slowed significantly in the fourth quarter of 2015, although lenders reported a wide range of results compared to the previous quarter. An estimated $385.0 billion of first-lien home mortgages were originated in the final three months of 2015, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance ranking and analysis. That was down 15.4 percent from the third quarter, but it brought annual production to an estimated $1.735 trillion for the year, a 33.5 percent increase from 2014. Annual origination volume in 2015 was...[Includes two data tables]

Bowing to pressure from investors – in particular, Carl Icahn – American International Group this week rolled out a blueprint to increase shareholder value, including a partial spin-off of its top-ranked mortgage insurance division, United Guaranty Corp. Although both AIG and UGC were not entertaining questions on the details, a spinoff of the MI business could come by mid-year with up to 19.9 percent of the unit being sold to the public. Eventually, AIG said...

Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp. will readjust its current premium rates to meet its modest return-on-equity goal and achieve limited growth in its insurance-in-force in 2016, but whether this will precipitate similar moves across the private mortgage insurance industry remains to be seen. In announcing the company’s fourth quarter 2015 results, Patrick Sinks, chief executive officer of MGIC Investment Corp. and Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp., disclosed plans to revise premium rates to “generate comparable returns” across the spectrum of loans the company insures. MGIC expects...

There’s mounting evidence that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s disclosure rule is having an impact on home sales and purchase mortgages, according to the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey. In December, closing times on mortgage-financed home purchases continued to stretch out and fewer sales closed on time. Tom Popik, research director of Campbell Surveys, said the CFPB’s Truth in Lending/Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act disclosure rule appears to have caused slight increases in closing times and the share of missed closings for the second month in a row. “Closing time metrics are still showing...

Issuers of Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities pushed a record $435.80 billion of government-insured loans through the program during 2015, according to a new Inside FHA/VA Lending analysis and ranking. Last year’s total Ginnie MBS issuance topped the previous record of $429.50 billion issued during 2009. The $435.80 billion total for 2015 includes securitization of FHA home-equity conversion mortgages and other single-family loans guaranteed by FHA, the VA, and the Department of Agriculture rural housing program from Ginnie pool-level MBS data that are not truncated. Production in 2015 hit its high-water mark in the third quarter with $128.23 billion in issuance, and then fell 18.0 percent in the final three months of the year. Purchase mortgages continued to account for most Ginnie business in 2015, 58.0 percent of the agency’s forward-mortgage securitizations. But a huge factor in the ... [ Charts ]

Quicken Loan attempt to have a governmen false-claim lawsuit against the lender moved from Washington, DC, to a federal court in Detroit will not necessarily secure a win, according to a mortgage industry attorney. “I think it was more the device Quicken needed in order to become the plaintiff instead of the defendant,” said one attorney who preferred to remain anonymous because his firm handles other legal matters for Quicken Loans. He said it does not matter whether the case is tried in Washington or Detroit but what matters is its actual substance. At the same time, there is no reason why those defenses could not be raised in a DC court, the attorney added. Last month, a federal judge in Detroit dismissed Quicken’s preemptive lawsuit against the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Justice Department for failure to state a claim. Ultimately, the court ...

The Department of Veterans Affairs has issued a clarification for non-borrower spouses on VA title documents, which apparently has created some confusion when lenders try to foreclose on VA-backed properties. VA is aware that lenders occasionally make loans to veterans who wish to use their home loan benefit to purchase a home and include their spouse in ownership, but the spouse does not wish to be on the mortgage loan. Including the spouse on the deed but not on the mortgage note can create a problem if the VA loan goes into foreclosure because the non-borrowing spouse’s ownership in the property could defeat the foreclosure action, the VA explained. “Delaying or preventing a foreclosure increases foreclosure claim cost to the government and the veteran,” the agency said. According to the VA guidance, when a loan is originated that includes a ...

Reading about prospective homebuyers’ experiences in trying to obtain a new FHA loan after emerging from a Chapter 7 (liquidation) bankruptcy reveals a great lack of understanding of FHA bankruptcy guidelines. Potential homebuyers apparently are concerned because they have been hearing different required waiting periods. The waiting periods in these stories vary from two to three years, and some were told to start counting from the sheriff sale date rather than from the bankruptcy discharge date. According to the FHA’s 2016 guidelines for bankruptcy, a Chapter 7 bankruptcy does not disqualify a borrower from seeking FHA financing after hardship if, at the time of case-number assignment, at least two years have elapsed since the date of the bankruptcy discharge. During the two-year period, the borrower must have re-established good credit by making ...

The Department of Veterans Affairs has posted a chart on its web site showing the revised maximum allowable foreclosure timeframes for each state in 2016. State foreclosure timeframes are used in calculating the maximum interest payable on a foreclosure of a VA loan. They are subject to annual reviews and revised as needed. The chart reflects maximum allowable foreclosure periods that include the 210 calendar days for unpaid interest as well as foreclosure periods without the 210 days. Specifically, the chart shows timeframes the VA has determined to be “reasonable and customary” for all states, following an annual review of amounts allowed by other government-related home loan programs, such as FHA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The chart also lists the maximum amounts that will be paid on a claim processed in the ...

Interactive Mortgage Advisors is auctioning off $3.02 billion in Ginnie Mae residential mortgage-servicing rights for an undisclosed client. According to IMA, the seller is a “well-known, independent mortgage banker with very strong net worth and well-versed in servicing transfers.” The loans are being sub-serviced by LoanCare. The MSR package consists of 17,989 loans – FHA (15,288) and VA (2,610) – with an average loan size of $168,886. The yield on the underlying mortgages is 4.069 percent. The service fee is 0.2917 percent. An estimated 8.92 percent of all loans in the deal are delinquent. Approximately 3.07 percent of the loans are either in bankruptcy or in foreclosure. The top states in the transaction are Texas, which accounted for 11.4 percent of all loans; California, 9.6 percent; Florida, 8.1 percent; and New York, 5.8 percent. The deadline for ...