Late this week, some reports surfaced suggesting that an “alternative” proposal could surface, requiring a 30 percent downpayment for QRM status.

FHA lenders have gradually stretched to originate loans for borrowers with more modest credit scores in recent quarters, although these borrowers typically are better positioned to keep up with their payments, according to an Inside FHA Lending analysis of data released by the agency. The average credit score for single-family loans endorsed in the second quarter of 2013 was 693 – the lowest such average in nearly four years. This is partly the result of a shift toward more purchase-money mortgages, which generally have ... [1 chart]

Parties to trustee lawsuits challenging a city’s use of eminent domain to deal with foreclosures are gearing up for a face-off at an injunction hearing Sept. 13 in federal district court in San Francisco. The city of Richmond, CA, the defendant in the lawsuit, has suffered setbacks in the last few days and has yet to make good on its threat to initiate eminent domain proceedings after investor trustees rejected its offer to purchase distressed mortgages for restructuring. Wells Fargo and Deutsche Bank, acting as trustees for a group of ...

The reverse mortgage lending industry is working with the Department of Housing and Urban Development to implement two policy changes that would strengthen the FHA’s Home Equity Conversion Mortgage program. One policy change involves the development of a new HECM option that combines features of the fixed-rate, full-draw HECM Standard and the HECM Saver, according to Peter Bell, president and chief executive officer of the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association. HUD eliminated the standard 30-year, fixed-rate HECM in April because ...

Just how brutal will this mortgage correction be? One thing's for certain: loan officers with close ties to Realtors and builders will be golden.

It was the biggest volume of new lending above the conforming loan limit since the second quarter of 2007 – before “emergency” conforming loan limits were authorized by Congress.

S&P has been the top non-agency MBS rating agency over the years but DBRS captured the title in 2012 with 55 percent of rated transactions, according to Inside MBS & ABS.

With the retreat of banks from the non-prime lending space, Springleaf says it is strategically positioned to grow in the years ahead.

Okay, so banking regulators have blown multiple Dodd-Frank rule making deadlines. But for now the QM rule is on track. Right?

“As expected, we don’t believe any mortgages have been sold out of trusts to the city of Richmond,” said Tom Deutsch, executive director of the American Securitization Forum.