A Ginnie Mae/VA anti-churning task force is looking at a number of options to solve the rapid prepayment problem, which could include extending the seasoning requirement for all refinanced loans and prohibiting access to custom pools. A Ginnie representative declined to provide further details, adding that the task force is not ready to announce changes yet. “But we will take additional action soon, which we can do through program changes like we did last year,” he said. Ginnie issued guidance last year to curb aggressive refinancing of VA loans that underlie Ginnie mortgage-backed securities. The rapid refis have resulted in rapid prepayments to the detriment of investors with no clear benefits to VA borrowers. The guidance required six consecutive monthly payments before delivering a streamlined refi loan into a standard Ginnie MBS. The measure succeeded in stopping the ...
Overall denial rates for nonconventional loan applications (FHA, VA and Rural Housing Service) fell slightly in 2016 to 13.4 percent from 13.9 percent in 2015, Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data showed. In the nonconventional refinancing segment, denial rates rose to 32.9 percent last year from 30.3 percent in the previous year. Approximately 23.9 percent of FHA loan applicants were denied last year while VA turned down 20.0 percent of borrowers who sought a VA loan. An estimated 14.3 percent of FHA purchase-loan applicants were turned down. VA denied 11.4 percent of its purchase-mortgage applicants although its total purchase-loan applications are far fewer compared to FHA. According to the Federal Reserve’s overview of the 2016 HMDA data, as in past years, blacks, Hispanics and “other minority” borrowers had notably higher denial rates overall compared to white borrowers. Denial rates for ...
The Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Veterans Affairs have taken additional steps to provide relief to homeowners in disaster areas hit by hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria. This week, the FHA issued policy waivers in storm-ravaged Puerto Rico and fire-stricken counties in California, allowing damage inspections to be completed beginning Oct. 24. FHA currently requires servicers to perform a damage inspection following the close of an “incident period” as determined by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. An incident period is the period For mortgages in disaster areas that have not closed or are pending endorsement, lenders must follow FHA’s guidelines on inspection and repair escrow requirements for loans in such areas. FHA believes that situations in certain jurisdictions in Puerto Rico and California have stabilized and further damage to ...
Mortgage originations continued to gain momentum in the third quarter of 2017, although most experts are calling for a slowdown in the final three months of the year. An estimated $495.0 billion of first-lien home loans were originated during the third quarter, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance ranking and analysis. That represented an 8.8 percent increase over the April-June cycle and brought year-to-date production to $1.335 trillion – off ... [Includes two data charts[
For the most part, 2017 has been void of any headline-grabbing merger-and-acquisition deals affecting the mortgage market, but all that is about to change. Investment banking and mortgage officials believe two enticing possibilities are now considered in play: Ocwen Financial, the nation’s 12th largest servicer of home mortgages, and Social Finance, the formerly ballyhooed “fintech” lender that has taken a stab at the jumbo origination space. Ocwen, which has been losing ...
The bulk market for mortgage servicing packages is revving up once again as October draws to a close and deal makers try to wrap up transactions before yearend, allowing clients to book income. “I would say that right now the market is pretty good,” said one investment banker. “Pricing is firm, but not as good as it was earlier in the year. Still, it’s the best it’s been in a few months.” Part of the reason for that strength is rising interest rates. As the week draws to a close, the yield on ...
Community bankers want to make sure they have access to the secondary mortgage market – including the ability to retain servicing rights – when the dust settles from housing-finance reform. The Independent Community Bankers of America and National Association of Federally Insured Credit Unions were among those that testified at a House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance hearing this week. Representing ICBA, Sam Vallandingham, president and CEO of ...
Among the standouts in terms of lending growth were Freedom Mortgage, Caliber Home Loans, United Wholesale, and Home Point Financial, Inside Mortgage Finance found…
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