California lenders and realtors will appeal to the Department of Housing and Urban Development to reconsider changes in the FHA 2014 loan limits. Lenders doing business in counties that have been hard hit by the loan-limit changes are reportedly gathering data to support future requests to HUD to recalculate loan limits for a specific local area. An industry source said lenders in the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario housing market are gearing up to petition HUD to recalculate the FHA loan limits in those areas. Specifically, the median sales price for a one-unit property in the affected areas fell ...

The Senate this week passed bipartisan legislation that would delay unforeseen, excessive flood-insurance premium hikes for FHA and conventional mortgages nationwide. S. 1926, the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act, passed by a vote of 67 to 32, as amended. Introduced by Sens. Robert Menendez, D-NJ, and Johnny Isakson, R-GA, the bill would delay rate increases for up to four years by giving the Federal Emergency Management Agency time to study the problem and develop a plan to help homeowners who cannot afford higher premiums. The increases were mandated by the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act, which Congress ...

Ginnie Mae is considering lengthening the approval time for transfers of mortgage servicing rights (MSRs) to 90 days or more from the current 30 days but has yet to issue guidance. The agency alerted sellers of MSRs and their investment banking advisors of the forthcoming change in late November at an “education summit” in Washington, according to a participant, who preferred anonymity. New and existing issuers participated in the event, and a copy of Ginnie Mae’s presentation was provided to Inside Mortgage Finance, an affiliated publication. Ginnie Mae declined to comment on the report. However, according to the presentation, the reason for ...

VA Lenders’ Compliance with CFPB’s Ability-to-Repay and Qualified Mortgage Rules. Until the Department of Veterans Affairs’ rule on ATR/QM is in place, all VA lenders must comply with the requirements of the Truth in Lending Act, as established by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s ATR/QM rule, according to a recent agency guideline. VA will continue to guarantee all loans made in compliance with existing VA requirements, regardless of their QM status, the agency clarified. It urged lenders to refer to the CFPB guidance to ensure all their VA loans are ...

Inside Mortgage Finance makes it official: residential originations tanked in the fourth quarter, but certain nonbanks gained at the expense of the largest players.

The FHFA’s final rule on golden parachutes applies to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the Federal Home Loan Banks and the Office of Finance, as well as any “entity-affiliated parties,” including independent contractors.

Storm clouds quickly gathered as Rep. Steve Pearce, R-NM, complained that the bureau’s QM rule and restrictions on high-cost loans would pretty much exclude manufactured housing – and then accused Cordray of deliberately trying to squash lower-income families.

Athas’ originations include stringent downpayment requirements: at the end of 2013, the weighted average loan-to-value ratio on loans held by RCP was 48 percent.

Bank of the West executive Paul Wible said the lender believes, "A well-underwritten, interest-only mortgage can be a good choice for our customers" and are safe for the depository to hold in portfolio.

Back in September SLS – a subsidiary of the publicly traded Stewart Information Services – bought key assets of Allon’s Allonhill LLC for an undisclosed sum.