The FHA will soon begin implementing system enhancements to the Electronic Appraisal Delivery (EAD) portal to improve its functionality further and to address user feedback. Use of the EAD portal becomes mandatory on June 27, 2016, when appraisers will begin to submit their appraisals electronically to FHA, reducing the time for processing and closing an FHA-insured loan. The FHA will implement the changes on March 14. First, reference to the six-digit alphanumeric “one-time key” used by a mortgagee’s designated EAD administrator to log into the EAD portal will be changed to “appraisal portal one-time key.” References to the key will be revised throughout the EAD portal screens and system-generated messages. The appraisal portal’s one-time key is generated in FHA Connection and is the last step in the initial EAD login process. In addition, users will be given a ...

The FHA’s Home Equity Reverse Mortgage Information Technology (HERMIT) system will shift to a new vendor-operated host data center beginning March 21, 2016. Reverse Market Insight (RMI), a provider of data, analysis and portfolio valuation services for the reverse mortgage industry, has been tapped to manage, maintain and operate HERMIT. Launched in October 2012, HERMIT is an online, web-based automated system that monitors and tracks the FHA’s Home Equity Conversion Mortgage portfolio and automates insurance claim payments. HERMIT will shut down temporarily from 7 p.m., March 16, to 8 a.m., March 21, in order to complete the transition. The FHA said there would be no changes to the system’s functionality during transition to the host data center. User IDs and passwords for accessing HERMIT will remain unchanged. Following HERMIT’s transition to the ...

The past year has been an ugly one for institutional investors that 24 months ago were gorging on certain publicly traded mortgage stocks, in particular Ocwen Financial and PHH Corp. A careful reading of 13-G/A statements recently filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission paints a portrait of hedge funds, private-equity firms and other “early in” buyers paring their positions in these companies, essentially giving up on them ever coming back. …

In hopes of clearing up some disputes among banks about the effectiveness of property evalua-tions, federal banking regulatory agencies clarified when it is appropriate to use evaluations in place of the more detailed appraisals in real estate transactions. The Office of the Comptroller of Currency, along with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., said in a joint advisory last week that there are three types of transactions where an appraisal is not required and an evaluation is permitted. The agencies did point out that an appraisal may be necessary for secondary-market transactions. Home price is the first consideration. Evaluations can be used in transactions in which the loan...

PHH has retained Credit Suisse Securities and J.P. Morgan as financial advisors and Jones Day as legal advisor “to assist in the process.”

Among the top 10 non-agency jumbo mortgage producers in 2015 just two are nonbanks: PHH Mortgage and Redwood Trust.

In some quarters, experts wonder how much more nonbanks can grow given capital concerns and interest rate volatility.

D’Urso is the second top executive to leave Clayton over the past six months. Another key departure came this past fall when Tom Donatacci left...

Sources close to D’Urso said his termination by Radian was a “total surprise” to him as well.

PHH has been losing money and so far this year its stock price has been hammered.