The FHA has proposed key changes to rules for 203(k) consultants, direct endorsement (DE) underwriters and nonprofit groups that do business with the agency. The changes are part of a draft section, “Doing Business with FHA – Other Participants,” which will be incorporated into the overall Single Family Policy handbook. The draft contains information regarding eligibility, approval and recertification requirements for 203(k) program consultants, direct endorsement (DE) underwriters and nonprofit groups. The FHA posted the draft versions of “Doing Business with FHA – Other Participants in FHA Transactions” and “Quality Control, Oversight and Compliance – Other Participants in FHA Transactions” on its SF Housing Policy Drafting Table for public review and comment. The draft consolidate various existing Department of Housing and Urban Development handbooks, mortgagee letters, housing notices and ...

Ginnie Mae will soon introduce the third prong of a strategy to improve its oversight of participants in its mortgage-backed securities program – a performance scorecard for issuers – and monitoring of its risk. Essentially a “scorecard,” the Issuer Operational Performance Profile (IOPP) will enable issuers to better understand and comply with Ginnie Mae’s expectations. It also provides a way for issuers to measure and improve their performance and compare it to the performance of their peers. Final testing and training for IOPP began this winter, with deployment expected “in early 2015,” the agency said. Issuers will be scored monthly based on a series of metrics. Each issuer will be rated against its peers by applying a weighting algorithm and, in some cases, adjusting for certain control factors. Each issuer will receive two scores: one for operational management and ...

Just over $224 billion of mortgages to first-time homebuyers were included in agency MBS issued in 2014, according to figures compiled by IMF.

Other investment bankers who work the MSR market said declining interest rates and the “Ocwen” effect are hurting values.

Roughly 90 percent of the time, residential loan officers never see the end mortgage customer, according to several weeks’ worth of interviews conducted by Inside Mortgage Finance. However, few in the industry think it’s a problem. “We have the technology not to see our applicants,” said Jim Picard, vice president of home loans for Denali Alaskan Federal Credit Union. The technology that Picard and others refer to is...

“I see a lull in aspiring new talent,” recruiter Rick Glass told Inside Mortgage Trends.

Still, the four super-sized U.S. banks – those with more than $1 trillion in assets – continue to rank in the top five GSE sellers.

Meanwhile, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac continued to get less of their business from their five biggest customers.

The 50 basis point cut in FHA premiums is spurring some firms, including Freedom Mortgage, to increase hiring.

Fannie's "Collateral Underwriter" will provide up to 20 comparables and appraisers will have to defend the comps they use...