Financial industry trade groups want all Title II forward mortgage loans that meet FHA requirements to be treated as “safe harbor” qualified mortgage loans instead of being lumped in either of two QM buckets as proposed by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Commenting on HUD’s proposed definition of a “qualified mortgage,” the industry groups – Mortgage Bankers Association, Consumer Bankers Association, Consumer Mortgage Coalition, American Bankers Association, and the Independent Community Bankers of America – urged HUD to ...

Establishing a higher, mandatory capital reserve requirement for the FHA under the Protecting American Taxpayers and Homeowners Act, or PATH Act, would help reduce discretionary spending over 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. According to CBO estimates, implementing the legislation would result in a net decrease in discretionary spending of $41.2 billion over the 2014-2023 period. This assumes future appropriations laws are enacted to implement the act’s provisions. The potential reduction in government spending would stem from ...

FHA jumbo loan originations continued their quarterly fluctuations as production in the second quarter of 2013 slipped after a good run in the previous quarter, according to Inside FHA Lending’s analysis of FHA data. Volume fell 1.5 percent from the first quarter, during which the FHA posted $5.36 billion in jumbo mortgage originations. The first quarter number broke a declining production trend that began in the second quarter of last year when FHA reported $6.27 billion in jumbo lending. FHA lenders produced a total of $10.8 billion in new jumbo loans in the first half of 2013, down 2.7 percent from ... [2 charts]

Banks of all sizes reported sharp declines in their mortgage banking earnings during the third quarter of 2013, according to a new analysis by Inside Mortgage Trends. The refrain from bank management was virtually unanimous: mortgage production dropped significantly and gain-on-sale margins narrowed. Although mortgage servicing right values continued to climb, that doesn’t always translate into improved earnings on that side of the business. A diverse group of 19 lenders – including all ... [Includes one data chart]

The market for servicing sales has been strong for most of 2013, but could get even better between now and year-end as the megabanks look to dump their “legacy” problems and small shops sell mortgage servicing rights to boost earnings in a weak origination market. “It used to be that Bank of America, Wells, and JPM were the buyers [of servicing],” said Tom Piercy, managing member of Interactive Mortgage Advisors, Denver. “Now they’re the sellers. It’s a totally different environment now.” A year ago ...

The ability-to-repay rule issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in January would exclude more than one in five loans originated today from the full “safe harbor” legal protections for so-called qualified mortgages. That’s the chief finding of an analysis of August and September 2013 originations by ComplianceEase, a provider of risk management solutions based in Burlingame, CA. ComplianceAnalyzer, the firm’s patented automated compliance solution, is now capable of auditing loans for ...

BOK Financial is jumping into the online mortgage origination channel with the launch of HomeDirect Mortgage to serve consumers who are increasingly going to the Internet to shop for mortgages. The Tulsa-based company said the new channel complements BOK’s mortgage operation, which originated an estimated $4 billion in loans through its retail channel in 2012. As a “direct” lender with an automated online application system, HomeDirect is aiming for homebuyers who are computer savvy and searching ...

In the aftermath of the 16-day partial government shutdown, mortgage lenders have decided to continue suspension of the tax transcript requirement for borrower income verification until the Internal Revenue Service has caught up with the backlog of requests for the transcripts. According to lenders, even though normal operations have resumed at federal agencies, the IRS has fallen behind on processing lender requests for the 4506-T Form, which is a borrower’s transcript of tax return provided by the ...

With the era of “easy refinances” in the past, lenders are working to increase their purchase-mortgage originations. Industry consultants suggest focusing on lead-generation and providing value to potential borrowers as opposed to competing with other lenders based solely on interest rates. Garth Graham, head of Stratmor Group’s marketing strategy and execution practice, said lenders should use the leads and data they already have to increase purchase-mortgage originations. He noted that ...

The biggest originator of jumbo mortgages is redeveloping a platform to issue non-agency mortgage-backed securities, according to Larry Rubenstein, managing counsel at Wells Fargo. However, don’t expect jumbo MBS from Wells anytime soon as the bank has plenty of portfolio capacity. Wells hasn’t issued a non-agency jumbo MBS since 2008, when it was the top issuer of such securities, according to the Inside Mortgage Finance MBS Database. Speaking at the ABS East conference sponsored by Information Management Network ...