Reverse mortgage lenders are asking FHA to clarify the applicability of state statutes of limitations on collections and foreclosures involving Home Equity Conversion Mortgage loans. In a comment letter to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association sought clarification to avoid any potential risk to the department and reverse mortgage lenders. Since federal agencies are not subject to state statutes of limitations, the NRMLA asked the FHA to confirm that HECM loans assigned to HUD are not covered by state statutes of limitations on collections and foreclosure. The trade group also requested FHA to clarify whether HECM regulations and program guidelines preempt any such state law. “Requiring mortgagees to assign loans to HUD and make certifications that such loans are and will be ...

Wells Fargo and PHH Mortgage have reached separate settlements with the Department of Justice and three other federal agencies to resolve alleged violations of the False Claims Act. The DOJ, Department of Housing and Urban Development, Department of Veterans Affairs and the Federal Housing Finance Agency will rake in $182 million from the settlement of lawsuits involving FHA and VA loans, as well as loans sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Wells Fargo denied the allegations in the whistleblower lawsuit but agreed to pay $108 million to resolve the claims. It admitted to no fault or liability. Filed in 2006 and unsealed in 2011, the lawsuit alleged that the bank overcharged veteran borrowers by masking ineligible fees in order to obtain VA guarantees on certain Interest Rate Reduction Refinancing Loans, or streamlined refi mortgages. At the same time, Wells allegedly falsely certified to the VA that it ...

The Mortgage Research Center, which does business as Veterans United Home Loans and/or VA Mortgage Center, has agreed to pay $1.1 million to New York regulators to resolve allegations of overcharging veterans on loans guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs. Veterans United was the second largest VA lender in the country in the second quarter, with a 5.4 percent share of the VA market, according to the Inside FHA/VA Lending database. The settlement agreement is part of a consent order entered into recently by Veterans United with the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS). The settlement stemmed from an investigation which found that the Columbia, MO-based company did not refund “surplus lender credits” on 322 VA loans originated from Jan. 1, 2011, to June 30, 2014. According to the consent order, borrowers obtained a credit from ...

The private mortgage insurance industry has called for harmonized qualified-mortgage standards to discourage potential arbitrage that might adversely affect consumers. In a comment letter, the U.S. Mortgage Insurers urged the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to assess whether the various QM standards established under the Dodd-Frank Act have created arbitrage opportunities to the detriment of consumers. The CFPB is about to begin a reevaluation of its ability-to-repay rule/QM rule. QM standards are different for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks than for FHA, VA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The USMI said analysis should focus on the different treatment of points and fees and maximum borrower debt-to-income ratio among the various QM standards. The CFPB can address the calculation of points and fees under its ATR/QM rule by ...

Ginnie Mae will not have an annual summit this year but has rescheduled it for January 2018, according to Ginnie Mae’s new spokesperson. Michael Huff, senior advisor, congressional and stakeholder relations, said a new administration and staff departures have caused organizers to reconsider having the annual Ginnie Mae Summit this year, usually held in October. The Trump administration has yet to announce a nominee for the top job at Ginnie Mae since former president Ted Tozer left in January. David Kittle is reportedly a leading contender, but there has been no official announcement or confirmation. So far, Kittle has declined to comment. Kittle is a mortgage industry veteran who began as a loan officer and now heads his own company. He also was a top executive with the Mortgage Bankers Association and managed, among other things, the group’s political action committee. In addition, Kittle co-founded the ...

The second quarter of 2017 was not easy for publicly held nonbank mortgage lenders and servicers, but the beleaguered sector fared better than it did a year ago. A new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of second-quarter earnings reports found the eight companies in the roundup managed to generate just $24.37 million in mortgage-banking income. That was down 80.1 percent from the group’s first-quarter earnings. One public nonbank, Stonegate Mortgage ... [Includes one data chart]

The third quarter of any given year is usually among the strongest in terms of residential loan originations, but new employment figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics suggest that many mortgage lenders are being careful about hiring these days. Loan brokers on the other hand appear to a bit more liberal. But interviews conducted by Inside Mortgage Trends over the past week suggest that plenty of nonbanks are continuing to search for help, especially firms that ...

Provident Savings Bank, headquartered in California, recently laid off staff in its mortgage unit due to a decline in refinance volume. “During the past six months, we’ve reduced capacity to more closely align to the current opportunities in the market, which reflect an uptick in purchase-money activity, but a significant decline in refinance activity,” said Craig Blunden, chairman and CEO of Provident Financial Holdings, the holding company of the bank. He said the lender reduced its ...

Not only has the proposed sale of First Mortgage Co. fallen apart, but a recent lawsuit filed against the company by a new warehouse lending firm raises serious questions about FMC’s recent profitability and its future. As Inside Mortgage Finance went to press this week, FMC was no longer making new loans, but was still servicing its past production, estimated at $1.67 billion. Company owner and CEO Ron McCord – one of six defendants sued by warehouse provider CapLoc – said...

Non-qualified mortgages are starting to look attractive to some nonbanks with refinance activity declining and interest rates projected to increase. Officials at Nationstar Mortgage revealed late last week that they plan to launch a non-QM offering later this year or in early 2018. “You’re starting to see some activity there,” Jay Bray, Nationstar’s president, chairman and CEO, said during the nonbank’s recent earnings call. “And when we look at our portfolio, we may be in the best position in the industry, frankly, to offer some of those products.” Nationstar serviced...