The debt collection industry still has plenty of work to do in terms of correcting its collection attempts against delinquent borrowers, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside the CFPB. “Incorrect collection attempts” were far and away the leading consumer complaint about the industry submitted to the CFPB, with more than 12,000 such gripes filed, nearly 40 percent of all debt-collection criticisms, the analysis found. (See chart on page 7.) The biggest offender in this regard was Encore Capital Group, with 925 such complaints. MNE Services Inc., on the other hand, had the lowest number of gripes in this area, 19, among the top 50 companies in the ranking. “Communication tactics” ranked second among types of consumer complaints ...
Lowering the government-sponsored enterprises’ loan limits is one of the main goals for firms involved in the non-agency market but the effort lacks broad support in the mortgage industry, let alone in Congress. Among those submitting comments to the Treasury Department this month regarding how to increase non-agency activity, the American Bankers Association was one of the biggest supporters of decreased loan limits for the GSEs. The conforming loan limit is at $417,000 and ...
FHA loan volume continued to decline in the first half of 2014 despite continuing improvement in the quality of new originations and a high demand for purchase mortgage loans, according to Inside FHA Lending’s analysis of agency data. Overall, FHA production for the first six months of the year, excluding reverse mortgages, totaled $61.1 billion. While originations were up 16.0 percent in the second quarter, it was down a hefty 51.8 percent on a year-over-year basis. Purchase loans accounted for $47.3 billion of new FHA-insured loans made over the six-month period while an estimated $58.4 billion of loans had fixed interest rates. For FY 2014, volume was down 19.0 percent. “In FY 2013, approximately 702,000 FHA-insured loans were originated and this year we’re running at 560,000 loans, which is roughly 20 percent of last fiscal year’s total,” said an FHA analyst. “In the first quarter, approximately ... [1 chart]
An estimated $65.5 billion of FHA-insured mortgages, excluding reverse and modified loans, were included in Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities issued during the first six months of 2014, according to an Inside FHA Lending analysis of agency securitization data. Ginnie Mae FHA MBS issued during the first half of the year nearly matches the total number of new FHA loans originated over the same period (see related chart, p. 4-5). FHA purchase home mortgages served as collateral on 76.3 percent of Ginnie Mae MBS issued over the six-month period, while loans to first-time homebuyers accounted for 63.0 percent of Ginnie MBS issued during the period. The FHA loans in Ginnie pools over the last two quarters showed an average FICO score of 681, a loan-to-value ratio of 92.5 percent and an average loan amount of $169,093. Except for fifth-ranked Freedom Mortgage, the rest of the top five ... [1 chart]
A decision by the Department of Housing and Urban Development to suspend a Texas mortgage firm and its top executive was not “arbitrary and capricious” and did not violate due process, according to a recent Houston district court ruling. The court granted HUD’s motion for summary judgment and dismissed all of the plaintiffs’ claims with prejudice. In Allied Home Mortgage Corp. v. Donovan, (No. H-11-3864, 2014 WL 3843561, S.D. Tex. Aug. 5, 2014), a U.S. Attorney’s Office sued Allied Home Mortgage Corp. and its chief executive officer, James Hodge, in Manhattan federal district court for allegedly lying about its compliance with FHA requirements. Specifically, the former Houston-based mortgage net branch operator (currently doing business as Allquest Home Mortgage Corp.) allegedly violated the False Claims Act and the Financial Institutions Reform, recovery and Enforcement Act by ...
Two states have passed legislation placing varying spins on the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s counseling requirements for lenders and borrowers of FHA-insured reverse mortgages. In California, the state Senate unanimously approved AB 1700, which would mandate a seven-day “cooling off” period between the time a borrower receives counseling and when an application is taken. AB 1700 passed the CA Assembly by a vote of 73 to 1. In addition, the bill would require a lender to provide a worksheet guide that addresses certain issues the borrower should consider and discuss with the counselor, such as income and ability to repay as well as taxes and insurance. The counselor and the borrower are both required under the bill to sign the worksheet guide before any reverse mortgage application is taken. No schedule has been set for ...
Revised HUD/VA Addendum to the Uniform Residential Loan Application. On July 30, the FHA has posted on its HUDCLIPS website a revised Addendum to the Uniform Residential Loan Application (Form HUD-92900-A/VA Form 26-1802). This form is used for both FHA and VA mortgage originations.The Department of Veterans Affairs has updated its form to clarify what constitutes a valid marriage for the purpose of obtaining VA benefits. Although the changes to the form do not apply to FHA-insured mortgages specifically, lenders should begin using the revised form for new FHA mortgage originations as soon as possible, the FHA recommended. Processing Request for Execution of VA Quitclaim Deeds. The Department of Veterans Affairs has issued guidance (Circular 26-14-19) for handling of requests for execution of quitclaim deeds. A quitclaim deed is a legal document that is used to transfer a person’s rights to real estate to ...
In early July, the FHFA unveiled the new MI eligibility standards, which propose – for the first time – risk-based capital rules that are tied to a measurement called “available assets.”
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