Non-agency participants maintain that the reinstatement of “emergency” high-cost loan limits for FHA loans – but not Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac – will not impede originations of non-agency jumbo mortgages. Meanwhile, some housing trade groups and congressmen representing high-cost districts continue to push for a reinstatement of the government-sponsored enterprises’ high-cost loan limits. In November, President Obama signed legislation that restored the maximum $729,750 loan limit for the highest-cost FHA markets ...

Fannie Mae recently started to transfer “higher-risk” mortgages to special servicers in an effort to improve performance, typically on non-prime loans. In its earnings filing for the third quarter of 2011, Fannie said it is “transferring servicing on loan populations that include loans with higher-risk characteristics to special servicers with whom we have worked to develop high-touch protocols.” The protocols include ... [Includes one data chart]

Whatever FHA relief the Department of Housing and Urban Development may offer as part of a pending settlement of foreclosure-related charges will not necessarily let mortgage servicers off the hook, said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan.Donovan assured lawmakers during a House Financial Services Committee hearing this week that any offer of relief from any FHA liability in connection with ongoing robo-signing settlement talks would be “in exchange for significant penalties and help to homeowners who were wronged by bad servicing practices.” The HUD secretary neither confirmed nor denied the ...

A coalition of 34 industry trade and affordable housing groups, housing and community reinvestment advocates has endorsed the nomination of Carol Galante as the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s deputy assistant secretary for housing and FHA commissioner.In a recent letter to both the chair and ranking minority member of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, the coalition voiced its strong support for Galante, who is currently serving in both positions on an acting basis. The coalition cited Galante’s experience as well as her previous job as HUD assistant secretary for multifamily housing. Her backers also point to her 31-year experience in private real estate as president and chief executive of BRIDGE Housing, California’s largest nonprofit housing development corporation, and its affiliate companies. In particular, the coalition underscored ...

Private mortgage insurer PMI Group Inc. circled the wagons last week when it initiated voluntary Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to “protect stakeholders” as state regulators move to appoint a receiver for the company’s mortgage insurance unit. Headquartered in Walnut Creek, CA, but incorporated in Arizona, the Nov. 23 move to file for bankruptcy protection came one day after a Maricopa County judge rejected PMI Group’s bid to overturn the Arizona Department of Insurance’s seizure of its main unit, PMI Mortgage Insurance Co., in October. As part of the process to...

The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency last week reported that 12 bank and thrift mortgage servicers are pressing ahead to comply with the foreclosure practices consent orders issued in April, but it will take all of next year to complete the necessary steps. “Work is well under way on the actions necessary to comply with the consent orders,” the OCC said in a report. “Efforts to correct deficiencies in foreclosure processes, management oversight and internal audit are furthest advanced.” To forward the process of identifying and providing remediation to...

The Federal Housing Finance Agency this week issued a final rule that would establish the conditions and procedures for Federal Home Loan Banks to merge, but experts say it’s unlikely any of the FHLBanks will do so voluntarily. The final rule, published in the Nov. 28 Federal Register, was based on governance practices common under corporate law, disclosure practices required under federal securities laws and merger approval standards in federal banking laws, the FHFA said. Although the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 allowed for FHLBank mergers, until...

Most of the impressive increase in new mortgage originations during the third quarter was in conventional home loans, including the non-agency jumbo market, according to a new market analysis and ranking by Inside Mortgage Finance. An estimated $212 billion in conventional conforming loans were originated during the third quarter, a gain of 29.3 percent from the previous three-month period. That boosted the conventional conforming share of the market to 65.2 percent for the period, up from just 60.7 percent in the second quarter of 2011. The non-agency jumbo market was... (Includes two data charts)

Private mortgage insurers are moving to adopt policies to fit with the recently expanded Home Affordable Refinance Program offered by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Genworth Financial said that it’s all in, announcing last week that its U.S. mortgage insurance business is making changes so it can fully support HARP 2.0. The upgraded changes to HARP from the two government-sponsored enterprises are designed to enable more underwater borrowers to refinance their residential mortgages at today’s record-low interest rates. Genworth says the changes...

California’s Attorney General has reportedly issued subpoenas to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac seeking details of the government-sponsored enterprises’ mortgage lending and foreclosure practices, possibly as a way to cajole the Federal Housing Finance Agency to overcome its resistance to principal reductions for GSE loans. The subpoenas seek information about how Fannie and Freddie are handling thousands of foreclosed properties, as well as details about the GSEs’ mortgage-servicing and home-repossession practices. According to published reports, State AG Kamala Harris, a Democrat, also is looking into how...