S. 1217, the Housing Finance Reform and Taxpayer Protection Act of 2014, would decrease federal deficits by a total of $58 billion from 2015 to 2024, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs approved the legislation to reform the government-sponsored enterprises earlier this year but the full Senate has yet to consider the bill and there is little support for the legislation in the House.

Federal regulators should craft capital requirements for nonbank mortgage companies that emphasize areas of risk that demand adequate capital and profitability, such as lending and mortgage securitization, instead of areas that are more connected with operational efficiency and compliance, such as loan servicing, according to the Kroll Bond Rating Agency. The Federal Housing Finance Agency is trying to determine how much capital a nonbank mortgage company involved in lending, securitization and/or servicing needs in order to minimize the potential risk to the government-sponsored enterprises, while Ginnie Mae is researching the risk posed by nonbank issuers. “How much capital does a nonbank seller/servicer need...

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s proposed tightening of rules for private mortgage insurers that do business with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is a “thoughtful effort,” but “modest changes” are required, conclude a trio of economists in a paper issued last week. Moody’s Analytics’ Mark Zandi and Chris deRitis and the Urban Institute’s Jim Parrott said that the FHFA’s Private Mortgage Insurance Eligibility Requirements “should succeed” in ensuring that private MI are strong counterparties to the GSEs, while serving as “a much improved bulwark against excessive risk” in the system.

The Inspector General of the Federal Housing Finance Agency is looking for a supervisory criminal investigator to work on what it calls “unique, complex and sensitive projects,” according to a recent employment ad posted on USAjobs.gov. The applicant, who must have a top secret security clearance, can earn anywhere from $134,000 to $227,000 per year. The in-house investigator would supervise the IG’s hotline team at least 25 percent of the time, and manage and maintain both the Computer Investigative Forensics Program and the National Firearms and Training Program of the department, among other duties.

Although Freddie Mac’s official watchdog found the GSE’s review process of servicer reimbursement claims to be “generally effective,” some tens of millions of dollars could be saved by scrutinizing servicer payments for costs incurred on loan defaults. According to an audit issued last week by the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s Inspector General, Freddie reimbursed 460 of its servicers $1.4 billion in 2013 but identified and denied $126 million in what the IG calls “erroneous” claims. The IG noted that Freddie’s top 10 servicers, relative to total reimbursements, accounted for 87 percent of all reimbursements made by Freddie in 2013.

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 ...

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s request for public comments last week on the structure for a proposed GSE security has some industry insiders wondering if this is the prelude to the eventual consolidation of “Fannie Mac.” The implementation of the single security issued and guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would be part of a “multi-year initiative” to build a common securitization platform.

Delegated servicers hired by Fannie Mae failed on numerous occasions to close short sales at the authorized price, according to a new audit from the Inspector General of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The IG also found that a Fannie Mae remediation plan does not hold servicers fully accountable for the resulting losses. Issued late last week, the IG audit focused on the effectiveness of the FHFA’s oversight and Fannie’s controls over delegated servicers to ensure that net proceeds for short sales met the authorized reserve established by Fannie. The IG found that both the GSE and its regulator came up short.