The Department of Housing and Urban Development is discontinuing its quarterly newsletter, Lender Insight, with the implementation of FHA’s Loan Review System. The change is aimed at improving both FHA’s and lenders’ quality-control and risk-management operations. HUD will be publishing a quarterly Loan Review Summary Report to provide a snapshot of the results of FHA’s quality-control review of mortgage originations over the preceding 12 months. According to HUD, the report will include only underwritten loans that were subject to a post-endorsement technical review. It does not include the results of lenders’ self-reports or any other loans that were reviewed as part of a lender examination, the agency said. The report will show the initial rating of all loans, the updated rating six months from the end of the review period, and a final rating. The “final” rating is subject to change as long as ...
The Department of Housing and Urban Development inspector general praised the agency for ensuring purchasers participating in HUD’s single-family note sales program complied with the terms in their purchase agreements. The inspector general noted, however, the need to improve the requirements in the purchase agreements. The IG found those requirements inadequate due to the lack of formal rules for the note sales program. “If a purchaser chose not to comply with its purchase agreement, HUD lacked assurance that the purchaser would offer homeowners foreclosure avoidance, loan-modification options, and other program requirements,” the IG’s audit report stated. Under the agreement, loan buyers must certify their avoidance of final closure for the required period of time, perform loan modification, and submit quarterly reports on their progress, including results of ...
OMB Seeks Cancellation of Portion of NFIP Debt. The Trump administration is asking Congress to cancel $16 billion of the National Flood Insurance Program’s current $23 billion debt to the Department of the Treasury so that it can continue providing subsidized flood insurance to mortgagors. The Office of Management and Budget made its request along with several legislative reform proposals in a recent letter to Vice President Michael Pence. The proposed debt cancellation and the reforms aim to place the NFIP on sound financial footing and expand the use of private flood insurance. The NFIP’s debt burden is expected to spike with claims from hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria. OMB Director Mick Mulvaney warned that NFIP funding could run out by the end of October, including its $30.4 billion in borrowing authority, and leave the program unable to pay claims. Cancellation of the ...
Private mortgage insurers captured a larger share of the purchase-mortgage market during the third quarter of 2017 as the credit profile of new FHA production tilted toward riskier business, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance analysis. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac securitized $64.59 billion of purchase loans with private MI coverage during the third quarter, a 28.5 percent jump from the previous period. That was substantially greater than the ... [Includes three data charts]
The agency single-family MBS market continued cranking along during the third quarter of 2017, but other sectors in structured finance saw weakening issuance, according to an exclusive new analysis and ranking by Inside MBS & ABS. Some $407.55 billion of MBS and ABS – excluding collateralized debt obligations and agency credit-risk transfer deals – were issued during the third quarter. That was off 4.9 percent from the previous three-month period and it ... [Includes three data charts]
Roughly 9.8 percent of Ginnie Mae’s outstanding MBS portfolio may be potentially at risk due to hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, according to data released recently by the agency. The tally represents the number of Ginnie loans and their unpaid principal balance amounts in the presidentially declared disaster areas in Texas, Florida, Georgia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. A total of 1.066 million mortgages with a UPB of $184.5 billion have been affected. Ginnie’s current MBS portfolio totals $1.9 trillion