Ginnie Mae securitization of single-family mortgage securities backed by USDA loans fell in the first quarter of 2017. One-time leader Chase Home Finance was in fifth place after a whopping 31.6 percent decline in USDA activity and an even larger 87.4 percent drop year over year. A total of $4.6 billion in USDA loans were securitized in Ginnie Mae pools during the first three months of 2017, down 9.5 percent from the previous quarter. On the other hand, year-over-year securitization of USDA home loans rose 17.6 percent. Top-ranked Freedom Mortgage and 7th-ranked Ditech Financial each reported a tenfold increase in USDA volume year over year. Freedom Mortgage led the market with $887.3 million despite a 20.4 percent decline from the prior quarter Second-ranked PennyMac closed the quarter with $661.6 million of securitized USDA loans, while Wells Fargo reported a 9.3 percent decrease to ... [Chart]
The eligibility of surviving spouses of deceased veterans is something that surfaces every once a while in discussions about VA lending. According to Maxine Henry, program analyst with the VA Home Loan Guaranty Service in Washington, DC, the term “veteran” includes the surviving spouse of any veteran who died in active military service or from a service-connected disability. However, in July 2012, Congress passed H.R. 1627, Honoring America’s Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act, expanding the category of spouses who would be eligible for VA home loan benefits. President Obama signed the bill into law in August of that year. Prior to the bill’s enactment, only surviving spouses of veterans who died in service or of service-connected causes were considered for a VA mortgage. The statute extended VA home loan benefits to others, including widows who have not remarried and ...
A military veteran’s disability pension, a key underwriting factor for a VA loan, either can be service-connected or non-service-connected. A non-service-connected pension is for vets whose disability is unrelated to his time in the military. “It is permanent and total in nature and may not have been caused by their service to the military,” said Mark Jamison, loan production officer (LPO) with the VA’s Cleveland Regional Loan Center. A service-connected pension is for vets whose disability was a result of their military service, Jamison noted. If a vet is eligible for both a service-connected disability from VA and a non-service connected pension, he or she gets only the greater of the two amounts. Those eligible for a non-service connected pension include vets who were discharged from service for reasons other than dishonorable, and who served at least 90 days of active military service, one day of ...
The Department of Veterans Affairs is seeking clearance for two information-collection forms that are crucial to a veteran’s ability to obtain or cure a VA-guaranteed mortgage loan. The Office of Management and Budget is currently reviewing the forms. The VA also has published notices in the June 1 Federal Register seeking public comment on the proposed revised forms. Comments for both notices are due July 3, 2017. The first form relates to information a veteran must provide to be exempted from paying a funding fee. Borrowers are required to pay a funding fee to obtain a loan with a VA guaranty, unless the borrower is a disabled veteran receiving VA compensation for his or her service-connected disability. Loans made to unmarried surviving spouses of veterans who have died in service or from a service-related disability also are exempted from payment of the funding fee (regardless of whether the ...
Ginnie Mae is sailing without a captain, a fact that is causing some concern among mortgage bankers and mortgage-backed securities investors. The agency tasked with securitizing government-backed mortgages has been without a president since Democrat Ted Tozer left on Jan. 20, 2017, the same day that President-elect Donald Trump was sworn in as the 45th president of the United States. Since that time, Nancy Corsiglia, a career Ginnie official, has been acting president. She was elevated from her position as chief operating officer. Industry officials who claim to have knowledge of the selection process maintain that mortgage banke David Kittle, president of the Mortgage Collaborative, is the leading candidate to fill the post with Michael Bright, a director at the Milken Institute, a close second. One source close to the situation claimed that background checks by the Trump White House are likely ...
HUD Announces Availability of Housing Counselor Examination. The Department of Housing and Urban Development published a notice in the May 31 Federal Register announcing a housing counselor examination for qualified applicants starting on Aug. 1, 2017. The notice follows publication of a final rule on new certification requirements for housing counseling. HUD issued the rule on Dec. 14, 2016. In addition, the notice announced that the cost for online testing at the examinee’s location has been reduced to $60 from $100, and $100 at a proctoring site. Furthermore, beginning Aug. 1, 2020, counseling may be provided only by HUD-certified counselors working for approved counseling agencies. In related action, a notice HUD published in the May 19 Federal Register seeks approval from the Office of Management and Budget of a request to reinstate two housing-counseling forms, which the ...
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