EAD Portal Suspended for System Maintenance. The Electronic Appraisal Delivery (EAD) portal used by FHA lenders to submit appraisals to the agency will be on hiatus for much-needed maintenance work and a major upgrade beginning at 10 p.m., May 5, until 2 a.m., May 8, 2017. No appraisal submissions will be accepted via the EAD portal or EAD direct integration because both systems will be unable to make a connection, said the Department of Housing and Urban Development. FHA Credit Underwriter Training. The HUD Atlanta Homeownership Center is hosting on-site training on FHA credit underwriting at the agency’s San Juan Field Office in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on May 16, from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., EST. The training is free. It will provide an overview of FHA underwriting procedures and address several industry-related frequently asked questions. The training also will look at ...
Production of new first-lien home mortgages fizzled in the first quarter of 2017 as the bottom fell out of the refinance market and home sales slumbered, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance ranking and analysis. An estimated $385.0 billion of new first-lien mortgages were originated in the first three months of the year, a 33.6 percent downturn from the fourth quarter of 2016. It likely did not mark the end of the world, however. For starters, the fourth quarter of last year surprised on the upside – at $580.0 billion, it was the second-highest quarterly volume in the previous four years. And the start of 2017 was...[Includes two data tables]
The Department of Veterans Affairs is seeking comment on a proposal to ease restrictions on the allowable fees and charges military veterans may pay to obtain a VA home loan – a change that could make VA-backed financing more competitive in home purchases. The VA Loan Guaranty Service wants to hear from stakeholders as to how the agency can protect veterans from incurring excessive closing costs without being overly restrictive. Specifically, the VA is considering ways to revise the list of acceptable fees and charges that are impeding VA borrowers’ ability to compete against bidders using other home-purchase financing options that are not restricted by law or regulation. The VA rule on fees and charges has...
A significant drop in the VA refinance market in the first quarter is proof that Ginnie Mae’s anti-churning policy has been effective in curbing serial refinancing of VA loans, according to agency officials at the recent VA Lenders Conference in Kansas City, MO. A hefty 42.7 percent decline in VA refi volume during the first three months of 2017 reflects an apparently successful effort by Ginnie to stop the practice of refinancing VA loans within six months of closing. By comparison, securitization of VA purchase loans fell 17.3 percent from the fourth quarter. John Getchis, senior vice president at Ginnie, said...
Freddie Mac introduced a curriculum to help potential manufactured homebuyers in Kentucky get a mortgage and is now looking to increase lender participation in the program. The GSE partnered with Next Step Network, a housing intermediary based in Louisville, and three nonprofit housing counseling agencies to create the online education curriculum aimed at better preparing Kentucky homebuyers with blemished credit histories. Since the initiative was rolled out...
And now the obvious questions becomes: where does Ocwen go from here? The company can’t possibly be sold because of all the outstanding lawsuits and “legacy” problems...
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