The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Single Family Housing Guaranteed Loan Program has tweaked its guaranteed underwriting system (GUS) to support an increase in the upfront loan guarantee fee. Effective Oct. 1, 2015, the upfront guarantee fee for USDA purchase and refinance loans will be raised to 2.75 percent from 2.00 percent. The annual fee will remain at 0.50 percent for purchase and refi loans. The increase helps cover the cost of operating the program, which requires no congressional subsidy to offset credit costs, the agency said. The fee hike, however, is raising concerns among rural housing lenders. An increase to 2.75 percent could add more than $4,000 to a $150,000 mortgage with a USDA guarantee and increase monthly payments. “A $5 increase in monthly mortgage payments may not sound like much but it could make a difference in qualifying a ...
The VA Home Loan Guaranty Program has issued guidance to clarify the notification requirement applicable to all holders of VA repurchase and mobile-home mortgage loans. Under existing regulation, holders of VA repurchase and mobile-home loans are required to report to the Department of Veterans Affairs any event that leads to the full payment of a VA-backed loan. The guidance requires all holders to report the status of all VA repurchase and mobile-home mortgages upon full satisfaction of the loan. All notifications must be sent directly to the chief of contract assurance at nashpm.vbaco@va.gov. For further questions, contact Ronnie Lamb at ...
The FHA is developing standards that would allow FHA financing on homes with existing Property Assessed Clean Energy liens going forward. Specifically, the guidance would require subordination of PACE financing to first-lien FHA mortgages. The FHA is also working on a monitoring mechanism to track the number of PACE loans with FHA insurance in the future, said a HUD spokesman. Mortgage market analysts say FHA’s action could lead to broader adoption of the PACE program for FHA-insured single-family homes. The Mortgage Bankers Association, in a statement, applauded the move. “This modification should allow some homeowners to install energy improvements in their home but not impede the rights of the first lien, something the original PACE program failed to consider,” said David Stevens, MBA president and CEO. PACE programs allow local governments to raise bond-funded financing to ...
Another Cut in FHA Premiums Coming This Winter? Will the FHA take the bold step of cutting annual mortgage insurance premiums this winter? It’s an intriguing question posed by Capital Alpha Partners. The research firm, in a new report, quotes what it calls a “reliable FHA bull” who “presciently foresaw” the last premium cut. Alpha cautions that its source on the matter is not betting on such a move, but raises the possibility “that the tumblers could fall into place once again.” One possible catalyst for an MIP cut would be poor results from a forthcoming Home Mortgage Disclosure Act report that shows FHA as well as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are not serving low-income borrowers very well. In January 2015, FHA implemented a half-percent reduction in annual mortgage insurance premiums. At the time, the Department of Housing and Urban Development predicted that 250,000 new homeowners would ...
One possible catalyst for a MIP cut could be poor results from a forthcoming HMDA report that shows FHA as well as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are not servicing low-income borrowers very well.
In a recent SEC filing Two Harbors noted that after the second quarter ended it bought $4.7 billion of Fannie Mae servicing rights from an undisclosed seller.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development this week republished for comment new proposed changes to lender certification for FHA that would allow for minor lender errors while leaving the door open for government enforcement action under the False Claims Act. The proposed revisions, however, failed to impress mortgage lenders and raised the specter of increased overlays unless HUD makes clear assurances that, barring any significant mistakes, lenders will not be on the hook for millions of dollars for small glitches in the loan certification document. “The language in the certification lacks...
Federal regulators and fair housing advocates are calling for continued vigilance in fair lending with the reappearance of mortgage redlining and loan steering. The return of pre-crisis predatory lending practices, like steering and redlining, pose new challenges to the mortgage industry and to minority communities, which have seen their home equity disappear with the collapse of the housing market, said participants in a fair-lending conference hosted by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Credit scores raise...
Ginnie’s big advantage is that it gets all the FHA and VA loans, while the GSEs so far have not gotten much traction in their reduced-downpayment programs.
RSS