Before a VA loan closes, lenders should establish the funding fee exemption status of the borrower, VA clarified.

HUD to host hearing on appraisal bias; bipartisan Senate bill to inform veterans of home loan benefits introduced; USDA updates handbook; Ginnie Mae allows commingling in Platinum pool types; HUD expands funding for loans and grants in its Green and Resilient Retrofit Program; VA reduces premiums for Veterans’ Mortgage Life Insurance program.

Speaking at a recent MISMO summit, FHA Commissioner Julia Gordon said her biggest frustrations at FHA center around technology and procurement.

The court ruled that charging pay-to-pay fees from borrowers who made monthly mortgage payments over the phone violated the Texas Debt Collection Act.

FHA staff had asked HPC whether a repayment plan, an informal forbearance plan or a trial payment plan would be better options for delinquent borrowers rather than a standalone partial claim.

The VA circular came just one day before Congress averted a federal government shutdown with a 45-day continuing resolution.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development can and should do more to help increase the availability of personal property and mortgage loans for manufactured housing, a recent report from the Government Accountability Office said.

Ginnie boosts liquidity for issuers of MBS backed by reverse mortgages; MISMO issues dataset for information exchanges verifying veterans’ benefits eligibility; senior housing wealth grew in the second quarter; RHS extends comment period on proposed manufactured-housing updates.

Government-insured mortgage originations grew across all three lending channels in the second quarter, with brokers gaining market share from the correspondent channel. (Includes data chart.)

Panelists at a Community Home Lenders of America roundtable discussed the challenges in targeting low- to moderate-income borrowers, including first-time and minority homebuyers.