The Department of Housing and Urban Development has issued a proposed rule establishing standards that FHA loans would have to meet to be considered “qualified mortgages,” varying slightly from the QM rule approved earlier this year by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. According to HUD, the proposal is aligned with the ability-to-repay criteria set out in the Dodd-Frank Act and the CFPB’s QM rule. The key difference is in the pricing threshold that puts QM loans in the safe harbor, rather than the less desirable rebuttable assumption category that exposes lenders to more legal risk. Under the CFPB rule, safe harbor QM loans must have...

FHA claims it is still endorsing loans but only 2 percent of its staffers are on duty. Also, the USDA mortgage program lies dormant.

FHA will continue to insure mortgages if the government closes but cautions that its commitment authority eventually will run dry. Potential homeowners "will be impacted," it warns.

Except for Title I property improvement loans, HUD proposes to adopt the statutory points and fees structure for all FHA-insured single-family mortgages as implemented under the FPB's QM/Ability-to-Repay final rule.

The Federal Reserve continues to be an MBS hog, so much so that it may soon surpass commercial banks as being the top holder of these securities.

Settlement talks between JPMorgan Chase and federal and state negotiators have reportedly focused on a possible $11 billion to resolve a string of investigations into the bank’s mortgage lending and securitization practices. The amount under negotiation has ballooned from JPMorgan’s initial offer of $3 billion to $4 billion, which negotiators rejected. The talks cover federal probes in Philadelphia, Washington and Sacramento. The Department of Justice, Department of Housing and Urban Development and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who co-chairs a presidential task force investigating bank securitization deals, are involved...

With mortgage refinance activity flagging in the wake of a spike in interest rates that began months ago, the Federal Housing Finance Agency this week launched a campaign to get more mileage out of the Home Affordable Refinance Program. (Includes one data chart.)

The FHFA’s HARP outreach effort includes public service announcements by Mike Aubrey, a real estate agent based in North Potomac, MD. He stars in a reality TV show, “Power Broker,” that premiered on HGTV in July

If the U.S. defaults on its debt payments, will mortgage rates go sky high? Meanwhile, will JPM rescure FHA?

FHA admits it will need a bailout, well sort of.