HARP 3.0 Status Update: Democrats in both the Senate and the White House are warming up efforts to expand government-backed refinance programs in order to assist underwater homeowners whose mortgages are packaged into non-agency securities. Repurposed refi proposals from last year are poised to be re-introduced in the 113th Congress with the active and vocal support of the Treasury Department, which may enact its own initiative if lawmakers cant or wont pass a measure. We must expand...
Despite the bad press and the elimination of the standard fixed-rate reverse mortgage product from the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage program, reverse mortgages will continue to thrive simply because people grow old, former Ginnie Mae chief Joe Murin told Inside FHA Lending.
Inside Mortgage Finance shortly will publish its final 4Q ranking of FHA lenders, but it appears that the October-December period was one of the strongest in terms of loan production in quite some time ...plus other mortgage briefs.
HUD is investigating reports that a loan officer of an approved FHA lender had participated in a reverse mortgage borrowers counseling session, a practice HUD frowns upon.
Underwater homeowners who have remained current on their payments will be able to relinquish their houses and cancel their debt under the terms of a new GSE policy change to take effect in March.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development this week announced the latest changes designed to bolster the solvency of the FHA and ease Congress fear of a potential taxpayer bailout. The announcement is in connection with additional reforms, which FHA Commissioner Carol Galante committed to in an agreement with Sen. Bob Corker, R-TN. In a deal that cleared the way to her confirmation as FHA chief, Galante promised to have the measures in place by the end of the month to better manage risk and strengthen the FHA Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund. As expected, HUD is...