The Department of Housing and Urban Development has announced a sealed bid sale of uninsured, nonperforming residential mortgages, the first of three bid loan sales scheduled in FY 2012. The sealed bid sale offering, SFLS 2012-1, is scheduled for Dec. 7, 2011. It consists of unsubsidized, nonperforming single-family mortgage loans that will be sold without FHA insurance and with servicing released. A listing of the mortgage loans is included in the due diligence materials provided to qualified bidders. Prospective bidders should first check HUD’s guidelines for bidder ineligibility. HUD made the sale information package available ...

President Obama has signed legislation returning funding fees for VA loans to their pre-Nov. 18 levels. The fees specified in H.R. 674, the 3 Percent Withholding, Repeal and Job Creation Act of 2011, are valid through Sept. 30, 2016. Signed on Nov. 21, the bill ends industry confusion over the amount of fees lenders should charge borrowers since the Department of Veterans Affairs, in a case of bad timing, issued new regulations in September to lower the fees. This was before Congress announced its intention to introduce legislation that will extend the higher fees through 2016. Under updated guidance issued by ... [includes one chart]

The seasonally adjusted delinquency rates for single-family FHA and VA mortgage loans fell in the third quarter of 2011 as did those for all other first-lien residential mortgages covered by the Mortgage Bankers Association’s National Delinquency Survey. According to the survey, the third quarter saw a 45-basis point drop – from 8.44 percent to 7.99 percent – from the previous quarter in overall delinquencies on a seasonally adjusted basis. For FHA loans, the rate declined 53 bps to 12.09 percent from 12.62 percent, while VA’s rate fell 47 basis points to 6.58 percent from 7.05 percent. On a year-over-year basis, the seasonally adjusted delinquency rate decreased ...

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has reportedly offered to release major servicers from some liability related to FHA mortgages as part of a pending settlement related to foreclosure problems. While the offer may sweeten the deal for banks to settle with state attorneys general and federal regulators, observers say it’s not a total game changer. The complex negotiations have lasted more than a year, stemming from servicing practices that include robo-signing of foreclosure documents and poor communication with borrowers. A key sticking point has been...

Private mortgage insurers are moving to adopt policies to fit with the recently expanded Home Affordable Refinance Program offered by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Genworth Financial said that it’s all in, announcing last week that its U.S. mortgage insurance business is making changes so it can fully support HARP 2.0. The upgraded changes to HARP from the two government-sponsored enterprises are designed to enable more underwater borrowers to refinance their residential mortgages at today’s record-low interest rates. Genworth says the changes...

The Department of Housing and Urban Development is pondering its next move after a federal district court judge in Houston reversed a suspension order against Allied Home Mortgage Corp., an authorized FHA lender, and its chief executive officer, last week. In a Nov. 15 ruling, U.S. District Court Judge Melinda Harmon granted a motion by the Houston-based mortgage banker and its CEO, James Hodge, to temporarily stop HUD from enforcing a suspension of the plaintiffs’ authority to underwrite and originate FHA loans until a related lawsuit is resolved. On Nov. 1, the government intervened in a False...

Residential mortgage securitization rates declined in the third quarter of 2011, but surging volume in the primary market will push new MBS issuance higher in coming months. A total of $247.5 billion of residential MBS backed by newly originated loans were issued during the third quarter, representing a relatively low 76.1 percent of the supply of new home loans originated by lenders during the period, according to an Inside MBS & ABS analysis. During the third quarter, about 67 percent of single-family mortgages securitized by Fannie Mae were...(Includes one data chart)

Freddie Mac is unwrapping a new set of incentives for its HomeSteps properties to both homebuyers and real estate agents this winter in an effort to pick up the sales pace of the GSE’s real-estate owned inventory.Through January 31, 2012, Freddie is offering homebuyers up to 3 percent of the final sales price toward closing costs while selling agents representing the owner-occupant buyer would receive a $1,000 bonus under the incentive plan.

One of the goals in the recent revisions to the Home Affordable Refinance Program is to stimulate more interest among lenders, largely through relaxed requirements on representations and warranties and some streamlining of the process. But HARP 2.0 also includes new guidelines on soliciting potential customers, both from the lender’s own portfolio and from borrowers currently serviced by another firm. A handful of lenders have begun touting the expanded program to consumers. The new program includes specific refi solicitation practices that lenders must...

The National Community Reinvestment Coalition improperly accepted approximately $2.4 million in donations from 10 of 38 lender organizations it tested under its Fair Housing Initiatives Program grant agreement with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, thereby creating conflict-of-interest situations in violation of the agreement, according to a new report from HUD’s Office of Inspector General. The NCRC immediately challenged the report and maintained it was politically motivated. The OIG said NCRC generally completed administrative and program activities and tasks in accordance with its agreement, the OIG said. The audit also found nonprofit improperly accepted donations from organizations it tested, thereby creating conflict-of-interest situations involving $59,800 of $230,000 in the grant funds (26 percent).