State housing finance agencies are returning to Ginnie Mae as investors’ appetite for state mortgage revenue bonds continue to wane and the government-sponsored enterprises are no longer major purchasers. With funding severely constrained, HFAs have turned increasingly to FHA-insured mortgage loans and Ginnie Mae securitization to finance their long-term, fixed-rate mortgage revenue bonds. The MRBs enable the state agencies to continue to offer mortgage products at affordable rates to lower-income and first-time homebuyers. President Obama’s FY 2013 budget noted that, among the new issuers, numerous HFAs have gone ...

Ginnie Mae will publish, in advance, the CUSIP and pool information for multiple issuer pools (MIP) on its website for the current month, plus the upcoming three months of issuance. The information will be published by pool term, pool type and security interest rate. This enhancement applies to all securities with an April 1, 2012, issue date and thereafter. According to Ginnie Mae, publishing the CUSIP and pool numbers will improve issuers’ ability to manage their loan pipelines and MIP loan package submissions before the pool is finalized. Both the finalized CUSIP and pool numbers as well as the future CUSIP and pool numbers for MIPs will be ...

The federal rulemaking process can be confusing at times. Currently, the Department of Housing and Urban Development sets the area-based mortgage loan limits annually and allows local interested parties and housing industry groups to appeal for increases in the FHA’s maximum mortgage limits for specific counties or metropolitan statistical areas. Any interested party may submit a request for an increase in the mortgage limits of a particular area if the party believes that the present limit does not accurately reflect the higher home sales prices in that area. Requests must be adequately supported by ...

The volume of Home Equity Conversion Mortgage loans continued to drop both on quarterly and yearly bases while the overall FHA market ended January 2012 on a weaker note compared to the same month last year. HECM production fell 11.0 percent in 2011 from the previous year to $16.9 billion and off 20.6 percent from the third to the fourth quarter. Sponsors as a share of lender originations accounted for 40.7 percent of new HECM loans originated over the 12-month period. Initial principal amount at origination totaled $10.9 billion. Wells Fargo Bank ended the year as ... (with 2 charts)

The Department of Housing and Urban Development plans to use revenues from proposed FHA premium hikes and servicer settlements to stabilize the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund and bring capital reserves back to compliance. The proposals for annual premium increases on forward FHA-insured mortgage loans, multifamily and health care loans were laid out in the FY 2013 HUD budget, which the Obama administration sent to Congress this week. During a press briefing, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan said raising FHA premiums further would improve the FHA insurance fund’s capital reserves, which fell ...

Citigroup, Inc. this week agreed to settle a civil fraud lawsuit with the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Department of Housing and Urban Development alleging reckless mortgage lending practices. The $158.3 million settlement was reached on Feb. 15, hours after Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, filed a civil fraud lawsuit against CitiMortgage, a subsidiary of Citibank. The suit sought treble damages and civil penalties under the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989 and the False Claims Act, a federal Civil War-era statute Congress passed to ...

Excluding streamlined FHA refinancing from the “Compare Ratio” loan review process to facilitate refinancing of underwater non-agency mortgages, as proposed by the Obama administration, would make sense. At the margin, however, the proposal would increase Ginnie Mae prepayment speeds on higher-coupon borrowers, analysts cautioned. The proposal is part of a broader administration plan for housing recovery, which calls on Congress to provide non-agency borrowers with access to low-cost refinancing through FHA, and fully streamlined refinancing for borrowers with Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac loans. Underwater borrowers who opt for streamlined refinancing in either agency or non-agency programs would have ... [one data chart]

Total delinquency rates and foreclosure start rates decreased for all loan types on a quarter-over-quarter basis, except FHA loans, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s National Delinquency Survey for the fourth quarter of 2011. All delinquency and foreclosure measures for FHA loans were up over the previous quarter because the agency’s book of business experienced rapid growth, and purchase loans originated in 2008 and 2009 are now only entering the peaks of a normal delinquency, the MBA explained. On a seasonally adjusted basis, the delinquency rate for FHA loans increased 27 basis points to 12.36 percent and the foreclosure inventory rate rose by ... [one data chart]

The Department of Housing and Urban Development last week withdrew a proposal that would have allowed the Farmer Credit System’s direct lenders to participate as approved lenders in the FHA insurance programs. In a notice published in the Feb. 13 Federal Register, HUD explained that while it supports having mortgage credit available to qualified borrowers, particularly in underserved areas, it remains committed to the administration’s goal of reducing the FHA’s market share and facilitating the return of private capital to the housing finance market. The FHA and its approved lenders will continue mortgage lending in rural areas to ensure ...

Ginnie Mae is requesting additional funding in FY 2013 to hire more professionals to help manage the more than $1.2 trillion in outstanding guaranteed mortgage securities it holds and the increasing inherent risks associated with the MBS. Under its budget proposal, the agency is seeking an appropriation of $21 million for staff salaries and expenses in 2013, up from $19.5 million in 2012 and $11.07 million in 2011. The requested staffing increase would ensure improvement in managing areas where Ginnie Mae has the greatest risk exposure, including counterparty risk and defaulted portfolio management, according to the agency. Over the past few years, Ginnie Mae’s market share rose ...