The Department of Justice recently announced enforcement actions against a New York-based FHA lender and its owner/president for fraudulent certification of FHA-insured loans as well as two separate settlements with bank subsidiaries for alleged violations of the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act. In the first action, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the HUD Office of the Inspector General jointly announced a civil mortgage fraud lawsuit against ...

The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Mortgagee Review Board slapped 157 FHA lenders during the first nine months of 2012 with various administrative actions, including more than $1.7 million in civil money penalties and indemnifications to HUD for paid and potential claim losses totaling $1.25 million. The MRB, which is HUD’s disciplinary arm, took action against the approved lenders from Jan. 1, 2012, to Sept. 30, 2012. According to a notice published in the April 11 Federal Register, the board withdrew the FHA approval of 130 lenders for failing to ...

Ginnie Mae is seeking feedback from dealers, issuers and investors about whether to continue to maintain two separate mortgage-backed securities programs or to consolidate them under a single security. Comments are also being sought on other possible options. Bloomberg.com recently reported that Ginnie Mae sent out questionnaires to Wall Street broker-dealers for their input on the future of both the Ginnie Mae I and Ginnie Mae II MBS programs. The agency has been considering whether it should merge the programs for some time. The Ginnie Mae I single-issuer pool program with stringent pooling requirements began in ...

VA Issues Warning. Loans reported for guaranty more than 60 days after loan closing will be subject to automatic full review, the Department of Veterans Affairs warned. In guidance issued earlier this month, the VA reminded lenders that they must enter guaranty requests in the VA’s webLGY system within 60 days of closing or risk going through another review and additional requirements. If a loan is guaranteed late, the lender must include a brief explanation and a certification that the loan was current when they submitted the file to VA. Timely reporting of loans for VA guaranty ensures ...

Reaction to a report about Obama administration efforts to get banks to increase their purchase mortgage lending, particularly through the FHA, has ranged from supportive to dire warnings of déjà vu. Apparently, administration officials are trying to push banks to make more loans to qualified lower-income borrowers as well as minority and first-time homebuyers who have been shut out of the mortgage market because of stringent credit overlays. The report, which ran in the April 2 Washington Post, described the targeted borrowers as “people with weaker credit,” which, for some, conjures up the ...

The FHA is seeking comment on a proposal to change the period for reviewing loans for direct endorsement from pre- to post-closing in order to increase the number of acceptable loans and, therefore, reduce any potential risk to the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund. Under the proposal, a lender applying for unconditional direct endorsement authority would be required to submit the necessary loan files only after closing. After determining that the mortgage is acceptable and meets all FHA requirements, the agency would notify the lender that the loan has been endorsed. Current regulations provide for ...

With the deadline for filing individual income tax returns just around the corner, the FHA has reminded lenders of its rules regarding the eligibility of a borrower who has a delinquent federal tax debt or lien. According to the FHA, an individual with an overdue federal tax debt or tax lien is not eligible for an FHA-insured mortgage loan until the delinquent account is either brought current, fully paid or is resolved by a satisfactory repayment plan agreed to by the borrower and the federal agency owed. Tax liens may remain unpaid as long as the lien holders subordinate the tax lien to the ...

The FHA may allow a borrower’s 401(k) retirement fund to be included in the calculation of debt-to-income (DTI) ratio, according to the agency. Normally, up to 60 percent of the fund’s value may be included in the DTI ratio, the agency said. Fund assets, such as Individual Retirement Accounts, thrift savings plans, 401(k) retirement plan and Keogh Accounts, may be counted in the underwriting, it added. The rule remains applicable unless the borrower presents proof that a higher percentage may be withdrawn after subtracting any federal income tax and withdrawal penalties. In such cases, the lender would ...

Funding for a federal program providing guarantees to mortgage loans to Native Americans and other indigenous peoples has been spared from mandatory budget cuts under a temporary budget measure signed into law by President Obama last month. The Department of Housing and Urban Development has resumed accepting new loan applications under the Section 184 Indian Home Loan Guarantee Program. The mortgage product is for American Indian and Alaska Native families, Alaskan tribal members and tribally designated housing entities. Congress established the program in 1992 to ...

Ginnie Mae issuance fell in the first quarter of 2013 but was easily offset by significant gains from a year ago, according to Inside FHA Lending’s analysis of FHA data. Mortgage-backed securities production at the government facility dropped 5.1 percent to $104.1 billion in the first quarter but increased 28.6 percent year-over-year , which was more than enough for an offset. The securities were backed mostly by FHA and VA loans with a combined total of $99.33 billion. Federally guaranteed rural housing loans totaling $4.84 billion were also in the mix. Wells Fargo and Chase Home Finance led the Ginnie Mae market with a combined ... [1 chart]