A significant percentage of active Ginnie Mae issuers use subservicers in their operations, and agency officials estimate that 22 subservicers handle roughly a third, or $510 billion, of the program’s portfolio. The four top subservicers handle approximately 21 percent of Ginnie’s total portfolio or 65 percent of the subserviced portion. During the recent Ginnie Mae annual conference in Arlington, VA, representatives from Lakeview Loan Servicing, Pingora Asset Management and ...

Riding a wave of heavy purchase-mortgage activity, Ginnie Mae issuers produced a record $128.23 billion of single-family mortgage-backed securities during the third quarter of 2015, according to a new Inside FHA/VA Lending ranking and analysis. The third-quarter figure, which includes FHA home-equity conversion mortgage MBS, was up 6.5 percent from the second quarter of this year. The previous record was $125.68 billion, set back in the third quarter of 2009. Loan-level MBS data, which do not include HECMs and have truncated loan amounts, show hefty gains in purchase-mortgage activity that more than offset sharp declines in refinance business. The flow of FHA purchase mortgages jumped 37.7 percent from the second to the third quarter, and VA purchase mortgages were up 37.9 percent over the same period. Meanwhile, refinance volume fell ... [ 2 charts ]

Certain unidentified independent mortgage bankers are in talks with the Department of Housing and Urban Development over alleged False Claims Act violations, according to a top mortgage industry executive. Speaking recently on the Internet radio program “Lykken on Lending,” Dave Stevens, president of the Mortgage Bankers Association and a former FHA commissioner, said the lenders are quietly negotiating and have avoided media attention, so far. On air, Stevens said he and a “certain group of individuals had met with HUD Secretary Julian Castro” to discuss the FCA complaints. The MBA official said the use of the FCA – which allows for treble damages – represents an “extraordinary overreach” by the government that is threatening the overall FHA program. Stevens did not name the lenders are or say how many there are, but he did mention an ...

The Inspector General of the Department of Housing and Urban Development called for civil and administrative actions against loanDepot for allowing ineligible “gifts” on FHA-insured loans.Acting on a referral from HUD’s Quality Assurance Division, the IG focused on FHA loans originated by loanDepot that included downpayment assistance from the Golden State Finance Authority. A review of 75 loans endorsed from Oct. 1, 2013, to Jan. 31, 2015, determined that 62 loans involved gift funds that did not comply with FHA requirements. In addition, the privately held nonbank lender “inappropriately charged borrowers $25,700 in fees that were not customary or reasonable, as well as $46,510 in discount fees that did not represent the purpose of the fee,” the IG said. The IG blamed loanDepot’s overreliance on Golden State’s Platinum Downpayment Assistance Program as well as ...

The majority of higher-priced first-lien loans in 2014 were FHA-insured, according to the latest Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data. Approximately 45 percent of FHA-insured, first-lien purchase mortgages had annual percentage rates in excess of the reporting threshold, similar to the percentage in the latter half of 2013, the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council noted. Higher-priced loans are those with APRs that exceed the average prime offer rate by at least 1.5 percentage points for first-lien loans and at least 3.5 percentage points for subordinate-lien loans. The data on the incidence of higher-priced lending show that about 8 percent of first-lien purchase loans originated in 2014 have APRs that exceed the loan-price reporting thresholds, up from about 5 percent in 2013, the FFIEC said. The higher APRs for FHA loans were due to a slight increase in ... [ 1 chart ]

VA loan servicers have until Nov. 1, 2015, to review and comment on the new VA Servicer Handbook and ensure compliance with the established policy and guidelines. The servicer handbook combines guidance issued via circulars and news flashes over the years. In addition, the agency has started hosting biweekly servicer calls to update VA servicers on policy changes and new developments, according to Andrew Trevayne, assistant director of loan management with the VA Home Loan Guaranty Program. VA-guaranteed loans are serviced through the VA Loan Electronic Reporting Interface (VALERI) system. The handbook also discusses roles and responsibilities for VA loan-administration staff and servicers. It does not change or supersede any regulation or law affecting the loan program. Servicers may submit comments on the updated handbook to ...

The FHA has a number of rulemakings in the regulatory pipeline and other policy topics related to mortgage origination and servicing, all lined for action in the fall. The program changes are geared towards FHA single-family priorities, such as expanding first-time homebuyers’ and underserved creditworthy borrowers’ access to credit, ensuring the long-term viability of FHA Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund and making it easier to do business with the FHA. Agency data show that, as of July 31, 2015, first-time homebuyers accounted for 82 percent of FHA purchase loans compared to 72 percent in the prior year. FHA officials attributed the surge in purchase loans to the half percentage point reduction in the annual mortgage insurance premium, which they translated into a yearly savings of $900 for a household with an average mortgage-loan size of $180,000. On Sept. 15, the ...

HUD Announces New Mortgagee Compliance Manager. The Department of Housing and Urban Development has hired Information System & Networks Corp. (ISN) as its new mortgagee compliance manager. ISN took over from Michaelson, Connor & Boul, which was awarded the first MCM contract in 2010, when HUD reorganized its Management and Marketing (M&M) I and II programs under a new M&M III. As mortgage compliance manager, MCB performed real estate acquisition-to-disposition servicers for HUD, among other things. ISN effectively took over Oct. 1, assuming all pre- and post-conveyance activities including the following: requests for more time to convey; processing of occupied conveyances; approval of reimbursable expenses for preservation and protection, particularly amount in excess of allowable P&P expenses (including Home Equity Conversion Mortgages); and requests to ...

Ginnie Mae securitized $14.2 billion of VA jumbo loans in the first half of 2015, more than double the volume seen during the same period a year ago. VA securitization data for the first six months reflect an upward trend in VA loan originations, which lenders attribute to better outreach to veterans and servicemembers and aggressive marketing strategies. VA jumbo securitization in the first half of the year was up 120.7 percent from the same prior-year period. Volume also was up 13.9 percent in the second quarter from the previous quarter. All top-five VA jumbo securitizers reported large gains year over year, but four showed volume decreases quarter over quarter. Third-ranked PennyMac recorded a 3.4 percent gain in the second quarter from the prior quarter. The top five, in sequential order – Wells Fargo, Freedom Mortgage Corp., PennyMac Corp., U.S. Bank and Quicken Loans – accounted for ... [ chart ]

FHA jumbo securitization continued to rise over the first six months of 2015 on the back of soaring FHA jumbo production in the second quarter. FHA jumbo originations in the second quarter more than doubled to $6.8 billion, according to the Inside Mortgage Finance database. FHA data showed that the jumbo share of originations was highest in conventional-to-FHA refinance (14.9 percent) and streamlined FHA refis (13.3 percent,) but just 9.0 percent for purchase loans. Delivery of FHA jumbos, including modified loans, into Ginnie Mae jumbo mortgage-backed securities rose 131.9 percent in the second quarter from the prior quarter and was up 115.8 percent compared to the first six months of 2014. Wells Fargo led the market in the first half with $1.4 billion in jumbos contributed to MBS, up 123 percent quarter over quarter. That was good enough for a 12.7 percent market share. PennyMac Corp. accounted for ... [ chart ]