Clean-up calls executed by U.S. Bank on Ginnie Mae real estate mortgage investment conduits in recent years have caused problems for some investors, but industry analysts suggest that overall, the risk agency MBS investors face from clean-up calls is limited. Analysts at Performance Trust Capital Partners, an investing firm, warned recently that U.S. Bank has made about $53 million in profit the past three years by completing clean-up calls on Ginnie REMICs where the bank was the trustee. On Ginnie REMICs, trustees are allowed to complete clean-up calls when the outstanding balance on the security falls to less than 1.0 percent of the aggregate of the original class principal balance for the security. When executing a clean-up call, the trustee pays off the investors in the MBS at par. On Ginnie deals where U.S. Bank has completed clean-up calls, the REMICs have generally been trading at ...

The FHA is either close to achieving full recovery or nearing collapse and needing a potential taxpayer bailout, depending on which of two opposing views is more persuasive. The conflicting views stem from the latest analyses of the FHA’s health conducted by Potomac Partners, a mortgage industry consultancy, and the American Enterprise Institute’s International Center on Housing Risk. Both reports looked into FHA risk, mortgage performance, delinquency rates ...

Ginnie Mae securitized $6.6 billion of VA jumbo loans in the first three months of 2015, up 15.9 percent from the prior quarter, according to an Inside FHA/VA Lending analysis of Ginnie Mae data.Jumbo loans – single-family mortgages with loan amounts exceeding $417,000 – comprised 18.7 percent of total VA originations in the first quarter. VA jumbo originations outpaced FHA jumbo production, which totaled $2.8 billion in the first quarter, up 17.0 percent from the prior quarter, according to the Inside Mortgage Finance database. VA jumbos in Ginnie mortgage-backed securities issued in the first quarter included modified VA loans as well as those originated in Alaska, Guam, Hawaii and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Wells Fargo ranked first among securitizers of VA jumbos in the first quarter, with $1.3 billion in production. Second-ranked Freedom Mortgage conveyed $652.7 million in ... [ 1 chart ]

FHA jumbo loan production rose nearly 36.9 percent in the first quarter, ending the period with $3.8 billion in new volume, according to an Inside FHA/VA Lending analysis of agency data. Volume includes all FHA loans exceeding $417,000. It was also up significantly, 59.6 percent, from the same period a year ago. Purchase loans accounted for 52.8 percent of FHA jumbos originated during the first three months of 2015, and 93 percent were fixed-rate purchase and refinance loans. The top five FHA jumbo lenders – Quicken Loans, Wells Fargo Bank, Prospect Mortgage, Pinnacle Capital Mortgage Corp., and LoanDepot – reported increases on a quarter-to-quarter basis. Together, the elite group accounted for 13.0 percent of the FHA jumbo market. The largest quarter-to-quarter increases were mostly mid-level FHA jumbo lenders. For example, 12th-ranked Freedom Mortgage, a top player in the ... [ 1 chart ]

Financial institution regulators in Washington state have charged Quicken Loans with using false, deceptive and misleading advertisements to target veterans and active military members with adjustable-rate refinance offers. According to a complaint filed by the Division of Consumer Services of the Washington State Department of Financial Institutions, Quicken Loans falsely implied in its direct mailings that it is associated with the Department of Veteran Affairs. The VA provides guarantees to fixed- and adjustable-rate mortgage loans to veterans and servicemembers through the agency’s Home Loan Guaranty program. Quicken Loans allegedly used graphics in its 5/1 ARM solicitations that resembled the seal of the VA, with the words “Governed By: United States Veterans Department.” In addition, the Michigan-based lender allegedly used an ...

The frequently-asked-questions guidance to using the FHA’s consolidated Single Family Policy Handbook is good to have though it shows just how complicated the FHA’s mortgage origination process is, according to lenders. In fact, the updated FHA handbook could still be confusing to borrowers simply because a lot more information is concentrated in one source, lenders said. According to the FHA, the more than 290 FAQs will enable lenders to make operation adjustments before the handbook goes into effect on Sept. 14, 2015. The FAQs are for information purposes only and do not apply to current FHA policies. They do not establish or modify policy contained in the handbook. The FAQs reiterate information in the handbook under headings such as Credit Underwriting, Closing and Insuring, FHA System Support and Consumer Information. Industry observers noted that the FAQs did not ...

Lenders are accounting for an increasing share of home purchase financing as investors decrease their largely cash buying. Purchases by first-time homebuyers are rising, helped by FHA financing. “First-time homebuyers rarely buy homes with cash and with their increasing participation in the housing market, we expectedly see the proportion of cash-financed transactions falling,” said Tom Popik, research director of Campbell Surveys. The non-cash share of financing for home purchases increased...

Consumer education and community outreach by lenders have kept VA originations on an upward trend in the first quarter of 2015, according to Inside FHA/VA lenders ended the first quarter with $36.5 billion in total originations, a 5.8 percent increase from the fourth quarter of 2014 and up a whopping 86.0 percent from the same period last year. Purchase loans comprised 61.5 percent of VA loans produced during the quarter while streamlined refinance loans accounted for the rest. Seventeen lenders, including two of the top five VA producers, focused a significant portion of their first-quarter activities on refinancing. The rest either led with their purchase business or had a balanced mixof purchase and refi loans. Top-ranked Freedom Mortgage’s total originations were 90.5 percent refis, which officials attributed to lower interest rates and a robust team of ... [1 chart].

The VA maintained a sizeable lead in first-lien mortgage refinancing over FHA and private mortgage insurers in the first quarter of 2015 but yielded to both in purchase originations during the same period. According to the Inside Mortgage Finance database, mortgage lenders originated approximately $221.0 billion of refi loans in the first quarter, a 51.4 percent increase from a revised fourth-quarter production estimate of $146.0 billion. Of first-quarter mortgages securitized by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae, refi loans comprised 61.4 percent, up sharply from 37.6 percent for all of 2014. VA streamline refis accounted for $20.4 billion while FHA refis made up $12.2 billion of refis pooled in agency mortgage-backed securities. FHA’s refi production jumped 57.8 percent in the first quarter. On the other hand, refi loans with private MI accounted for $14.2 billion produced during the ...

First Tennessee Bank’s agreement with federal agencies to pay $212.5 million to resolve allegations of violation of the False Claims Act is the latest proof of the government’s unrelenting pursuit of FHA lenders over underwriting and quality control issues. The settlement once again demonstrates the federal government’s commitment to combat FHA fraud using the FCA to recover taxpayer losses, according to an analysis by Boston law firm Greene LLP. “[The Department of Housing and Urban Development] made a point of saying that this behavior is exactly what led to the financial crisis and housing market downturn,” Greene’s compliance attorneys said. HUD and the Department of Justice have vowed to continue to pursue and hold accountable lenders who put profits ahead of their customers and legal obligations, the attorneys added. According to the DOJ, First Tennessee, a regional bank, admitted ...