The recent enactment of the Honoring America’s Veterans and Caring for Camp Lejeune Families Act of 2012 includes a number of changes to the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Loan Guaranty program, including reverting to the VA’s previous method of calculating maximum guaranty. The restoration of the previous method used to derive VA loan limits has resulted in the increase of some loan limits, according to guidance issued by the agency last week. While VA does not have a maximum loan amount, “county limits” must be used to calculate the maximum VA guaranty for a particular county. The maximum VA loan limit for 2012 in high-cost areas is ...

The rising delinquency rates for FHA-insured mortgage loans could spell trouble down the road for the FHA as it struggles to shore up its dwindling loss reserves, according to a new Fitch Ratings analysis. But the chief economist for the Mortgage Bankers Association has a slightly different take on that issue. Fitch analyst Brian Bertsch said a growing gap between seriously delinquent (90-day past due) guaranteed and non-guaranteed loans could presage future losses that could prompt the FHA to restrict loss claims and force banks to buy back defaulted loans. This could be the scenario ...

Ocwen Financial Corp. and joint venture partner Altisource will soon be buying FHA-insured loans from lenders through a special vehicle, Correspondent One, for future securitization. In its second quarter filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Ocwen said it expects Correspondent One will be able to use its relationship with Lenders One to grow its volume substantially. “Correspondent One has seen significant, positive environmental changes in the correspondent lending market, [and] there has been a contraction in correspondent lending,” Ocwen said, alluding to ...

VA Flunks ‘Plain Writing’ Test. The Department of Veterans Affairs got an “F” for not following the requirements of the Plain Writing Act, which directs federal agencies to take steps to ensure they are communicating clearly with businesses, consumers and stakeholders. The statute went into effect July 2011 and the Center for Plain Language, a nonprofit organization that grades government agencies on their efforts to comply with the Act, evaluated and graded 12 agencies for compliance. The center gave two grades – the first grade represents how well the agency followed the requirements of the act, and the second grade reflects ...

Single-family MBS issuance in the agency market dropped 4.8 percent from June to July, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS market analysis and ranking. A total of $133.23 billion of agency single-family MBS were issued last month, a huge 82.9 percent increase of the amount produced in July of last year. That brought year-to-date issuance in 2012 to $893.92 billion, an increase of 40.5 percent from the same period last year. Fannie Mae was the only agency to see...[Includes one data chart]

HECM Changes. HUD announced this week that all FHA-approved mortgagees that remit insurance premiums on home-equity conversion mortgages must submit certain information to HUD by July 25 if they have not been involved with the Home Equity Reverse Mortgage Information Technology project. The FHA plans to change the process used to remit MIPs for the HECM program in the near future. Upcoming Ginnie Changes. During the monthly Ginnie Mae issuer outreach call this week, Ginnie officials announced that they will ... [Includes three briefs]

Given the features of the enhanced FHA streamline refinancing product, investors will be focusing on the FHA low mortgage-insurance premium (MIP) pools in the coming months, according to analysts with Barclays Research. Barclay’s analysts estimate that 27 percent of outstanding Ginnie Mae MBS pools are eligible for streamline refinancing, which could translate to $36 billion in new annual Ginnie Mae issuance. Approximately $293.0 billion of Ginnie Mae’s $1 trillion-plus 30-year loan pools were originated before May 2009, analysts said. About 79 percent of the collateral underlying the pools are ...

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau expects to undertake a project to refine and integrate disclosure requirements under the Truth in Lending Act and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act for reverse mortgages to improve consumers’ understanding of the product. The In a recent 231-page study submitted to Congress, the CFPB said consumers are still confused about how reverse mortgages work, despite the required disclosures and industry efforts to educate the public on this type of equity-based lending. The rising-balance and falling-equity nature of reverse mortgages is particularly ....

HUD FY 2013 Budget. On June 29, the House approved the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s FY 2013 budget. Although a number of amendments was considered, the funding levels for HUD programs remained unchanged from those passed by the House Appropriations Committee. New commitments under the FHA’s Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund in FY 2013 include $400 million for loan guarantees and $50 million for direct loans. The General and Special Risk Program gets $25 billion for guaranteed loans and $20 million for direct loans. A total of $500 billion for the Ginnie Mae securitization program would be available until ...

Roughly 27 percent of outstanding Ginnie Mae MBS pools are eligible for the FHA’s revised streamline refinancing program, which could translate to $36 billion in new annual Ginnie Mae issuance, according to a report from Barclays Research. Barclays analysts estimated that about $293.0 billion of Ginnie Mae’s $1 trillion-plus 30-year loan pools were originated before May 2009. About 79 percent of the collateral backing these pools are FHA loans, which suggests that as much as $232.0 billion could qualify...