Ginnie Mae securitization of rural home loans got off to a wobbly start in the first quarter of 2016 as securitization volume fell 13.8 percent from the prior quarter, according to an Inside FHA/VA Lending analysis of Ginnie data. Approximately $3.9 billion in loans with a USDA guarantee were securitized during the first three months, with the top five issuers accounting for $2.1 billion of mortgage-backed securities produced by the segment during the period. USDA securitization volume dropped 9.2 percent year over year. Top USDA issuer Chase Home Finance accounted for $1.2 billion of securitized rural housing loans, while PennyMac, in distant second place, finished the quarter with $378.5 million. Wells Fargo ($294.0 million), Pacific Union Financial ($122.8 million) and Amerihome Mortgage ($102.2 million), in sequential order, comprised the rest of the top five issuers. Pacific Union climbed over ...

A new California law requiring condominium homeowner associations to disclose to their members whether the VA or the FHA has certified their buildings will soon take effect.Starting July 1, 2016, California HOAs will have to disclose in their annual budget report whether or not their condominium projects have been approved for VA or FHA financing. Gov. Jerry Brown, D, signed Assembly Bill 596 into law in August last year to encourage more veterans and first-time homebuyers to purchase condominiums and take advantage of the benefits of government-backed home financing. In signing the measure into law, Brown expressed hopes that condominium HOAs will step up their certification or recertification process. Assemblyman Tom Daly, D-Anaheim, author of the bill, estimates there are 28,000 condo projects in the Golden State, and only a third are FHA-certified. There are far fewer projects that are ...

The California Association of Realtors renewed its push for rules addressing the proliferation of FHA-insured mortgages that have Property Assessed Clean Energy super liens. In a recent letter to Office of Management and Budget Director Shaun Donovan, the CAR requested that both FHA and the Department of Housing and Urban Development adopt policy that is consistent with the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s existing policy on PACE liens. Specifically, such a policy would prohibit the use of PACE encumbrances with a “super lien” priority over mortgage financing. The group also urged HUD to issue guidelines directing FHA lenders and servicers not to place PACE liens above any mortgage insured by FHA. The CAR expressed concern about how PACE liens might affect the FHA Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund, which is currently recovering from years of losses. “If the ..

FHA Revises TOTAL Mortgage Scorecard. Effective on June 11, 2016, the FHA’s TOTAL Mortgage Scorecard no longer returns either upfront or annual mortgage insurance premium factors to an automated underwriting system. The FHA directs lenders to consult Appendix I of its Single Family Housing Policy handbook for applicable MIP factors. AUS vendors have been notified of the change and have adjusted their systems accordingly. HUD, First Citizens Bank Settle Fair Lending Complaint. A South Carolina bank has agreed to correct its lending practices and allocate funding to resolve allegations that it denied more loans to minorities compared to similarly-situated white loan applicants. The settlement agreement stemmed from a complaint filed by the Department of Housing and Urban Development against First Citizens Bank and Trust Co. in 2011 after an analysis of ...

Increased securitization of purchase-money mortgages provided the lift for a pickup in the production of new single-family MBS by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae in May, according to a new market analysis and ranking by Inside MBS & ABS. The three agencies produced a total of $114.71 billion of new single-family MBS last month, a 5.3 percent increase from April’s volume. May was the third straight month of increased production and it just barely exceeded the $113.56 billion issued during the same period a year ago. For the first five months of 2016, production was down 2.8 percent from last year. Purchase mortgages accounted...[Includes two data tables]

FHA originations rose significantly in the first quarter of 2016 from the same period last year even as VA loan production decreased slightly, according to an analysis of Ginnie Mae data. Lenders delivered $54.4 billion of FHA-insured loans to Ginnie Mae for securitization during the first three months, up 36.2 percent from the previous year. In contrast, the volume of VA loans securitized over the same period, $35.0 billion, fell 1.5 percent compared to the same period a year ago. A strong purchase-mortgage market drove FHA activity from January to March. The reduction in FHA’s annual insurance premium in January 2015 continued to have an impact on FHA’s purchase-loan market share. In 2015, FHA purchase originations accounted for $151.0 billion of the estimated $881.0 billion in total purchase originations (conventional and government single-family forward originations), according to ... [ 2 charts ]

Eleven lenders paid a total of $152.1 million in civil penalties and settlements while three others lost their FHA approval for various violations of FHA requirements, according to the Mortgagee Review Board’s latest report on administrative actions taken against FHA-approved lenders. As required by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the report summarizes the disciplinary actions imposed by the board on FHA lenders from Oct. 1, 2014, to Sept. 30, 2015. These actions include $151.7 million in settlements and $370,119 in civil money penalties, withdrawals of FHA approval, suspensions, probations and reprimands. Allied First Bank of Oswego, IL, agreed to pay a $17,000 civil money penalty for improper use of FHA’s name in certain correspondence and for failure to notify HUD of a consent order entered into by the bank and federal and state banking regulators. The MRB voted to ...

A California-based mortgage lender and six senior executives have agreed to pay $12.7 million to the Securities and Exchange Commission to resolve allegations they schemed to defraud investors in the sale of residential mortgage-backed securities with a Ginnie Mae guarantee. The SEC complaint alleged that, from March 2011 to March 2015, Ginnie Mae issuer First Mortgage Corp. and its top executives pulled current performing loans out of Ginnie Mae MBS. The issuer falsely claimed that the loans were delinquent so that it could recycle them as newly issued MBS and sell them at a profit. FMC allegedly issued Ginnie Mae MBS prospectuses with false and misleading information by using a Ginnie Mae rule that allowed issuers to repurchase seriously delinquent loans. In addition, the SEC complaint alleged that FMC deliberately delayed depositing checks from borrowers who had been behind on ...

Refinance lending gained strength in the first quarter of 2016 and surpassed origination of purchase-money mortgages, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance ranking and analysis. Mortgage lenders originated an estimated $195 billion of refinance loans in the first three months of this year, an 11.4 percent increase over the fourth quarter. With purchase-mortgage production slumping by 11.9 percent to $185 billion, the refi market accounted for 51.3 percent of total originations for the first quarter. Although purchase-mortgage lending is expected to pick up considerably in the second and third quarters, the refi market isn’t...[Includes three data tables]

Activity in the Home Affordable Refinance Program continued to dwindle in the first quarter of 2016 as the post-housing crisis initiative winds down before expiring at the end of the year. HARP refinances fell to just 19,989 in the first quarter, down 5.2 percent from the previous period and off 36.8 percent from a year ago, according to a new Federal Housing Finance Agency report. While both government-sponsored enterprises saw a decline in volume, Freddie Mac volume was...[Includes one data table]