Reverse mortgage lenders chalked up a win in Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal on the question of whether surviving spouses of borrowers who had taken out a Home Equity Conversion Mortgage loan also qualified as “borrowers” and, therefore, cannot be evicted from the property after the death of the borrower. The appellate court’s ruling contradicted two previous court rulings in Smith v. Reverse Mortgage Solutions, Inc. and Edwards v. Reverse Mortgage Solutions, Inc. Both rulings held that surviving spouses of deceased HECM borrowers also qualified as “borrowers” under the terms of the mortgage and, therefore, entitled to protection from eviction. However, in One West Bank, FSB v. Palmero, the appellate court changed course and outlined the conditions under which a lender could prove that “borrower” meant only the person who actually had taken out the reverse ...

The number of FHA lenders subject to administrative actions by the Department of Housing and Urban Development in FY 2017 declined from the previous fiscal year, according to the latest report from the Mortgagee Review Board. Published in the April 25 Federal Register, the report showed the number of FHA lenders that were hammered with civil money penalties, lost FHA approval, and received suspensions, probations, and reprimands from Oct. 1, 2016, to Sept. 30, 2017, fell to 20 from 25 in FY 2016. But the biggest change was in the number of lenders cited and disciplined for violation of FHA’s annual recertification requirements. Lenders that failed to meet the recertification requirements in a timely manner but eventually came into compliance totaled 52 in FY 2017, down from 106 in fiscal 2016. On the other hand, 23 lenders agreed to settle with HUD after they failed to ...

Guild Mortgage has announced an FHA-backed financing program that would allow homebuyers to finance solar panels through a mortgage when purchasing a house. It is not Property Assessed Clean Energy financing, which has similar goals but is prohibited by FHA because it asserts lien superiority over all other liens, including a residential mortgage. Guild developed the program, FHA Solar, with FHA to ensure adherence to all agency loan requirements, according to a company representative. “It sounds like Guild slapped their own brand on a loan product that appears to fit among FHA’s various energy-efficient programs, not to be confused with PACE obligations, which are no longer a part of our single-family insurance program,” said a Department of Housing and Urban Development spokesman. FHA Solar is available to residents in California. It provides homebuyers the ...

The NAR is hoping that a cut in g-fees (and LLPAs) ultimately will be passed down to consumers – who buy homes from NAR’s members.

Mick Mulvaney, acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, is thinking about ending public disclosure of the agency’s controversial consumer-complaint database. The idea is consistent with his goal of limiting the bureau to activities that are specifically required by law.

Investors Unite: "We’re in trouble if the secret plan for GSE reform rests on axing the only public official who is actually tuned into reality…”

Freddie CEO Donald Layton told Inside MBS & ABS that implementation of the FHFA directive “has largely been complete.”

CFPB Acting Director Mick Mulvaney: “I don’t know why we call it the CFPB; that is not the name of the organization..."

There’s been speculation that when the Trump administration picks Watt’s successor, one of the first things that person might do is impose a loan-size purchase limit on the two government-sponsored enterprises.

Total gripes filed during 1Q18 were down 36.3 percent from a year ago…