The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Housing Service (RHS) last week published a final rule revising current regulations regarding lender indemnification, refinancing and qualified mortgage requirements, only to withdraw it later without explanation. The final rule was published in the March 29, 2016, issue of the Federal Register and was withdrawn abruptly on March 31. The RHS’ one-paragraph correction notice said the rule had been “inadvertently published” and, thus, was being recalled. The agency neither elaborated nor returned calls seeking comment. The final rule would expand the RHS’ lender indemnification authority for loss claims in the case of fraud, misrepresentation or noncompliance with applicable loan origination requirements. By taking such action, the RHS aims to improve its ability to manage the risk of its single-family housing guaranteed loan program. In addition, the final rule would ...
Reduced mortgage insurance rates for FHA multifamily housing programs took effect on April 1, 2016 to help preserve and increase the amount of affordable housing for low- and moderate-income families. The reductions range from 25 to 35 basis points – a significant rate change for FHA’s multifamily portfolio. The revised multifamily mortgage insurance premium applies to any firm commitments issued or reissued on or after April 1. It is designed to encourage capital financing of affordable and energy-efficient dwellings. Announced on Jan. 28, the new MIP rates will not apply to FHA multifamily loans closed or endorsed before March 31, as well as to other multifamily mortgages endorsed in conjunction with an interest-rate reduction or a loan modification. For “broadly affordable” housing, FHA is lowering annual rates to 25 basis points, down 20 or 25 bps from current rates Broadly affordable housing means that ...
The mortgage industry is keeping the heat on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, urging the powerful consumer regulator to issue official guidance on TRID disclosure errors and assignee liability as problems continue to plague the non-agency secondary market. According to interviews conducted by Inside Mortgage Finance over the past several weeks, problems persist in the secondary because certain jumbo investors won’t buy loans even if there’s just one, minor TRID error...
United Guaranty last week filed papers for an initial public offering with the Securities and Exchange Commission as a first step to split from its parent company, American International Group, Inc. UG, the mortgage insurance subsidiary of AIG, has filed a proposed aggregate offering of $100 million of common stock but pricing has not been determined. The IPO will not launch until later this year, but if the weak IPO market picks up soon, “it would change things a great deal,” according to an analysis by investment research firm Seeking Alpha. In late January, AIG announced...
Mortgage lending allies, free-market advocates and Congressional critics of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau this week took issue with some of the CFPB’s most significant mortgage rules and its use of regulatory enforcement actions to establish policy they said would be more appropriately set in the traditional public notice and comment process. Former Federal Trade Commission official Todd Zywicki, now a law professor at George Mason University, told members of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee that many smaller banks have chosen to exit the mortgage market rather than bear the regulatory cost and risk associated with complying with the numerous mortgage regulations promulgated by the CFPB. Citing a survey of small banks conducted by GMU’s Mercatus Center, Zywicki said...
RSS