The FHA flood insurance requirements could make it difficult or more risky for lenders to originate FHA loans in states with significant flood risk or where flood maps may not accurately reflect the current flood risks, the Mortgage Bankers Association warned. Testifying during a recent hearing on private flood insurance, Steven Bradshaw, executive vice president of Standard Mortgage and MBA representative, warned that FHA’s current requirement for lenders to secure flood insurance on properties only if it is located within a high flood-risk zone has had some unexpected adverse impact, particularly in the wake of hurricane-related catastrophes. Bradshaw noted that many homes that were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina were not located in special flood-hazard areas (SFHA) and therefore were not required to have flood insurance. “Sadly, these borrowers were often uninsured and the ...
The FHA has given lenders and servicers an additional extension through April 17, 2016, to submit due-and-payable notices when Home Equity Conversion Mortgage borrowers fall behind on their property tax or insurance payments. The extended deadline also provides FHA lenders and servicers an opportunity to pursue loss mitigation before initiating foreclosureThe latest deadline extension was the second such extension. In April 2015, the FHA announced a policy change providing HECM lenders and servicers an additional 60 days in which to initiate foreclosure proceedings against any troubled HECM borrower with a case number issued prior to Aug. 4, 2014, with a non-borrowing spouse. Lenders and servicers are required to comply with reasonable-diligence timeframes for such HECMs. Debenture interest will not be curtailed during this period. The April policy allows mortgagees full discretion as to when to use the extension.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development has extended temporary authorizations to USDA loan officers to approve home financing for very low- and low-income persons in rural areas in 2016. The temporary authorizations are available through Sept. 30, 2016, according to the agency’s recently issued fiscal 2016 guidance. The USDA extends authority to “loan-approval officials” to approve Single-Family Housing Section 502/504 direct home loans provided they have an acceptable appraisal. Loans obligated under this authorization must be for housing purposes only and the applicant must meet all eligibility criteria, according to the guidance. The Rural Development (RD) field staff must first review the appraisal before the loan is closed. Funding must be cancelled as quickly as possible whenever a transaction falls through. RD state offices are responsible for reviewing accounts if they ...
On Jan. 21, 2016, the FHA issued a reminder to lenders to register for one of the three remaining phases of Electronic Appraisal Delivery (EAD) Onboarding, before the electronic appraisal submission requirements become mandatory on June 27, 2016. The remaining onboarding phases are the following: Feb. 15-April 15 (registration closes on Feb. 14); March 15-May 15 (registration closes March 14); and April 15-June 15 (registration closes on April 14). All appraisals for FHA case numbers assigned on or after June 27, 2016, must be submitted to FHA through the ...
Although some large lender – including Wells Fargo – have quietly killed their MSAs with Realtors, others quietly forge on, keeping a close eye on the PHH case…
One observer who follows the program had this to say: “It’s nice of them [FHA] to give money away in an election year. It’s not like they need the volume.”
With nonbanks fearing they could be stuck with error-laden mortgages that violate the integrated disclosure rule, a secondary market has developed for this new breed of “scratch and dent” loans, according to interviews conducted by Inside Mortgage Finance. One investor, requesting his firm’s name not be identified, said his shop bought such a mortgage for 90 cents on the dollar. Participants in the market – including investors and traders – concede...
Existing home sales increased by 14.7 percent in December compared with the previous month, according to data from the National Association of Realtors, suggesting that issues involving the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s disclosure rule were temporary. NAR said 5.46 million sales of existing homes were completed in December, on a seasonally adjusted basis, up from 4.76 million the previous month, marking the largest monthly increase ever recorded by the group, on a percentage basis. Existing home sales in November were down by 10.5 percent from the previous month as lenders grappled with the new TRID disclosure rule. “While the carryover of November’s delayed transactions into December contributed greatly to the sharp increase, the overall pace taken together indicates...
The mortgage industry’s continued use of marketing services agreements and other affiliated business arrangements hangs in the balance in a long-running dispute between PHH Corp. and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which will be the subject of oral arguments April 12, 2016, before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia. “The PHH appeal is one of the most important Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act opinions to be decided by the courts in decades,” legal expert Phillip Schulman told Inside Mortgage Finance this week. “It will determine whether Section 8(c)(2) of the act merely clarifies the Section 8(a) anti-kickback provisions of the statute, as CFPB Director Richard Cordray claims, or whether it creates a safe harbor that exempts payments from a RESPA violation if those payments are for goods provided or services rendered, as the plain language of the act and several previous circuit courts have held.” Further, “This appeal will have...
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