It appears that looser underwriting has been driven by an increase in the number of lenders participating in the HARP program and copy-cat efforts that allow for LTVs of greater than 95 percent.
A mortgage employee who who merely states general information such as “we offer rates as low as 3% to qualified consumers” would not be considered a loan originator.
Freddie filed repurchase requests on some $361.6 million of 2012 originations during the first quarter of this year, according to figures compiled by Inside Mortgage Trends.
One of the best kept secrets in the servicing sector is a “bifurcated” mortgage program initiated by Fannie Mae that has been gathering momentum over the past six months.
The expanded system would include a more comprehensive method for measuring lenders’ loss mitigation activities as well as their compliance with FHA’s default servicing requirements.
The Congressman argues that if the two are not allowed pay down their draws from Treasury “then any future funds sent" to the U.S. should be reinvested in the housing market.
There is a whole other level of supervisory and enforcement authority available to the bureau under a director approved with the consent of the Senate, mostly having to do with non-bank lending.
With the advent of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, consumer complaints have been elevated to an unprecedented level of prominence in the regulatory arena. “How many of you have had a regulatory exam that focused on complaints?” asked Lyn Farrell, managing director at Treliant Risk Advisors, at a discussion session during the recent American Bankers Association’s compliance conference in Chicago. Seeing a number of hands rise from the audience in response, she continued: “If not, you will.” ...
The Federal Housing Finance Agency has no interest in revisiting a program that Fannie Mae spent a year developing to directly purchase force-placed insurance even as it solicited input last week from “stakeholders” during a two-day, closed-door working group. The invitation-only meeting, closed to the public and press, drew some 80 attendees representing big banks, insurers, insurance brokers, other regulators and representatives of industry and consumer groups who weighed in as the Finance Agency decides its policy direction on force-placed or lender-placed insurance. According to those in attendance at the meeting, the FHFA officials were cordial but the agenda was strictly focused on concerns that force-placed premiums might be too high and that the industry lacks serious competition.
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