The reverse mortgage industry is supporting an FHA move to require a second appraisal for certain Home Equity Conversion Mortgage loans. FHA did not seek public comment on the interim policy change, which subjects all HECM loans, effective Oct. 1, to a collateral risk assessment to ensure the appraisal of the property is not inflated. The new policy has wide support in the reverse mortgage industry. A study conducted by the Department of Housing and Urban Development last year found that 37 percent of appraisals on approximately 134,000 HECMs tested positive for over-valuation. The inflated HECM appraisals were at least 3 percent higher than estimates by FHA’s proprietary automated valuation model, according to FHA Commissioner Brian Montgomery. The same study also found that higher-than-expected losses in the HECM program could be attributed in part to ...
The mortgage banking industry is optimistic about Congress enacting legislation that would cure VA orphan loans before the midterm elections. The U.S. Senate still has time to consider H.R. 6737, the Protect Affordable Mortgages for Veterans Act, according to Bill Kilmer, chief lobbyist at the Mortgage Bankers Association. “Most observers think [lawmakers are] going to be around until Oct. 18 or 19, which is when Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he wants to keep folks around to work on nominations and other measures they need to clear,” Kilmer said. “There is time and, more to the substantive point, the bill passed the House.” H.R. 6737 would provide a technical fix so that certain VA refinance loans would be eligible for pooling in a Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed security. The bill was reported out of committee by a unanimous 49-0 vote, and was approved quickly by the House ...
Use of FHA downpayment assistance from programs run by entities owned by Native American tribes may soon be under agency scrutiny. Industry stakeholders are pointing to a pre-rule notice the Department of Housing and Urban Development published last spring as an opportunity for HUD to clarify the use of downpayment assistance from parties other than those currently allowed to meet FHA’s 3.5 percent downpayment requirement. In an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register, HUD is seeking comment on the use of downpayment assistance as well as their approved sources, such as tribal providers, state and local housing finance agencies, government agents and non-profit organizations. One downpayment-assistance provider is the Chenoa Fund Loan Program, which is owned and operated by the Utah Cedar Band of Paiutes. The fund provides secondary financing to ...
The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s failure to record indemnifications under a 2015 settlement agreement exposed the FHA insurance fund to potential losses of more than $47.4 million, according to an internal audit report. HUD’s Office of the Inspector General performed the audit to resolve issues related to two settlement agreements entered into by Fifth Third Bank and the Department of Justice. Fifth Third, a direct endorsement lender, had voluntarily disclosed to HUD 1,439 materially defective FHA loans that were originated between 2003 and 2013. HUD paid claims on 519 of those flawed loans, which generated more than $84.9 million in ineligible claims. In addition, FTB agreed to indemnify HUD for all losses for the remaining 920 FHA-insured mortgage loans. In January 2017, the bank voluntarily disclosed an additional 381 materially defective FHA loans. A HUD review of the ...
The federal statute that authorized the Department of Housing and Urban Development to establish the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage program addresses only HUD’s authority to insure reverse mortgages and not the lender’s contractual right to foreclose, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit has ruled. Affirming the district court’s decision in The Estate of Caldwell Jones, Jr., Executrix Vanessa Jones and Leah Grace Jones, Minor v. Live Well Financial Inc., the circuit court determined that the HECM statute did not prevent foreclosure pursuant to a reverse-mortgage contract originated before Aug. 4, 2014, even if the non-borrowing spouse continued to live in the mortgaged property. The question before the court was whether the statute can be read broadly to prevent foreclosure after the borrower’s death and prevent the non-borrowing spouse from being ejected from the ...
FHA Issues Waiver of Property Inspections in Disaster-Stricken California Counties. FHA has issued a waiver of its timing policy for completing property inspections prior to closing or endorsing a loan for FHA insurance. The waiver is in effect in presidentially declared major disaster areas in Lake and Shasta Counties, CA, that were ravaged by wildfires and high winds. FHA believes that the wildfires and high winds have stabilized so as not to cause any further damage to properties, even though FEMA has not declared “all clear” in the affected areas. The waiver allows damage inspections to be completed after Oct. 2, for properties located in the PDMDA. NC Commissioner of Banks Amends State Reverse Mortgage Rules. The North Carolina Commissioner of Banks recently amended its ...
A few months back, the Federal Housing Finance Agency ordered Fannie Me and Freddie to end their involvement in SFR financial arrangements. However, any deals in progress were allowed to close...
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