The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Rural Housing Program has fully automated the submission of loan-origination documents and the electronic issuance of conditional commitments. This means that RHS’s Guaranteed Underwriting System (GUS), which is used for underwriting single-family rural home loans, has gone paperless, beginning March 28, 2015. Over the past year, USDA Rural Development has implemented changes to streamline and modernize the guaranteed loan program. In December last year, the RHS modified its lender loan-closing system to allow electronic issuance of loan note guarantees. Under the streamlined document-submission process for GUS requests, lenders will upload all required origination documents into GUS following a final submission. This enables lenders to avoid encrypting and emailing docs to USDA. After receiving the docs, GUS will alert the ...

VA mortgage servicers disputing a final reconveyance decision must submit the information themselves to the Department of Veterans Affairs, not the foreclosure attorney, according to new guidance issued by the agency. The new policy became effective on March 13, 2015, and spells out the process for a servicer to dispute a final reconveyance decision. Reconveyance is the transferring of a clean property title to a buyer after a secured debt, such as a deed of trust or mortgage, has been paid in full. The VA developed a reconveyance dispute process with Vendor Resource Management, a real estate asset management company, to address servicer disagreements pertaining to the reconveyance of an asset. Servicers are now required to complete and submit information regarding reconveyance disputes to VRM via email. Disputes must be received directly from ...

Fannie Mae Updates Reverse Mortgage Loan Servicing Manual. Fannie Mae has updated its reverse mortgage servicing manual with changes and clarifications to policies pertaining to Home Equity Conversion Mortgages. For HECMs, Fannie now requires servicers to place a real estate-owned hazard insurance policy upon completion of a foreclosure sale. It also outlined servicers’ responsibilities regarding the documentation and cancellation of REO hazard insurance claims; reimbursement of REO hazard insurance premiums; and remittance of insurance loss proceeds. The revised policy changes must be implemented no later than April 1, 2015. House Democrats Reintroduce Housing Finance Reform Bill. Democrats on the House Financial Services Committee have introduced legislation that would provide private and government risk-share coverage to all mortgages, create a ...

In years past, some have likened Fannie and Freddie to being giant thrift institutions...

According to an informational circular on Angel Oak Mortgage Solutions, some of the top executives at the firm used to work for Southstar Funding in Sandy Spring, GA.

The integrated disclosure rule from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau continues to shake up the mortgage industry months before it even takes effect. Particularly unsettled are settlement agents, who hope they continue to stay relevant in the new world of mortgage originations, but fear their role will be diminished if not rendered obsolete. “The lender is ceding less authority to the closing agent but they are still letting them close the transactions with greater supervision,” said one industry insider. “Could that change? There is a fear it might, but that is not how it is now.” Joseph Ventrone, vice president for regulatory and industry relations at the National Association of Realtors, put...

Former Fannie Mae CEO Daniel Mudd testified Tuesday in a civil trial over losses the GSE suffered on nonprime MBS...

ICBA also suggested extending QM exceptions to more community banks by raising the threshold number of loans small lenders can originate each year.

Few lenders are counting on a reduction in the current “ongoing” GSE fee, which increased from 13 basis points in 2009 to 40 bps in 2013.

Some banks have already been doing loan closings themselves...