A Senate lawmaker and the Mortgage Bankers Association warned House lawmakers that a narrow “qualified residential mortgage” rule will result in overuse of the FHA program and make it more difficult for private capital to re-enter the housing finance market. Testifying before the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Insurance, Housing and Economic Opportunity last week, Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-GA, said the six federal agencies charged with crafting risk-retention requirements apparently failed to consider the impact of a narrow QRM rule on the FHA program. Isakson, who co-authored a Senate exception to...

Overlooked in the often rancorous partisan sniping during last week’s hearing to consider the nomination of Richard Cordray as the first director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau were some remarks the candidate made that suggest he is interested in reducing the regulatory compliance burden facing mortgage lending institutions. “I ... am convinced that the bureau will find many opportunities to streamline regulations and disclosures,” Cordray told members of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee last week. “Our ‘Know Before You Owe’ project is working to combine the mortgage disclosure forms required under two distinct but overlapping statutes to make the costs, risks and responsibilities of a home loan clearer to consumers and at the same time to reduce paperwork burdens for lenders – which is a true win-win.

Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, who’s heading up the 50-state settlement talks with the nation’s top mortgage servicers over industry foreclosure practices, is defending the decision to proceed without the direct participation of New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman. In a letter to the New York delegation to the U.S. House of Representatives, Miller rejected the assertion that the state AGs had removed Schneiderman from the negotiation table. “New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman voluntarily walked away from the negotiation table in June,” Miller said.

The securitization market needs less uncertainty and a great deal more transparency in order to restore investor confidence and lure back private capital, industry executives told members of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises. Witnesses testifying before the subcommittee, which held a field hearing in New York City, said the state of the securitization market remains uncertain, not just due to government subsidies crowding out any private sector action but also because hesitant investors do not yet see much improvement in the opaque environment that led to the...

Goldman Sachs has been ordered to retain an independent consultant to review foreclosure proceedings initiated by its former subsidiary, Litton Loan Servicing LP, under a formal enforcement action announced by the Federal Reserve Board last week. The firm was also required to provide financial remediation to affected borrowers. Additional monetary penalties are likely to be announced shortly. The Fed said it was acting against Goldman Sachs “to address a pattern of misconduct and negligence relating to deficient practices in residential mortgage loan servicing and foreclosure processing” involving Litton. Goldman sold...

Facing a statute of limitations deadline, the Federal Housing Finance Agency filed lawsuits against 17 firms last week in an effort to recover losses the government-sponsored enterprises suffered on their investments in non-agency mortgage-backed securities. The FHFA claimed violations of securities laws, alleging that non-agency MBS prospectuses contained material false statements and omissions. The lawsuits relate to more than $196.2 billion in non-agency MBS purchased by the GSEs. The GSEs’ combined holdings of subprime and Alt A MBS have declined since at least the fourth quarter of 2007 when they totaled $217.2 billion, according to an analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets,. ...

The Department of Housing and Urban Development is urging Congress not to raise the minimum downpayment on FHA mortgage loans, saying that downpayments are not the best indicator of loan defaults. Testifying before the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Insurance, Housing and Community Opportunity, Acting Assistant Secretary for Housing/FHA Commissioner Carol Galante warned that a legislative proposal to raise FHA’s minimum downpayment requirement to 5 percent would forestall recovery in the housing market and restrict access to credit for worthy borrowers. Galante said HUD has not made any determination as to ...

The Department of Housing and Urban Development is pondering its next move after discussing with mortgage industry representatives their concerns about extending the current forbearance period for unemployed homeowners to a maximum of 12 months. HUD and FHA officials met recently with the Mortgage Bankers Association and several small mortgage servicers, which took issue with FHA’s recently revised forbearance policy. HUD declined to discuss the outcome of the meeting, saying it was more about understanding the industry’s concerns and discussing solutions. “No decision has been made as to whether we can or will make any changes, but we are looking into the issues they have raised,” said a HUD spokesman. On July 7, the FHA announced ...

Recent changes to Ginnie Mae’s repurchase policy are getting positive reviews from analysts. Announced on Aug. 26, the revised loan buyout policy will make it easier for servicers and issuers to buy delinquent home loans out of Ginnie Mae pools without having to wait 90 days for the loan to become eligible for repurchase. Before the change, pool repurchases were allowed only if a borrower missed three consecutive mortgage payments. Under the revised policy, issuers can buy delinquent loans out of the pool while the borrower is making partial payments under an FHA or VA trial payment plan as a prerequisite for a permanent modification. On the surface, the revised policy would appear ...

The Department of Housing and Urban Development is seeking comment on a proposed rule that would expand FHA-insured lending in rural areas. Published in the Aug. 26 Federal Register, the proposed rule would allow direct lenders in the Farm Credit System to participate in the FHA mortgage insurance programs as approved mortgagees or lenders. Although participation in the mortgage insurance programs is voluntary, Farm Credit System financial institutions must comply with FHA approval requirements. The comment period ends Oct. 25. Recent difficulties in mortgage finance markets have reduced the availability of housing credit in rural areas, where the FHA currently does very limited business. Consequently, HUD proposes ...