The CFPB is apparently disturbed by recent press accounts of possibly discriminatory lending practices by Vanderbilt Mortgage and Finance, a lending arm for the mobile home builder Clayton Homes, both of which are part of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Company. “The allegations of discrimination and predatory practices raised by the reporting are obviously very concerning to the bureau,” said Sam Gilford, a spokesman for the CFPB. Bureau officials would not comment further. In recent weeks, The Seattle Times and BuzzFeed used data from the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act to claim that Vanderbilt Mortgage, a manufactured housing lender owned by Clayton, consistently originates loans with higher interest rates for minorities compared with interest rates on loans the company originates for white ...

Technical Corrections to the TRID Made With No Fanfare. Over the holidays, the CFPB quietly made what it characterized as “non-substantial” technical corrections to its integrated mortgage disclosures final rule under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (Regulation X) and the Truth in Lending Act (Regulation Z). The November 2013 publication of the bureau’s TRID rule in the Federal Register resulted in “several unintended deletions of existing regulatory text from Reg. Z and the official interpretations (commentary) in the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) and, in one case, the omission of regulatory language in the TRID from the CFR,” said the CFPB. To correct the CFR, the bureau republished the deleted and omitted text, consistent with the agency’s intent in ...

Exams by the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2015 uncovered a number of problems at rating services large and small, according to a report released by the SEC at the end of December. However, the firms weren’t identified by name because the exams aren’t public. The report is a laundry list of findings involving the 10 nationally recognized statistical rating organizations, six of which are involved in the MBS and ABS markets. The findings came from exams that focused on activities in 2014. Offending rating services generally were referred to solely based on their size, with Fitch Ratings, Moody’s Investors Service and Standard & Poor’s referred to as “larger” rating services and the other companies referred to as “smaller” rating services. The SEC said...

Radian Guaranty became the first among seven private mortgage insurers to declare compliance with the regulatory capital standards under the Private Mortgage Insurer Eligibility Requirements (PMIERs), while other MIs expressed confidence they will meet those same requirements. Radian met its PMIERs goals after receiving $325 million in cash and marketable securities from its parent Radian Group in exchange for a surplus note. In addition, the parent firm contributed $50 million to an exclusive affiliated reinsurer of Radian Guaranty. Radian Group expects...

FHA lenders funded $12.3 billion in new Home Equity Conversion Mortgage loans during the first nine months of 2015, up a hefty 22.2 percent from the same period in the prior year, according to Inside FHA/VA Lending’s analysis of agency data. Likewise, HECM endorsements increased 17.3 percent to $4.5 billion in the third quarter from $3.9 billion in the prior quarter. This was the highest HECM endorsements have been since the second quarter of 2013, when they totaled $4.1 billion. Purchase loans accounted for 85.8 percent of all HECM originations over the nine-month period. The majority of borrowers favored adjustable-rate HECMs over fixed-rate HECMs, which accounted for only 14.8 percent of HECM transactions. In addition, the initial principal amount at loan originations totaled $7.3 billion, up from $4.6 billion midway through 2015. The volume increase is attributable to program changes implemented ... [1 chart]

The Department of Veterans Affairs has announced its loan limits for 2016, which are the same as the loan limits set by the Federal Housing Finance Agency for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac this year. Currently, the VA’s maximum guaranty amounts are indexed to the FHFA loan limits, which range from a base of $417,000 to a high-cost area limit of $625,500. The FHFA conforming loan limit will remain unchanged at $417,000 for single-family homes, effective Jan. 1, 2016, to Dec. 31, 2016. However, in 39 counties deemed “high cost,” the conforming loan limits will increase this year. VA loan limits are calculated based on the county median home values reported by FHA. The maximum guaranty amount for loans over $144,000 is 25 percent of the current VA county loan limit. Veterans with full entitlement available may borrow up to this limit and VA will guarantee 25 percent of the loan amount. In addition, the VA county limits ...

A total of $13.6 billion of rural home loans backed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture were securitized during the first nine months of 2015, according to an Inside FHA/VA Lending analysis of agency data.An estimated $5.1 billion of USDA home loans were delivered into Ginnie Mae pools in the third quarter, up 22.8 percent from the prior quarter. In contrast, the nine-month securitization volume fell 4.4 percent from the same period of the prior year. Nine of the top 10 USDA loan securitizers reported quarter-over-quarter increases. Top-ranked Chase Home Finance maintained its lead over other USDA loan securitizers with $4.2 billion in loans securitized during the nine-month period, down 4.8 percent from the previous year and up 32.8 percent on a quarterly basis. Chase’s nine-month USDA volume translated into a 31.0 percent market share. Second-place Wells Fargo funneled $1.7 billion in USDA loans into ... [ chart ]

The Department of Veterans Affairs is planning to propose changes to rules under its Home Loan Guaranty program related to loan fees, appraisers, limited denial of participation and residual income. Three of the proposed rules are slated for publication in the first quarter of 2016, according to the VA’s semiannual regulatory agenda. Agenda items, however, usually do not follow their publication dates and most rulemakings take a while before they are finalized. One proposed rule would establish reasonable fees that VA lenders may charge in connection with the origination and servicing of VA loans. All proposed fees would be in line with those charged by private mortgage lenders, assuring the sustainability of the VA loan program, the agency noted. In addition, the VA plans to propose rule changes regarding limited denials of participation (LDPs). LDPs are VA-specific sanctions that the Loan Guaranty Service may ...

The share of “unacceptable” ratings for defective FHA loans following a post-endorsement technical review has dropped from double- to single-digits in FY 2015 due to lenders’ mitigation efforts, according to the FHA’s latest loan-review results. FHA’s initial unacceptable rate has remained at 45 to 47 percent over the last four quarters, but lender submission of mitigating documentation has reduced that rate to 5 percent as of Oct. 31, 2015, the FHA report said. This means an overall mitigation rate of nearly 90 percent of the FHA-insured loan sample. The number of initially unacceptable findings and those findings subsequently mitigated are based on 6,415 FHA-insured mortgages that underwent post-endorsement technical reviews between April 1 and June 30, 2015. Of the total loans reviewed, 68.6 percent were purchase loans, 17.9 percent streamline refinance and ...