Ginnie Mae will soon require issuers to undergo stress testing to see if they have the financial strength to withstand adverse circumstances or a severe economic downturn.The agency said it will soon begin phasing in stress testing, which would play a key role in issuer oversight and liquidity. The initiative is part of Ginnie’s effort to enhance the management of counterparty risk, one of the so-called three pillars of progress underlying the agency’s 2020 initiative. In addition to stronger risk management, the initiative aims to make significant technological improvements by 2020 and explore new opportunities to strengthen Ginnie’s MBS program. Issuers that meet the thresholds for required ratings will probably be the first ones to be stress tested, the agency said. Ginnie is also looking for ways to evaluate exposure to a single counterparty, relative to the counterparty’s financial health and the value of ...

Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson reiterated concerns raised previously by his deputies regarding certain lending trends that could potentially endanger FHA’s financial health. Testifying during a HUD oversight hearing in the House Financial Services Committee this week, Carson said the department is scrutinizing certain policies that may be causing or contributing to the growth of cash-out transactions, unusually high debt-to-income ratios, serious loan delinquencies and early payment defaults. Carson said maintaining the health of the FHA mortgage insurance fund is critical in maintaining the agency as a source of credit for first time, low- and moderate-income, and minority homebuyers. The share of cash-out among all of FHA’s refinance transactions has increased to 60 percent as of April 2018 from 45 percent a year ago, he said. Also during that ...

The mortgage banking industry is backing a legislative proposal that would limit the government’s use of the False Claims Act to pursue hefty damages against FHA lenders. In a recent letter to the bill’s co-sponsors, the Mortgage Bankers Association expressed its strong support for H.R. 5993, the Fixing Housing Access Act of 2018. The MBA noted that originating FHA-insured loans has become very risky in recent years largely due to the civil actions brought by the Department of Justice under the False Claims Act and the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989. Fifty-four FCA and FIRREA cases against financial institutions have settled for billions of dollars between July 2011 and January 2018, according to data compiled by the Buckley Sandler law firm. Four cases are pending and one civil penalty award was reversed on appeal. Those lenders who were on the ...

Black Knight Financial Services, which currently collects all servicing data for VA, will no longer do the job after March 2019, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs. BKFS will stop providing the service when VA transitions to a new enhanced VALERI system. VA servicers currently use the VA Loan Electronic Reporting Interface system to upload servicing information. VALERI is undergoing a multi-phase restructuring for conversion to a fully automated system spanning loan application, origination and servicing. The enhanced servicing component of VALERI will be ready by late spring next year. As part of the transition, VA will ensure that all servicers are plugged into the new VALERI system before it becomes fully operational. VA’s transition plan covers all methods and procedures for reporting information to VALERI. These include use of a licensed servicing system or a proprietary in-house servicing system that automatically reports data to VALERI, or logging into the VALERI web portal to manually upload and enter data.

Lawsuits brought by cities with allegations of violations of the Fair Housing Act (FHAct) by lenders are continuing after a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court with a mixed message for lenders.

Bipartisan legislation was introduced recently in the House to addresse problems arising from the use of the False Claims Act and the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act in the context of mortgage insurance claims. Co-sponsored by Reps. Josh Gottheimer, D-NJ, and Lee Zeldin, R-NY, the bill would provide certain restrictions and clarifications on false claims and civil actions related to loans with FHA, VA or U.S. Department of Agriculture guarantee. H.R. 5993, the Fixing Access to Credit Act of 2018, has been sent to the House Financial Services Committee and to the House Committee on the Judiciary. A Civil War statute, FCA seeks to deter fraud against the government by providing hefty penalties for violations and establishing a 10-year statute of limitations to file civil claims. Enacted in the wake of the savings and loan debacle in the 1980s, FIRREA outlawed abusive lending and ...

Democratic State AGs Urge CFPB to Retain Public Access to Consumer Complaint Database. A coalition of 15 state attorneys general, led by New York AG Barbara Underwood, sent a joint letter to the CFPB, urging the bureau to retain its public database of consumer complaints. In the letter, the AGs said a public consumer complaint database is consistent with the CFPB’s statutory mandate in the Dodd-Frank Act, The law requires the agency to [Includes three briefs] ...

Some banks may be manipulating prices in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac unsecured debt, according to several investigations launched late last week.The Department of Justice has reportedly opened a criminal investigation while the law firm of Hagens Berman is investigating the potential fraud.They suspect that traders from several banks have engaged in a coordinated attempt to manipulate pricing. Hagens Berman attorneys encourage investors and whistleblowers to report any information about potential antitrust violations and other fraud in the bond trading market to a tip line they recently established. This type of fraud has a large impact on market participants, according to Steve Berman, managing partner of Hagens Berman.

Attorneys at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau this week formally threw in the towel on the agency’s controversial interpretation of anti-kickback provisions in the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act.

Ginnie Mae this week warned that VA refinance loans, particularly Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loans, may not be included in any new pool or loan package if they do not comply with the newly enacted law protecting VA borrowers from predatory lending. The agency announced new pooling guidance pursuant to the loan-seasoning provision in the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, which President Trump signed into law last week (See details of the new law below ). The changes affect issuances of Ginnie mortgage-backed securities on or after June 1, 2018, but do not affect MBS issued before that date, according to the guidance. However, lenders seeking a guarantee after June 1 may have to recalibrate their loan-origination platforms to exclude refis that do not meet the new law’s seasoning requirements, said the Structured Finance Industry Group. The ...