The FHA has announced new streamlined procedures to help delinquent homeowners avoid foreclosure and stay in their homes. The agency is revising loss-mitigation procedures servicers use when evaluating and choosing the best home-retention options for delinquent borrowers by reducing waiting time for results. The new streamlined procedures are designed to enhance servicers’ ability to evaluate foreclosure-avoidance alternatives, especially for the FHA-Home Affordable Modification Program (FHA-HAMP). Specifically, FHA will require servicers to convert successful three-month trial modifications into permanent modifications within 60 days instead of the average four to six months. Borrowers who have three missed mortgage payments would be able to opt for a partial claim to bring their arrearages current versus the previous four-month minimum. In addition, the FHA will eliminate the ...

New legal requirements enacted in the state of New York in the wake of the financial crisis pose particular compliance challenges for mortgage servicers, according to a new report by analysts at S&P Global Ratings. The S&P team recently reviewed a series of laws the state legislature passed in June that attempts to address several issues related to “zombie” foreclosures, which refers to the phenomenon of a servicer initiating foreclosure on a vacant property but not going so far as to actually take title. Urban community activists complain such properties languish unsold for a prolonged period of time, contributing to neighborhood blight in communities least able to handle it – hence, state lawmakers decided to act.One resulting requirement “imposes conditions ...

Among three nonbank servicers that grew significantly after the financial crisis, Nationstar Mortgage has managed to continue to acquire mortgage servicing rights and subservicing while Walter Investment Management and Ocwen Financial have recently sold MSRs and taken huge losses. Officials at Nationstar said the nonbank is on track to board servicing with an unpaid principal balance of $130.0 billion between August and the end of the year. The new servicing includes acquisitions of MSRs and subservicing agreements. Nationstar handled a $369.0 billion servicing portfolio at June 30, down from $386.0 billion in servicing at the end of March. “I don’t think...

Ocwen Financial reported a net loss of $87.20 million for the second quarter of 2016, with most of the loss related to so-called legacy issues. A planned settlement with the Department of Justice of two lawsuits involving the Home Affordable Modification Program and FHA mortgages caused $40.10 million in pre-tax losses for the nonbank lender-servicer. The company also paid $28.10 million during the quarter to cover the cost of monitoring settlements involving federal regulators ...

There was a significant increase last year in the number of coordinated examinations of non-bank financial services companies between the CFPB and state banking regulators. The number of such exams rose from nine in 2014 to 16 in 2015, the State Coordinating Committee of the Conference of State Bank Supervisors reported recently in its annual report. Examinations that are scheduled between the SCC and the CFPB are performed simultaneously between state regulators and the CFPB. The examinations involve coordinated planning, shared resources, concurrent onsite visits, and sharing of confidential and non-confidential supervisory information, including findings and reports of exam. The SCC also indicated there was “an expansion into new industry types as the CFPB established additional supervision authority by rule.” ...

The rapid growth among nonbank mortgage servicers and its potentially adverse effect on consumer experience became a challenge in 2015, underscoring the importance of effective technology and the underlying systems that comprise a servicing platform, according to the latest state supervisory report on non-banks. The report by the Conference of State Bank Supervisors (CSBS) and the Multi-State Mortgage Committee (MMC) features the result of last year’s review of supervisory examinations and risk-assessment of nonbank mortgage servicers. The MMC is the oversight body responsible for the coordination and supervision of multi-state mortgage entities.

The House this week approved legislation making it easier for loan officers working for depository institutions to go to work for nonbanks. Separately, the Senate last week approved a $39.2 billion fiscal 2017 funding bill for the Department of Housing and Urban Development. By a unanimous voice vote, House lawmakers approved H.R. 2121, the SAFE Transitional Licensing Act. The legislation provides for a 120-day temporary license for registered loan originators who change jobs and makes for an easier transition when moving from a financial institution to a state-licensed nonbank or to another state. Introduced last April by Rep. Steve Stivers, R-OH, the bill would require...

The Department of Veterans Affairs has issued new guidance and some servicing reminders in connection with mobile-home foreclosures, consent judgments, servicer transfers, liquidation appraisal fees and others.VA servicers must specifically refer to the mobile home in foreclosure declaration documents to ensure that both the home and the land are properly foreclosed, the VA said. Many states require two separate foreclosure procedures for every transaction – one to foreclose the interest on the land and the other to foreclose on the title of the mobile home. The VA said foreclosure on the title of the mobile home may have to be filed with state’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). When a VA loan on a home on wheels is referred to foreclosure, the servicer must inform the foreclosing attorney that it is a mobile home and whether a DMV filing is required. The VA will reconvey the mobile home to the ...

HUD Sends Final Condominium Rule to OMB for Clearance. The Department of Housing and Urban Development has sent a final rule to the Office of Management and Budget that would make it easier for borrowers to obtain FHA financing for certified condominium units. Once issued, the final rule will replace temporary guidance which HUD issued in November last year to ease FHA’s condo approval process. The move is aimed at increasing affordable housing options for first-time and low-income homebuyers. The final rule is expected to reflect measures in the interim guidance, including modification of the requirements for condo project recertification, revised calculation of FHA’s required ownership-occupancy percentage, and expansion of eligible condo-project insurance coverages. IG Scrutinizes HUD Oversight of SFHAs’ Downpayment Assistance Programs. Residential lenders that rely on ...

State regulators focused much of their mortgage-related supervisory efforts in 2015 on servicing examinations enforcement, according to the Multi-State Mortgage Committee. State regulators also continue to work on capital requirements for state-licensed nonbank servicers, but there’s no timeline for when further action might occur. ....