Originations of home equity loans remain concentrated on HELOCs, which accounted for 80.5% of originations in the first half of this year.

James Hodge, FHFA’s acting principal deputy inspector general, said the OIG is likely going to have to reduce its staff by upwards of 80% due to the reduced funding and the OIG will cease criminal investigations.

Pivot Financial CEO Jennifer McGuinness-Lubbert noted that even though the Federal Housing Finance Agency is treating the scoring models similarly for determining loan-level price adjustments with the GSEs, the secondary market has already seen the pricing grids that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac developed for VS4.

“The rating downgrades reflect Wells Fargo’s continued reduction of its servicing portfolio and strategic shift toward government-sponsored enterprise and owned prime portfolios,” Fitch said.

The average interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage hit 7.28% Thursday, according to Freddie Mac.

The ARM share of first-lien originations increased to 16.8% from 15.0% in the first quarter.

Matt Jones, the Trump administration’s nominee for commissioner of FHA, plans to continue to work to reduce mortgage costs and housing costs if confirmed for the position.

FHFA’s IG told members of Congress that the planned budget cuts would require the IG to wind down its operations and cut nearly its entire staff.

In recent weeks, Better has disputed shareholder share counts announced by Garg and accused him of violations of securities laws in his effort to remove directors at the company.

FICO launched a direct license program a year ago but adoption has been hindered by lack of approval from FHFA for use by the government-sponsored enterprises.