The National Association of Realtors also urged the FHA to use its “granted discretion” to adjust loan limits for areas that have experienced significant declines.

FHA chief Carol Galante reminded lenders that mortgage premium increases – five hikes from 2008 to 2013 – were necessary to protect the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund and properly price for the risk the government insurer was taking on.

In general, many mortgage firms that make loans on vacation homes want a downpayment of at least 20 percent.

Negative spreads between a fixed-rate HECM loan and advancing future funds at a fixed rate could endanger servicers’ capacity to meet their obligations under the HECM MBS program,

What does the CFPB think of Martin’s allegations and Raucci’s report backing her up? An agency spokeswoman did not return a media inquiry from IMFnews.

Inside FHFA Lending also found another interesting trend: The top 50 HECM lenders are dominated by nonbanks, some of which are relatively new to the space.

Agreeing to speak only on background, some mortgage participants thought that ORI’s recapitalization plan raised serious concerns among potential investors.

FHA lenders reported $8.7 billion in new originations in January, down from $10.9 billion in December and $23.7 billion from a year ago. Most were fixed-rate mortgages and 77.1 percent were purchase transactions.

W.J. Bradley Mortgage Capital announced a number of new jumbo mortgage products this week. Among the offerings is a loan with a 10 percent downpayment requirement for balances of up to $850,000.

M&A specialists believe that some lenders obtain their Ginnie approvals merely for the purpose of increasing their franchise value without having solid plans to issue securities.