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Inside Mortgage Finance

March 15, 2018

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Home-Equity Business Ended 2017 on Solid Ground, Impact of Tax Cut Law Still Fuzzy

The home-equity lending business quietly built some momentum over the past three years after nosediving in the aftermath of the housing-market meltdown, but its future growth will depend on several moving parts. Read More

Freddie Rolls out New Risk-Transfer Pilot with Arch but Not Without Controversy. USMI Trade Group Tried to Kill It

Freddie Mac this week rolled out a new pilot program with the help of Arch Capital Group, the parent company of the nation’s largest mortgage insurance firm. But the pilot – dubbed IMAGIN for “integrated mortgage insurance” – is already stirring controversy. Read More

Loan Production Volume Starting to Pick Up After A Sluggish Start in 2018. Giants on the Horizon?

Several residential lenders suffered through a challenging start to the new year but loan production is starting to warm up as the spring homebuying season nears. Still, higher interest rates are causing consternation with many shops openly worried about plummeting refis and lower profit margins. Read More

Broker Group Singles Out Firms as ‘True Partners’ And Lenders Seen as ‘Stealing’ Broker Business

A group of mortgage brokers released a scorecard this week categorizing 30 wholesale lenders as either “true partners” of brokers, “in the middle” or so-called whole-tail competitors that are seen as taking business away from brokers with their retail outlets. Read More

Soaring Role of Nonbanks in Ginnie Mae MBS Market Poses Risks, Brookings Report Says

The significant gains of nonbank mortgage lenders in the government-backed mortgage market suggests that nonbank failures could be quite costly to the government and taxpayers, according to a paper authored by three Federal Reserve Board economists and two university researchers. Read More

Finding an Alternative to Existing Fannie/Freddie Credit Score Policies Is Not Getting any Simpler

As the Federal Housing Finance Agency continues to evaluate alternative credit scoring mechanisms, some experts argue that the agency isn’t doing enough to promote an updated scoring system while others say the current system works just fine. Read More

FHFA Auditor Said Better Oversight Needed For GSE High-LTV Home Purchase Programs

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s auditor concluded that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac low-downpayment programs had a high compliance rate but fell somewhat short when it came to ensuring the homeowner education component was met. Read More

Senate’s Bipartisan Dodd-Frank Reform Bill Moves on to Uncertain Future in the House

The Senate this week passed a package of amendments to the Dodd-Frank Act by a vote of 67-31, moving the regulatory reform debate to the House, where Republicans have pushed through a large number of more aggressive changes. Read More

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