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Inside Mortgage Finance

July 30, 2009

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Mortgage Originations Increase Sharply In 2Q09, But Second Half Outlook is Murky

Mortgage lending surged again in the second quarter of 2009, hitting its highest level in almost two years as a flood of refinance business churned through the agency securitization market. An estimated $550 billion of single-family mortgages were originated during the second quarter of 2009, an increase of 23.6 percent over the first three months of... [Includes two charts and one graph] Read More

Obama Administration Wants 500,000 Modifications Begun by Nov. 1, Servicers Confident They Can Do It

Under pressure to accelerate homeowner assistance under the Home Affordable Modification Program, mortgage servicers have agreed to work harder to achieve the Obama administration’s goal set this week to get 500,000 trial modifications underway by Nov. 1. The ambitious HAMP target was announced after senior officials with the Treasury Department and the Department of Housing... Read More

More HAMP Guidance Emerges

Fannie Mae has issued a burst of new guidance for servicers participating in the Obama administration’s Home Affordable Modification Program. Fannie is serving as the government’s agent in administering HAMP, meaning it will collect data and handle the distribution of incentive payments for all eligible loans, including non-agency mortgages. Servicers have complained about a... Read More

Frank Urges Industry to ‘Accept Reality and Work With Us,’ As He Called for Cooperation on Regulatory Restructuring

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank. D-MA, called on the financial services industry to work with Congress in crafting a system of regulations that will prevent a recurrence of the financial crisis, saying that Democrats are committed to the task and that changes will happen one way or another. Speaking at a luncheon at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, this week... Read More

House Bill Aims to Extend Jumbo Loan Limits for GSEs and FHA … Again

The House Appropriations Committee last week approved legislation to extend current high-cost mortgage limits for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and FHA loans through September 2010, leaving the top agency-eligible loan at a $729,750 cap for the priciest markets. Barring the extension, the maximum conforming loan limit would revert back to $625,500 at the end of this year... Read More

Issuance of New TILA Disclosure Proposals Adds Another Layer of Regulatory Burden on Financial Institutions

With various new mortgage disclosure and consumer protection regulations becoming effective in the second half of 2009 and early 2010, and regulatory reform legislation on track for passage this year, the financial services industry is wondering how much more it can take. Industry groups are just beginning to wade through 660 pages of new proposed Truth in Lending Act regulations... Read More

Faltering HAMP Needs Greater Transparency And Accountability to Succeed, GAO Tells Treasury

While the mortgage industry is taking a lot of political heat over the early results from the Obama administration’s Home Affordable Mortgage Program, the administration itself bears much of the blame for the lack of success thus far, according to the Government Accountability Office. The GAO also said the Obama administration’s foreclosure prevention program may fall... Read More

Cramdown Redux?

Congressional frustration over the pace of federal foreclosure mitigation strategies is keeping alive the flickering political support for bankruptcy cramdowns. “It is clear to me that Congress must do more to help struggling American homeowners, and specifically, that we need... Read More

Appraisal Code Being Used as ‘Scapegoat’ for Industry’s Numerous Problems; Enforcement Severely Lacking

The government-sponsored enterprises’ Home Valuation Code of Conduct is to blame for some of the ongoing concerns within the appraisal industry, but many obstacles confronting appraisers, such as lack of enforcement and regulation of appraisal management companies, go well beyond the scope of the controversial new code. Experts on an audio conference call hosted by Inside Mortgage Finance... Read More

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