Cart

Inside Mortgage Finance

August 6, 2009

View Archived Issues

Mortgage Servicing Market Continues Shrinking As Loan Failures Outpace New Production

The surge in mortgage refinance activity in the first half of 2009 has not been strong enough to fully offset the undertow of declining house prices and record high defaults, leading to further contraction in the mortgage servicing business. The supply of home loan debt in the market slipped back under the $11 trillion mark at the midway point in 2009, falling... [Includes one chart and one graph] Read More

Servicers Report Mixed Progress on HAMP Modifications; Some Ahead of the Curve

Based on data released by the Treasury Department this week, the mortgage industry shouldn’t have too much trouble meeting the target of 500,000 loan modifications announced after a summit of servicers and government officials late last week. Lenders participating in the Obama administration’s Home Affordable Modification Program, which includes... [Includes one chart] Read More

GSE Guaranty Pricing Subsidizes Some Higher-Risk Mortgages Even as Loan Quality Improved in 2008

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac boosted their guaranty pricing in 2008, especially for higher-risk mortgage products that still appear to be subsidized to some degree by less risky business, according to a new study by federal regulators. The government-sponsored enterprises in late 2007 woke up from an industry-wide fantasy in which mortgage credit risk was significantly underpriced because of... Read More

Taylor Bean Whitaker Sunk by FHA Suspension; Agency Suspects Fraud

One of the industry’s largest privately held mortgage bankers, Taylor Bean & Whitaker, lost key agency approvals this week and was forced to cease all mortgage production operations. A press release posted on the Web site of the Ocala Star-Banner said the company had to shut down its origination activities immediately after losing its approvals to make FHA loans... Read More

Despite Industry Uncertainty, New Private MI Finds Opportunity in the Financial Turmoil

As private mortgage insurers reel from mounting losses and skyrocketing defaults, a new company in Radnor, PA, is gearing up to write and service new mortgage insurance policies – a new entrant that could relieve pressure on other capital-starved MIs to do new business. The new kid on the MI block, Essent Guaranty, Inc., has been approved by the Pennsylvania Insurance Department and... Read More

FHFA Takes Another Stab at GSE Mission With New Duty to Serve Rule, Lower Goals

The Obama administration late last week began the process of re-framing the affordable housing mission of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by releasing revised goals the two government-sponsored enterprises can probably meet in the near term and starting to flesh out a new “duty to serve” mandate included in last year’s GSE reform legislation. “Supporting housing affordability continues... Read More

Administration Revises FHA Loan Mod Program, Changes Expected to be Popular Among Servicers

With its Home Affordable Modification Program coming under increasing fire over its lagging results, the Obama administration last week decided to expand its approach to include FHA mortgages, now making them eligible for modifications that reduce up to 30 percent of a borrower’s principal, similar to what it has done elsewhere under the program. As of Aug. 15, FHA borrowers in... Read More

D.C. Federal Court Rejects NAMB Claims, Clears Way for Final RESPA Rule Implementation

A federal judge in the District of Columbia threw out a mortgage broker industry lawsuit seeking to stop the Department of Housing and Urban Development from implementing mortgage settlement reforms under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, including a revised disclosure requirement for yield-spread premiums, or YSPs. U.S. District Court Judge James Robertson found that the National... Read More

Big Changes Underfoot at the GSEs as Lockhart Departs and ‘Good Bank, Bad Bank’ Idea Emerges

The world of the government-sponsored enterprises suddenly shook this week, with news of the departure of Federal Housing Finance Agency Director James Lockhart and the emergence of an idea to purge Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac of hundreds of billions of dollars of toxic loans, leaving them free and clear, healthy companies. Details are sketchy, but what is being referred to as a... Read More

Latest Imf News

More Imf News

Featured Data

More Featured Data

Featured Reports

More Latest Reports

Featured Poll

As homeowner equity continues to build, more and more lenders are launching home equity lending products. Are you thinking of joining this market?

View Results