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Inside Mortgage Finance

March 11, 2010

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‘Agency Jumbo’ Originations Accounted for Modest Share of Booming Agency Mortgage Market in 2009

Over half of the big-ticket single-family mortgages originated in 2009 were financed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the FHA, but so-called agency jumbo lending still made up a relatively thin slice of the overall business in the three programs. A total of $98.6 billion of jumbo mortgages – generally single-family loans of greater than $417,000... [Includes three charts] Read More

House Bill Would Implement Changes to FHA, Fees, Indemnification Authority for Bad Loans

Draft legislation introduced in the House this week would give the Department of Housing and Urban Development more flexibility in setting FHA annual premiums, authority to force lenders to indemnify losses on poorly originated loans and broader authority to discipline problem lenders. The “FHA Reform Act of 2010” reflects legislative changes sought by the Obama administration to... Read More

Industry Groups Accuse HUD of Overstepping SAFE Act Authority in Proposing Licensure for Loan Mod Specialists

The Department of Housing and Urban Development is exceeding its authority under the Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act by proposing to require the states to mandate the licensing or registration of mortgage servicer employees who perform loan modification, according to industry trade groups. The American Bankers Association, Mortgage Bankers Association and the... Read More

Servicers Still Coping With HAMP And Looking to Other Mod Programs

Servicers have been hamstrung by several aspects of the Obama administration’s Home Affordable Modification Program, and as they look for ways to opt out of the massive government initiative, some are looking to their own mod programs instead. As of the end of January, slightly more than 1 million HAMP trials had been started, but only about 116,000 or less than 12 percent have been... Read More

GSEs’ MI Risk Exposure Shows No Improvement As Outstanding Receivables Jump from 2008 Levels

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac not only have to deal with pushing an increasing number of loans back to seller servicers, they also are reporting a rising volume of outstanding receivables from mortgage insurers. Fannie said it had $2.5 billion in outstanding receivables from private MIs at the end of 2009, up from $1.1 billion the year before. Freddie finished last year with... [Includes one chart] Read More

DOJ Claims to Break Ground by Holding AIG Liable for Failing to Monitor Broker Pricing

The fair lending settlement recently announced between two mortgage units at American International Group and the Department of Justice puts more legal liability on wholesale lenders although it may not represent as significant an expansion of fair lending law as the agency claims. On March 4, the DOJ and the newly created Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force announced that two AIG... Read More

Appraisal Groups Cite Mortgage Fraud Fears In Opposing Obama’s Short Sales Program

Four organizations representing more than 35,000 real estate appraisers told the Obama administration they are worried that the new government short sale program – particularly its reliance on broker price opinions – could exacerbate mortgage fraud and urged that greater independence be injected into the home valuation process. “We understand the administration is seeking ways to... Read More

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