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Inside Mortgage Finance

June 17, 2010

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Industry Calls for Changes in Mortgage Reform Provisions, Bipartisan Group Wants Compromise Preemption Preserved

The mortgage banking industry this week urged House-Senate conferees to take action on several provisions in the conference base text for H.R. 4173, the Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2010, even as centrist Democrats warned conferees not to touch a hard-fought compromise on federal preemption. The conferees this week began considering various sections of a massive “conference base text” that was cobbled together with... Read More

FHA Reform Bill Would Fix Correspondent Lending Snafu, Should Help Rebuild FHA Insurance Fund

The FHA Reform Act of 2010 passed by the House of Representatives late last week by a 406-to-4 vote may help untangle a problem that has emerged as the FHA moves away from approving cor-respondent lenders. The Department of Housing and Urban Development stopped approving new loan correspondent applicants on May 20, 2010, and currently approved correspondents will maintain their... Read More

Mortgage Market Slowdown Hits Most Sectors In Servicing Business, But Ginnie Keeps Gaining

The mortgage servicing business continued to shrink in early 2010 as the outstanding balance of single-family home loans fell for the ninth consecutive quarter. The Federal Reserve reported late last week that there were $10.749 trillion of home mortgages outstanding as of the end of March, a 1.0 percent drop from the previous quarter. With declining house prices, a sharp drop in cash-out refinance and home-equity lending and feeble home sales, the supply of home mortgage debt has fallen persistently since... [Includes one data chart] Read More

Lawmakers Aim to Create Homeowner Advocate to Help With HAMP Mods, Extend Tax Credit

Lawmakers in the Senate have offered separate amendments to pending legislation that would extend the deadline for homebuyers to take advantage of a tax credit and establish an office that would represent homeowners in cases involving the massive federal home modification program. The amendments are to the American Jobs and Closing Tax Loopholes Act, which has passed both the House and Senate in different forms and is in the final stages... Read More

Freddie Mac Tries to Fend Off Extensive Probe in Dispute With BofA, TBW, FDIC

Freddie Mac, already in hock to the U.S. taxpayer up to its eyeballs, is trying to fight off what it characterizes as an enormous data demand from Bank of America, Taylor Bean & Whitaker, BNP Pa-ribas, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. that the government-sponsored enterprise said could cost it at least $10 million to fulfill. BofA, BNP Paribas and the FDIC joined in a motion originally filed in February in which Taylor Bean & Whitaker asked the court to authorize an examination of Freddie and some of... Read More

More Disparate Impact Cases Seen as DOJ Intensifies Fair Lending Scrutiny, But Theory is Not Iron Clad

“Disparate impact” may become a buzzword for the mortgage industry in the coming months as the Department of Justice broadens its enforcement efforts to curb fraud and discriminatory practices in mortgage lending and servicing. While the DOJ continues to keep close watch on potential redlining, reverse redlining and discre-tionary pricing, the focus for fair lending has now shifted to loan modifications and... Read More

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