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Inside FHA/VA Lending

November 14, 2008

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FHA Modernization Is Still a Work in Progress

The long process of rolling out changes to FHA programs is well under way, and there’s still much more to come from the Department of Housing and Urban Development as the mortgage industry braces for 2009. Congress heaped a generous portion of changes onto HUD’s plate via the Housing and Economic Recovery Act, and just this week, HUD released three mortgagee letters... [Includes one graph] Read More

H4H Volume Yet to Get Off the Ground

Six weeks since the Department of Housing and Urban Development launched its HOPE for Homeowners refinance plan, there are still four times as many lenders signed up to offer the program as actual loan applications. HUD lists some 180 FHA lenders eager to do business in a program that attracted just 42 loan applications in its first two weeks. Although some officials say 20,000... Read More

FHA Lenders Brace for Lower Loan Limits

Industry groups are lobbying Congress to freeze FHA loan limits for high-cost housing markets at current levels, even as the government has announced significant reductions for almost every major market in the U.S. The Department of Housing and Urban Development on Nov. 7 released new high-cost loan limits for 2009 that take into account the reduction in the maximum single-family... [Includes two charts] Read More

Democrats’ Power Surge May Boost FHA Lending

FHA lending has gotten quite a boost in the last few years – uncharacteristically so, by historical standards under a Republican White House – and the agency’s upward trajectory is expected to continue in the wake of November’s election results. “FHA market share has zoomed over the last year or so, and I would expect that momentum to continue or even accelerate under a Democrat-controlled... Read More

Six Mortgagees Lose FHA-Approved Status

The Department of Housing and Urban Development terminated six mortgage companies’ FHA origination approval agreements in recent weeks based on “deficiencies in the performance of lenders’ loans.”AAA Worldwide Financial Company of Fort Worth, TX, Landmark Mortgage Corp. and American Mortgage Services, both of Atlanta, Community Home Lending of Birmingham, AL, Southwest Stage Funding... Read More

HUD Revises HECM Limits, Fee Guidelines

The Department of Housing and Urban Development this week implemented two key changes for the FHA home equity conversion mortgage program: a uniform national loan limit and new caps on HECM origination fees. Mortgagee Letter 2008-35 establishes a national HECM loan limit of $417,000 that took effect Nov. 6, although several areas in Hawaii are eligible for higher amounts. The... Read More

Ginnie Tweaks Policy for Re-Pooling Defaults

FHA servicers that want to re-securitize defaulted loans they have repurchased from Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities will have to make sure the loans are current if they want to use the agency’s standard MBS pools for level-payment mortgages. Ginnie Mae revised its policy on securitizing loans previously re-purchased from MBS pools in response to investor concerns about... Read More

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