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Inside FHA/VA Lending

May 9, 2014

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VA Issues Interim Rule Identifying QM

The Department of Veterans Affairs has issued an interim final rule establishing that almost all VA loans that meet current agency underwriting standards will be “safe harbor” qualified mortgages. Certain VA streamlined refinancing will be “rebuttable presumption” QMs instead. Specifically, under the VA rule, safe harbor QMs include all purchase-money mortgage loans and refinances other than certain Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loans (IRRRLs) guaranteed by the VA. Such a designation would help assure veterans they can still obtain mortgage loans on favorable terms while easing lenders’ fear of liability if they originate VA loans as well as investors’ concern about putting their money in VA loans, the agency said. In addition, the interim final rule confers QM safe harbor status to all VA direct loans, Native American direct loans and vendee loans. The VA QM rule complies with ... Read More

VA to Focus Scrutiny on Lenders’ QC Plans

The Department of Veterans Affairs will soon begin looking closely at whether lenders are complying with the agency’s requirement for a quality control plan. Participants at a recent VA lender conference in Houston said officials warned of impending audits of lenders’ quality control regimes as the agency tightens its oversight. All lenders authorized to process VA loans automatically are required to maintain a QC plan and execute it in the course of making VA loans. Lenders were advised to familiarize themselves with VA’s QC plan requirements and be ready when VA scrutinizes the process in future lender-monitoring audits, participants said. This initiative is consistent with VA auditing an increasing percentage of loans to refine its ... Read More

HECM Safeguard Extended to Non-Borrowing Spouses

The Department of Housing and Urban Development will soon seek comment on a proposal to extend equal protection to reverse mortgage borrowers and their non-borrowing spouses from displacement due to eviction or foreclosure. The proposed rule would codify the changes to existing Home Equity Conversion Mortgage regulations and make other alternative revisions as appropriate, according to HUD. The FHA expects to publish a notice of proposed rulemaking soon. Currently, the National Housing Act provides for a “safeguard to prevent displacement of the homeowner.” The provision defers repayment of the HECM until the homeowner’s death, the sale of the home, or the occurrence of other events specified in the regulations. Such events include the homeowner’s failure to reside in the property or failure to pay the required taxes and insurance. Without this provision, a reverse mortgage is ... Read More

Budget Bill Bars Agencies from Eminent Domain

The House Appropriations Committee this week approved the FY 2015 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development funding bill, which, among other, things contains a provision prohibiting federal housing agencies from facilitating the use of eminent domain in resolving foreclosure problems. Specifically, the FHA, Ginnie Mae and the Department of Housing and Urban Development would not be allowed to use funds appropriated by Congress to “insure, securitize or establish a federal guarantee” of any mortgage or mortgage-backed security that refinances or replaces a mortgage that has been subject to eminent domain condemnation or seizure by a state, municipality or any other political subdivision of a state. In addition, the bill would prohibit the use of appropriated funds or any receipts or amounts collected under any FHA program to implement the FHA’s new Homeowners Armed with Knowledge (HAWK) program. HUD has proposed to ... Read More

GNMA Issuance Falters as FHA Production Drops

Issuance of mortgage bonds with a Ginnie Mae guarantee fell during the first three months of 2013 as higher FHA costs and all-cash home sales appeared to drive the decline, according to Inside FHA Lending’s analysis of agency data. Ginnie Mae issuers closed the first quarter with MBS issuances totaling $58.2 billion, down 19.0 percent from the fourth quarter of 2013. The drop was steeper on a year-over-year basis, 41.3 percent, data showed. FHA accounted for $30.6 billion of government-backed mortgage securities issued during the period, while VA and Rural Housing Development (Department of Agriculture) accounted for $19.1 billion and $4.1 billion, respectively. Top Ginnie Mae issuer Wells Fargo closed out the first quarter with $12.5 billion, down 28.1 percent from the previous quarter and off 59.9 percent from the same period a year ago. Wells’ volume accounted for ... [1 chart] Read More

Ginnie Mae Servicing Flat in the First Quarter of 2014

Servicers of mortgage debt issued by Ginnie Mae reported a slight uptick in government-backed debt outstanding in the first quarter of 2014 though not enough to cause a ripple in a market that has been generally flat since the end of the third quarter last year, according to Inside FHA Lending’s analysis of Ginnie Mae data. Ginnie Mae servicers reported an increase of 0.9 percent in servicing volume from the fourth quarter of 2013 following a 0.2 percent decline in the prior quarter. Volume, however, increased 7.3 percent in 1Q14 compared with volume a year ago. Servicers ended the first quarter with a total of $1.44 trillion in Ginnie Mae mortgage servicing, up from $1.43 trillion in the fourth quarter. Major banks comprised four of the top five Ginnie Mae servicers. Wells Fargo’s overall servicing portfolio declined to $426.7 billion in the first quarter, down ... [ 1 chart] Read More

Groups Call for Harmonized Transfer Fee Rules

A coalition of industry trade associations is urging the FHA to harmonize its regulatory treatment of transfer fee covenants with the Federal Housing Finance Agency. In a joint letter, the group said the FHFA’s final rule on transfer fee covenants “establishes a clear, national standard to protect homeowners from equity-stripping private transfer fees while preserving the preeminence of state and local governments over land-sue standards.” The letter was sent in response to reports that FHA may issue a proposed rule on transfer fee covenants that will apply to FHA-insured mortgages. A private transfer fee covenant is attached to real property by the owner or another private party – frequently the property developer – and provides for a fee to be paid to specified third party every time the property is resold. The fee typically is a percentage of the property’s sales price and ... Read More

Nonprofits’ Role in Secondary Financing Clarified

A nonprofit organization that assists a government agency in providing secondary financing through FHA does not need approval by the Department of Housing and Urban Development or placement on the agency’s roster of approved nonprofits that meet certain requirements. According to Mortgagee Letter 2014-08, to qualify for the exclusion, the nonprofit’s functions must be limited to the government entity’s secondary financing program as well as to the note and deed of trust, which name the government agency as the mortgagee. Currently, HUD requires nonprofits to be HUD-approved and listed on the agency’s roster of nonprofit organizations before engaging in secondary financing for closing costs, prepaids and downpayment assistance on behalf of the government entity. In a mortgagee letter last year, HUD acknowledged that some government entities could not legally or operationally ensure that they are “making” second mortgages. As a result, the agency allowed ... Read More

Definition Expands Affordable Rural Housing Market

A revised-areas map that meets the new definition of “rural area” for U.S. Department of Agriculture housing programs is now available to USDA lenders and borrowers seeking affordable rural-home financing. The map was posted on the USDA Income and Property Eligibility Site on May 6 and users may access it by selecting “single family housing” under the Property Eligibility menu. More details about the changes will be available soon in frequently asked questions guidance, the agency said. The new definition of rural area is contained in the Agricultural Act of 2014 (Farm Bill), which was enacted on Feb. 7 and made changes to federal rural development programs. Among other things, the bill redefined rural areas as those with populations up to 35,000 that are “rural in character” for eligibility in the USDA housing programs. The previous population requirement was less than 20,000 people. The area must be ... Read More

Around the Industry

AAG, NCRC Announces Fair Lending Partnership in Reverse Mortgages. American Advisors Group, ranked first among the nation’s Home Equity Conversion Mortgage lenders in 2013 by Inside FHA Lending, has collaborated with the National Community Reinvestment Coalition to ensure fair lending to older borrowers. Through this partnership, AAG employees will complete an NCRC fair housing training course. In addition, the AAG will consult with NCRC to develop best practices for complying with the Fair Housing Act. An umbrella group of more than 600 community-based organizations, the NCRC will also serve as an adviser to AAG in providing HECM mortgages to qualified borrowers age 62 or older. AAG Chief Executive Officer Reza Jahangiri said the partnership is a huge step toward the promotion of fair lending practices and responsible lending. AAG was the top HECM lender in 2013 with $1.4 billion in total originations representing ... Read More

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