Industry Briefs Oct. 20, 2022: Equifax Delivers Telecomm, Utility Data in Mortgage Credit Reports

Equifax To Deliver Telecommunications, Utility Insights Alongside Mortgage Credit Reports

Equifax, Atlanta, said it will provide telecommunications (telco), pay TV and utilities attributes to the mortgage industry to help streamline the mortgage underwriting process and support loans within the secondary mortgage market.

Equifax said certain telco, pay TV and utilities attributes to mortgage lenders alongside traditional credit reports can help create greater home ownership opportunities for 191 million U.S. consumers, 80 percent of whom have traditional credit files, but may benefit from additional insights into their financial profile that can make mortgage underwriting faster and easier. Use of these expanded data insights can also provide visibility to millions of credit invisible consumers – those without traditional credit files – and enhance the financial profiles of thin, young and unscorable consumers as they complete first mortgage applications.

These added consumer insights, delivered alongside Equifax traditional mortgage credit report, will be provided at no additional cost to lenders. Equifax will begin making these insights available to customers in first quarter 2023.

Federal Agencies Announce Threshold for Smaller Loan Exemption from Appraisal Requirements for Higher-Priced Mortgage Loans

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Federal Reserve Board and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announced 2023 threshold for exempting loans from special appraisal requirements for higher-priced mortgage loans will increase from $28,500 to $31,000.

The threshold amount will be effective January 1 and is based on the annual percentage increase in the Consumer Price Index for Urban Wage Earners and Clerical Workers, known as CPI-W, as of June 1.

Federal Agencies Announce Dollar Thresholds in Regulation Z, Regulation M for Exempt Consumer Credit, Lease Transactions

The Federal Reserve Board and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced dollar thresholds used to determine whether certain consumer credit and lease transactions in 2023 are exempt from Regulation Z (Truth in Lending) and Regulation M (Consumer Leasing).

Specifically, based on the annual percentage increase in the CPI-W as of June 1, 2022, Regulation Z and Regulation M generally will apply to consumer credit transactions and consumer leases of $66,400 or less in 2023.  However, private education loans and loans secured by real property, such as mortgages, are subject to Regulation Z regardless of the amount of the loan.

HUD Says 35,000 Served through Emergency Housing Voucher Program

HUD said more than 35,000 customers have been served through the Emergency Housing Voucher program, noting 50 percent of the total number of EHVs provided through Biden Administration’s American Rescue Plan have been leased up. 

The Emergency Housing Voucher program is a special purpose voucher program within HUD to address homelessness not specific to veterans. HUD said the program is leasing at a rate faster than any previous housing voucher program within the department. The EHV program is an anchor program of HUD’s House America initiative in which HUD, the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, and other federal agencies have enlisted leaders in 105 state and local communities to make specific commitments to re-house people experiencing homelessness into permanent housing.

iEmergent Hosts Nov. 9 Workshop on Special Purpose Credit Programs

iEmergent, Des Moines, Iowa, will host a virtual workshop on Special Purpose Credit Programs on Wednesday, November 9, from noon-2:00 p.m. ET.

Through roundtable discussion and a hands-on practicum, “Tapping the Potential of SPCPs: A Hands-on Workshop for Mortgage Lenders” will give attendees the skills and confidence necessary to develop and launch successful SPCPs while earning points toward their Certified Mortgage Banker (CMB) designation from the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Panelists will provide a comprehensive look into SPCPs — what they are, how lenders can deploy them to help close the racial homeownership gap and tactics for successful SPCP planning, implementation and measurement — using real examples from successful SPCP programs. The workshop will end with a Q&A session, giving attendees the opportunity to request personalized advice for building and optimizing their own SPCP initiatives.

For more information, visit: https://www.iemergent.com/spcp-workshop.  

Ginnie Mae MBS Portfolio Ends Fiscal Year at $2.288 Trillion

Ginnie Mae’s mortgage-backed securities portfolio outstanding grew for the 15th consecutive month in September, to $2.288 trillion, up from $2.265 trillion in August and $2.126 a year ago. New MBS issuance for September was $42.6 billion, supporting the financing of more than 143,000 homeowners and renters. Ginnie Mae MBS supported financing for more than 64,000 first-time homebuyers in September.

The September issuance includes $40.77 billion of Ginnie Mae II MBS and $1.86 billion of Ginnie Mae I MBS, including $1.73 billion of loans for multifamily housing.

Big Purple Dot Aligns with CoreLogic to Launch Mortgage Recruiting Platform 

Big Purple Dot, Irvine, Calif., tapped CoreLogic, Irvine, to launch a mortgage recruiting platform that provides detailed production data on loan originators and a customer relationship management service to help lenders in their recruiting efforts. The platform will be powered by CoreLogic data.

Using current and accurate data, and analytics per loan officer available, supplied by CoreLogic, and the framework of Big Purple Dot’s lead management and CRM system, the new recruiting platform enables the mortgage industry to analyze a loan officer’s, lender’s and broker’s loan production volume, loan type, number of loans generated and smartly reach out to them with technology tools such as video messaging, SMS and automated marketing, at scale, to engage top talent through all stages of the hiring process. The new platform also includes built-in contact information, including the originator’s email address, cell phone number, and physical address.

FormFree’s AccountCheck Meets Freddie Mac Loan Product Advisor Criteria

FormFree, Athens, Ga., said mortgage lenders can now use AccountChek to automate income assessment using Freddie Mac Loan Product Advisor asset and income modeler for borrowers who are paid through ADP.

AIM automates assessment of borrower income using direct-source employer and payroll service data furnished by a Freddie Mac designated third-party service providers such as FormFree. ADP is the first payroll provider eligible for automated verification of income through AIM. AccountChek supports this expansion by enabling borrowers to authorize electronic verification of their ADP payroll data.

FHA Proposed Rule: Indexing Methodology for Title I Manufactured Home Loan Limits

The Federal Housing Administration published a proposed rule, Indexing Methodology for Title I Manufactured Home Loan Limits (Docket No. FR-6207-P-01), for public comment.

FHA proposes to establish indexing methodologies to annually calculate loan limits for Manufactured Home Loans, Manufactured Home Lot Loans and Manufactured Home and Lot Combination Loans insured under the Title I Manufactured Home Loan Program.

This proposed rule creates an indexing methodology based on property data collected by the US Census Bureau and that establishes loan limits based on the number of sections that make up a manufactured home. Instituting this indexing methodology will expand opportunities for borrowers to use affordable FHA-insured financing for manufactured homes titled as personal property, manufactured home lots or both the manufactured home and the lot.

The comment period runs through December 17. The proposed rule can be found here.

Mortgage Center Selects Mortgage Cadence Platform for Origination

Mortgage Cadence, Denver, announced Mortgage Center, a mortgage lender for the credit union community, selected the Mortgage Cadence Platform as its Loan Origination System.

Through its partnership with Mortgage Cadence and use of MCP, Mortgage Center provides scalable technology platforms to their credit union customers and their members. MCP provides an open digital lending platform that allows clients the freedom to use technologies and service providers that best fit their needs.

Freddie Mac Underwriting Expands to Accommodate Borrowers’ Bank Account Data

Freddie Mac, McLean, Va., added review of a borrower’s bank account data to identify a history of positive monthly cash flow activity as part of its technology’s loan purchase eligibility assessments. It will be available to mortgage lenders nationwide through Freddie Mac’s automated underwriting system, Loan Product Advisor, beginning November 6.

With the borrower’s permission, lenders and brokers can submit financial account data for LPA to identify 12 or more months of cash flow activity for inclusion in the tool’s risk assessment. Data can be obtained from checking, savings and investment accounts, including those used for direct deposit of income and monthly bill payments, such as rent, utilities and auto loans. The account data submitted can only positively affect the borrower’s credit risk assessment. To help identify opportunities, LPA will notify lenders when submitting additional account data could benefit a borrower.

Lenders and brokers can obtain the financial account data from designated third-party service providers using the same automated process they currently use to verify assets, income (using direct deposit), employment, and on-time rent payments via a single report through LPA’s asset and income modeler.

Fitch: U.S. Debt Purchasers to Benefit from Increased Consumer Delinquencies

Fitch Ratings, New York, said its rated U.S. debt purchasers are positioned to benefit from rising consumer delinquencies due to higher outstanding consumer debt levels, which should support improvement in portfolio supply from an increase in non-performing loan sales.

However, Fitch noted rising delinquencies are a byproduct of mounting recessionary pressures, with higher interest rates and inflation raising the risk of portfolio write-downs, further reinforcing the importance of strong capitalization, pricing discipline and cost efficiency of debt purchasers.

Fitch reported total U.S. household debt rose 2% sequentially, or $312 billion, in the second quarter to $16 trillion according to the New York Fed. U.S. debt purchasers primarily collect on charged-off credit card receivables and U.S. credit card balances grew 2%, or $46 billion, in 2Q22, in tandem with improved spending. Early-stage delinquencies that troughed during 2H21 remain beneath pre-pandemic levels but have been normalizing with rising interest rates. “This has increased consumer leverage and raised debt servicing costs on variable-rate card receivables, with lower cash flows amid fading government stimulus benefits,” Fitch said.