Category: Top National News

NPR, Aug. 22, 2019–Brakkton BookerThe agreement, which amounts to a set of anti-robocall principles, is aimed at combating and preventing the phone-ringing annoyance. The tech giants will also provide other call blocking and call labeling for those customers who want more screening tools.

Reuters, Aug. 22, 2019–Katanga Johnson, Michelle PriceU.S. mortgage firms are getting back into joint marketing and advertising arrangements, reviving a controversial practice that was effectively banned in the aftermath of the 2007-2008 subprime mortgage crisis.

Wall Street Journal, Aug. 21, 2019–Andrew Ackerman (subscription)The proposal comes more than a decade after the government seized the mortgage-finance firms to save them from collapse. It would likely seek to put the companies on a sounder financial footing and then release them from government control if Congress doesn’t enact a more fundamental overhaul.

Yahoo! Finance, Aug. 21, 2019Citigroup C and Credit Suisse CS have re-entered the risky mortgage loans market or non-qualified mortgage, wherein they provide new home loans to borrowers with poor credit scores. However, per Mike Fratantoni, chief economist with the Mortgage Bankers Association, these non-QM loans are not like the Alt-A/subprime loans that were distributed prior to the housing crash.

National Mortgage Professional, Aug. 21, 2019–Phil HallThis year’s hurricane season is now underway through November, and while there are no storms on the near-term horizon that should raise red flags, a new study by ValuePenguin.com found many homeowners in high-risk states expressed either ignorance or nonchalance regarding the property damage costs of hurricanes.

National Mortgage News, Aug. 21, 2019–Brad Finkelstein (subscription)Trustees are concerned about obtaining proper consents from legacy residential mortgage-backed securities investors in a timely fashion in order to make the switch from Libor to another index, Fitch Ratings said.

Urban Institute, Aug. 20, 2019–Michael NealThe household-owned value of the U.S. housing market is at an all-time high of $26.12 trillion–significantly higher than the pre-crisis peak of $22.68 trillion in 2006. Housing equity and non-HELOC (home equity line of credit) mortgage debt outstanding are also at historic highs. At the same time, the share of homeowners with a mortgage, at 62.9 percent, is at the lowest level since at least 2005.

Wall Street Journal, Aug. 21, 2019–Ben Eisen (subscription)More than a decade after home loans triggered the worst financial crisis in a generation, the strict lending requirements put in place during its aftermath are starting to erode. Home buyers with low credit scores or high debt levels as well as those lacking traditional employment are finding it easier to get credit.

National Mortgage Professional, Aug. 20, 2019–Phil HallA new study published by NDP Analytics has determined that increasing the funding fee on VA home loans could result in fewer servicemembers and veterans becoming homeowners.

National Mortgage News, Aug. 20, 2019–Bonnie Sinnock (subscription)Freddie Mac is replacing a manual form submission process used to correct post-settlement and real estate owned data with new technology.