HousingWire, Mar. 20, 2019–Jacob GaffneyLaw firms, mortgage lenders and servicers were just awarded more protection in serving non-judicial foreclosures, according to a recent Supreme Court ruling.
Category: Top National News
Jumbo Mortgages Are Slowing Down, Testing Banks’ Postcrisis Playbook
Wall Street Journal, Mar. 21, 2019–Ben Eisen, Laura Kusisto (subscription)High-end home buyers are turning cautious, a blow to banks that refocused their mortgage businesses around wealthy borrowers in the years after the financial crisis.
U.S. Commercial, Multifamily Mortgage Debt Climbs to $3.39 Trillion in 2018
World Property Journal, Mar. 19, 2019–Michael GerrityAccording to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s latest Commercial and Multifamily Mortgage Debt Outstanding quarterly report for 2018, the level of commercial and multifamily mortgage debt outstanding in the U.S. at the end of 2018 was $216 billion (6.8 percent) higher than at the end of 2017.
Citibank to Pay $25 Million for Violating the Fair Housing Act
HousingWire, Mar. 19, 2019–Ben LaneAccording to the OCC, an investigation showed that Citibank did not equally offer certain mortgage discounts to all Citi customers, thereby “adversely” affecting some customers based on their “race, color, national origin, or sex.”
Home Equity Expands, Home Equity Credit Not So Much
National Mortgage News, Mar. 19, 2019–Elina Tarkazikis (subscription)Home equity is sitting above the $15 trillion mark nationwide, according to the Federal Reserve, but interest in more costly forms of debt, such as credit cards or personal loans, has been outpacing that of home equity loans and lines of credit since the financial crisis.
PwC Reaches $335 Million settlement with FDIC over Taylor, Bean & Whitaker/Colonial Bank Audits
HousingWire, Mar. 18, 2019–Ben LanePricewaterhouseCoopers will pay $335 million to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in a settlement that ends claims that the auditor failed in its duties by not discovering the accounting malfeasance that led to the late-2000s collapse of Colonial Bank, which funded the mortgages originated by Taylor, Bean & Whitaker.
This Bubble-Era Mortgage Trick Could Smash Major U.S. Housing Markets
MarketWatch, Mar. 18, 2019–Keith JurowThe author says cash-out refinances could leave some housing markets particularly vulnerable to the same issues that plagued them during the Great Recession.
Crapo Planning Two Days of Senate Banking Committee Hearings on GSE Reform
American Banker, Mar. 15, 2019–Hannah Lang (subscription)The Senate Banking Committee will hold two days of hearings at the end of March on Chairman Mike Crapo’s most recent framework for housing finance reform. Robert Broeksmit, President and CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association, and Vince Malta, president-elect of the National Association of Realtors, are among the witnesses slated to testify at the March 27 hearing.
Montgomery on FHA Streamlining of ‘Unnecessary and Outdated’ Regulations
DS News, Mar. 14, 2019–Stephanie BacotHUD released a pair of new mortgagee letters earlier this week, and now FHA Commissioner Brian D. Montgomery has spoken of how these latest changes reflect his commitment to further streamlining and improving FHA’s processes and providing fewer hindrances to lenders and servicers interacting with FHA.
Multifamily and CRE Loan Debt Sees Largest Rise Since Housing Bubble
National Mortgage News, Mar. 14, 2019–Paul Centopani (free article)Commercial and multifamily mortgage debt outstanding grew 6.8% in 2018, benefiting from strong employment numbers and strained inventory, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.