National Mortgage Professional, July 26, 2017–Phil HallThe Mortgage Bankers Association is calling on industry professionals to voice their concern over a proposal by the Federal Housing Finance Agency to accommodate borrowers with limited English proficiency by putting the borrower’s “preferred language” on the Universal Residential Loan Application.
Category: Top National News
Can FinTech Bring Down Surging Mortgage Servicing Costs?
GoRion, July 26, 2017–Sam BourgiThe mortgage lending industry is facing one its toughest market environments in years. Amid the apparent slowdown in origination volumes, excessive regulation has triggered a sharp rise in mortgage servicing costs. Once again, lenders are looking for revolutions in FinTech to tackle new cost burdens.
GSEs Transfer $5.5B of Credit Risk in 1Q: FHFA
National Mortgage News, July 26, 2017–Brad Finkelstein (subscription)The government-sponsored enterprises transferred $5.5 billion of credit risk on $174 billion of mortgages in their portfolios during the first quarter, according to a Federal Housing Finance Agency report.
M.I. Premiums Improve at MGIC
Mortgage Daily, July 26, 2017Changes being made to mortgage insurance premiums at MGIC will result in lower costs for some borrowers and greater choices for others.
Freddie Boosts US Mortgage Outlook By $140 Billion
Mortgage Daily, July 27, 2017Freddie Mac has improved its outlook for industry-wide single-family lending this year and next year by $140 billion. A majority of the increase went to home purchase financing.
Millennials Drive Up Homeownership Rate in Q2
HousingWire, July 27, 2017–Kelsey RamirezThe Census Bureau report also showed that national vacancy rates for rental housing increased in the second quarter to 7.3%. This is up 0.6 percentage points from 6.7% last year and up 0.3 percentage points from last quarter’s 7%.
CFPB Details TRID Supervision Standards
RESPA News, July 27, 2017 (subscription)When TRID initially became effective Oct. 1, 2015, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray repeatedly stated that the bureau’s examinations would be “diagnostic and corrective” as opposed to “punitive.” Is this still the CFPB’s stance?
New Documents Give Hope to Fannie Shareholders Seeking Redress
Bloomberg, July 28, 2017–Joe LightShareholders of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac say a trove of documents they have obtained bolsters their case that the government lied when it decided to take all of the mortgage companies’ profits.
Co-Borrowing Is On the Upswing
UExpress, July 28, 2017–Lew SichelmanThe main reason homebuyers need co-borrowers is because they can’t qualify to purchase the house they want, says ATTOM executive Daren Blomquist, who co-signed for his wife’s sister and her husband so they could afford to buy in pricey Southern California.
New Wells Scandal Harms Effort to Nix CFPB Arbitration Rule
American Banker, July 28, 2017–Kate Berry (subscription)Republican efforts to repeal the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s arbitration rule were dealt a significant blow Friday by Wells Fargo’s admission that it improperly forced borrowers to pay for unnecessary auto insurance policies.