Category: News and Trends

SAN FRANCISCO–Independent mortgage banks represent more than three-fourths of Mortgage Bankers Association membership, a fact that MBA 2015 Chairman Bill Cosgrove, CMB, CEO of Union Home Mortgage Corp., Strongsville, Ohio, said is not lost on the association.

Okay Baby Boomers: remember when “turn of the century” meant 1900? Black Knight, Jacksonville, Fla., reported as of December, just 3.9 percent of mortgages were delinquent, the lowest year-end total since the turn of the century.  That’s 2000. (Feeling old yet?)

The Mortgage Bankers Association, in comments to the Department of Veterans Affairs, identified a “significant operational challenge” with new VA disclosures regarding cash-out refinancings and asked that the VA delay enforcement related to these new requirements.

Ellie Mae, Pleasanton, Calif., said borrowers embraced adjustable-rate mortgages at a rate not seen since 2011.

Last week, Acting Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Joseph Otting surprised staff, Congress and the real estate finance industry by announcing the White House would submit a plan to end government control of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac next month, without legislation. On Friday, the chair of the House Financial Services Committee, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., and the Ranking Member of the Senate Banking Committee, Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, said, essentially, “not so fast.”

Catastrophic activity– hurricanes, wildfires, flooding and other natural catastrophes-occurred at an above-average level for the third straight year in 2018, said CoreLogic, Irvine, Calif.

The Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service on Friday issued final regulations providing guidance requested by the Mortgage Bankers Association on the section 199A pass-through deduction included in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

Since the federal government shutdown began on Dec. 22, the Mortgage Bankers Association has worked with the Trump Administration and Congress to minimize its impact on mortgage lenders, servicers and customers. Now, MBA is asking its membership for anecdotal evidence to support its continued efforts.

ATTOM Data Solutions, Irvine, Calif., released its Year-End 2018 U.S. Foreclosure Market Report, which shows foreclosure filings fell by 8 percent in 2018 from the year before and by 78 percent from its 2010 peak.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau last week published two reports: one that largely favorably assesses effectiveness of its Ability-to-Repay and Qualified Mortgage Rule; the second that assesses effectiveness of its mortgage servicing rule issued under the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act.