Category: News and Trends

The Trump Administration unveiled its preliminary fiscal 2018 budget, which proposes the largest cuts to HUD funding since the Reagan Administration.

The Mortgage Bankers Association and a dozen other industry trade groups weighed in on a heavily watched lawsuit against the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, supporting PHH Corp.’s assertion that the Bureau misinterpreted the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act in enforcing penalties against PHH.

Permanent loan modifications started the year with a slight uptick, while foreclosure starts also increased, reported HOPE NOW, Washington, D.C.

Zillow, Seattle, said the number of homeowners underwater on their mortgage continued to fall in the fourth quarter, but more than half of those who remain underwater owe at least 20 percent more than their homes are worth.

The company’s 2016 Year-End U.S. Home Flipping Report said 193,009 single family homes and condos flipped in 2016, up by 3.1 percent from 2015 to the highest level since 2006.

The Mortgage Bankers Association, in a letter to leaders in the Senate and House, urged support for two bills that would make key adjustments to the National Flood Insurance Program.

CoreLogic, Irvine, Calif., said U.S. homeowners with mortgages (63 percent of all homeowners) saw their collective equity increase by $783 billion in 2016, an increase of 11.7 percent.

MetaSource, Salt Lake City, said a review of its post-close quality control audits in 2016 showed the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s TILA/RESPA Integrated Disclosure rule–also known as “Know Before You Owe”–accounted for 12 of the top 15 quality control issues for mortgage lenders.

Homeowner spending on remodeling is expected to see healthy growth through 2025, a new report from the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University said.

Reports from ACES Risk Management, Pompano Beach Fla., and First American Financial Corp., Santa Ana, Calif., offer mixed results on the state of mortgage loan defects.