Servicing Newslinks Archive

“Independent mortgage bankers experienced improvements in the first three months of the year. This was a welcoming sign following a very difficult end of 2018, in which profitability reached its lowest level since our survey’s inception in 2008.”–MBA Vice President of Industry Analysis Marina Walsh.

“It is time for Congress as a whole, to speak up and demand that their colleagues allow for the NFIP to be extended prior to a lapse. The millions of homeowners, renters, small businesses, builders, real estate and insurance agents, lenders and taxpayers deserve nothing less.”–From an MBA/trade group letter to House and Senate leadership urging Congress to approve a longer-term extension of the National Flood Insurance Program.

“Our ultimate goal is to be fair,” he said. “We’ll continue to hold lenders accountable…but we also want to encourage borrowers to look to FHA. We believe these adjustments will improve our risk management and better evaluate risk at the margin, so lenders can participate with more confidence.”–FHA Commissioner Brian Montgomery.

“The Mortgage Bankers Association continues to be fully focused on housing finance reform. We’re pursuing every angle and pushing regulators and lawmakers to build on the progress that has already been made. More than 10 years after the financial crisis, we still believe housing finance reform is achievable.”–MBA President & CEO Robert Broeksmit, CMB, speaking yesterday at the MBA National Secondary Market Conference & Expo in New York.

“It has become clear that our lending partners are seeking clarity and greater certainty when documenting compliance with FHA requirements. We are proposing a new, more transparent set of requirements that will preserve our enforcement authority. We anticipate that this will encourage more lender participation in FHA business, thus increasing competition in the market and resulting in greater choices for borrowers.”–Acting Deputy Secretary and FHA Commissioner Brian Montgomery, announcing new lender certification requirements for FHA.

“Today’s proposed changes would provide much needed relief to smaller community banks and credit unions while still providing federal regulators and other stakeholders with the information we need under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act.” –CFPB Director Kathleen L. Kraninger, on proposed rulemakings to change reporting requirements under the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act.

“The market volatility and decline in consumer confidence that we saw in late 2018 and early 2019 seemed to confirm what other housing indicators showed: a somewhat slow first couple of months of the year for the housing market.”–Joel Kan, MBA Associate Vice President of Economic and Industry Forecasting.

“Despite a healthy economy in 2018, the mortgage market suffered, as rate hikes hurt refinancing volume and low housing inventories priced some potential homebuyers out of the purchase market. For mortgage companies, there was the perfect storm of lower production revenues combined with rising expenses, which together contributed to the lowest net production income per loan since 2008.”–Marina Walsh, MBA Vice President of Industry Analysis.

“After 12 consecutive years of declines that affected all population segments, the Hispanic segment helped pull the nation out of a devastating housing recession in 2015 when it became the first ethnic demographic to show an increase to its post-recession homeownership rate. Hispanics have been the only ethnic demographic group to raise their homeownership rate in each of the past four years.”–Marisa Calderon, Executive Director of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals.

“Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been in conservatorship for more than a decade and it’s well past time that policymakers address the long-term future of these enterprises. As both administrative and legislative reforms move forward, it is important that the regulator and Congress support ongoing liquidity and stability and ensure that the private market is capable of sustaining an expanded role before steps are taken to modify the GSEs’ footprint.”–MBA President and CEO Robert Broeksmit, CMB.