Posts on mortgage compliance and industry regulation including TRID, HMDA, and MERS.
Recently, Fannie Mae announced the implementation of its new “Home Ready” mortgage product. According to Fannie Mae, this mortgage product was designed to support homeownership opportunities among underserved populations. They now recognize the growth of extended-household living arrangements and by allow the existence of non-borrower income to be considered as a compensating factor in Desktop Underwriter. Articles are already being…
The allowable tolerance for a fee disclosed by a lender for their specific services, e.g. Application fee, Commitment fee, and for those for the services for which a borrower cannot shop, is pretty straightforward. Once disclosed, these fees may not change unless there is a bona fide (justified) circumstance change that directly affects the specific fee. Such a change is…
At first glance, you may think, “What do these three things have to do with each other?” All are issues which mortgage loan originators face today. Each presents its own unique challenges but also provides some new opportunities. TRID has created a major shift in the closing process. This sometimes leads to delays in loan closings which, no matter the…
HUD/FHA released the results of its Post-Endorsement Technical Reviews (PETRs) that were processed in the third quarter of FY 2015 (April 1, 2015, through June 30, 2015), in its most recent Lender Insight Report issued in December 2015. The results of their PETR Ratings on these cases (as of October 31, 2015) were as follows: Conforming 1,278 cases 19.9% Deficient…
It’s hard to believe that the current Uniform Residential Loan Application (URLA) Form has not had any substantive changes in the past 20 years. Despite numerous programmatic and policy changes implemented by the Federal Government’s Housing Agencies (i.e. HUD, VA & USDA) and the GSE’s, this form has served well as a uniform loan application form for the mortgage industry.…
The Veterans Administration (VA) announced that, effective immediately, lenders “may accept a Veteran’s assertion of spousal status when a Veteran is applying for home loan benefits,” in Circular Letter 26-15-29, dated November 5, 2015. In light of the recent Supreme Court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, the VA will now recognize a marriage between two people of the same-sex when…
