Some good news from Capitol Hill this past week came in the form of an announcement that the House approved a Bill (by a 427-0 margin) that would make substantive changes in FHA’s condominium project approval and recertification procedures. In my November 24, 2015, Blog Post, I discussed three subtle changes implemented by HUD/FHA (at that time) in its condominium…
Recently, I noted that we haven’t heard much talk about housing policy from either the sitting President or those seeking to take his seat. But lo and behold, we get some news out of Congress that the House, by a vote of 427 to zero passed legislation that would reform FHA’s condo approval rules (FHA Condos). Wow 427-0, that’s pretty…
This year’s Super Bowl was rated as the third most watched TV presentation. It would seem that a well-placed ad would get any company some really good exposure, as long as the content resonated with the public. Based on initial returns, it appears that Quicken Loan’s Rocket Mortgage Ad did just that (Rockets). The ad for a new quick loan…
Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae jointly announced the implementation of an Independent Dispute Resolution (IDR) process which is designed to help resolve alleged loan-level breaches of selling representations or warranties that remain unresolved after all other appeals have been exhausted. This was announced in Freddie Mac’s Guide Bulletin 2016-1. This final, final appeal process will be available for all mortgages…
With all the attention being paid to TRID compliance and changes, it seems that lenders have loosened some their credit standards in some areas to help make more loans. Maybe, this is the result of more independent mortgage bankers doing more FHA lending. Whatever it is, Equifax recently reported that loans made to consumers with an Equifax Risk Score of…
HUD/FHA announced on Jan. 28th, that it will be lowering mortgage insurance rates for multifamily (5 or more units) mortgages in an effort to increase multifamily loan originations. This could result in the rehabilitation of as many as 12,000 additional units of affordable housing per year on a national basis. Default/claim rates on the FHA multifamily loan portfolio have traditionally…
