Here’s a little twist on the QM rules. Congress is considering a slight modification to the QM rules which would treat some loans held in portfolio by a Bank as a QM loan (New QM). My understanding of the law is that any loan held in portfolio by a Bank, like any other loan, would be considered a QM when…
In an official notice to all FHA-Approved Mortgagees, FHA announced on April 30, 2015 that it has extended the effective date for the policies contained within its new Single Family Policy 4000.1 Handbook from June 15, 2015 until September 14, 2015. These new underwriting, appraisal and Quality Control policies have been the focus of several of my previous Blogs and…
Yesterday, I wrote about a Gallup Poll that indicated people were not optimistic about homeownership. Well, today we hear that banks are excited about a resurgence on home purchases (Home Purchases). What does it all mean? Who do you believe? Take a minute and read this article and you may get more confused. Refinances were good in January and February,…
You are an underwriter processing a FHA loan transaction and the appraiser has reported that the subject property has a private well & septic system yet public utilities may be available. Should you require evidence of hook-up to the public system as a condition of your approval? HUD’s draft 4000.1 Handbook (which is scheduled to go into effect for loan…
It must be true because I read it in the newspapers. Right? Not necessarily. Headlines and related articles can be written to be deceiving. Take this headline (Optimism). Based on the headline, one would be led to believe that today, according to a Gallup Poll, people are not too optimistic about owning a home. Gallup is a pretty reputable polling…
Now, here’s the other side. The DOJ has filed suit against Quicken loans for the improper origination of FHA-insured loans (Return Fire). DOJ alleges that Quicken was somewhat remiss in their underwriting and approval of the FHA loans in question. The battle lines are drawn. Quicken says they didn’t do anything wrong. DOJ says they made hundreds of FHA loans…
