In a mortgage world of eased credit standards, Freddie Mac is tweaking how they will treat an applicant’s student loan debt. Today when an applicant carries student loans that do not indicate a specific monthly payment amount on their credit report, lenders must obtain documentation to evidence the monthly payment due. This can cause problems and delays. Student loans with…
Quicken Loans, one of the mortgage industry’s leading lenders, and a pioneer in the use of technology may soon consider the use of electronic property valuations instead of standard manual appraisals. Why? Last week, a federal district court hit Quicken with a guilty verdict resulting in fines and penalties of almost $11 million in a class action suit brought by…
Just prior to July 4th, the Department of Justice announced that it hit another lender with a False Claims Act violation and fine. The most recent victim is Prospect Mortgage who was levied a fine of $4.16 million, and another one bites the dust… According to DOJ, once again a lender gets fined for misrepresentations made in connection with FHA-insured…
By now, I think that mortgage lenders realize the refinance market has run its course. Although some limited refinance opportunities may still exist, for the most part with rates rising and many having already refinanced. Lenders now need to look to the purchase market for their business. To service the needs of today’s buyers in the current housing market, lenders…
In case you missed it, on June 8th FHA announced that their TOTAL (Technology Open To Approved Lenders) automated underwriting system will no longer provide the upfront or annual mortgage insurance premium factors required for a loan (FHA Info #16-36). These factors may be found in Appendix I to the new FHA Single Family Housing Policy Handbook 4000.1 (Handbook). This…
Another day, another DOJ settlement under a False Claims Action brought against a major Bank originating FHA loans. This time, it’s M&T Bank Corp to the tune of $64 million. Not a happy tune. Here we go again. DOJ alleged that M&T did not originate their FHA loans in compliance will all FHA rules and requirements. Rather than fight these…
