Tag Archives: Mortgage Insurance

The Obama administration revealed recently it will relieve veterans wrongly foreclosed upon by servicers, as well as slashing refinancing rates for FHA loans.

Private mortgage insurance companies backed home loans to the tune of $4.9 billion in January, a decline from $6.9 billion last year, as the industry continues to reel from sapped business and credit downgrades. Mortgage Insurance Companies of America found $399 billion in insurance-in-force for member companies Genworth Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp., Radian Mortgage Insurance Co., and Republic Mortgage Insurance Co. The trade group said that some 21,904 borrowers made a purchase or loan refinance.

The mortgage subsidiary for Citigroup settled claims that it misrepresented government-backed loans Wednesday by agreeing to pay $158.3 million in damages. The payout means that CitiMortgage acknowledges that it qualified nearly 30,000 bad loans for government insurance, a move that bilked the Federal Housing Administration out of millions of dollars as more than 30 percent of the mortgages went into default. The settlement resolves a suit filed by the civil fraud unit at the office of Manhattan U.S. attorney.

Modifications to the Home Affordable Refinance Program will likely benefit small loan originators this year, even while refinance share of activity beats market expectations, FBR Capital Markets said in a note Wednesday. Paul Miller, an analyst with the research arm of the investment bank, attributed the information to D.C. insiders and government contacts, which hold that approximately 3.5 million to 4 million loans will enter the refinance program this year.

A House subcommittee cleared a bill Tuesday that would shore up the Federal Housing Administration's ailing Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund by setting annual premiums for mortgage insurers and reworking the agency├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós financial controls. Lawmakers seated on the Insurance, Housing, and Community Opportunity subcommittee approved by voice vote the FHA Emergency Fiscal Solvency Act, fronting it for a full vote by the House. The FHA continues to alarm policymakers for failing to keep adequate capital on hand.

The Federal Housing Administration finalized a new rule Friday that makes it tougher to qualify for loans insured by the agency. To qualify for mortgage insurance, lenders must offer up evidence that their seriously delinquent and claim rates remain at or below 150 percent of aggregate rates in home states. The rule authorizes more extensive examination for lenders in order to ensure that they are able to meet the FHA├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós new qualifications. It requires that certain lenders indemnify HUD in claims over loans. The move arrives amid criticism that diminishing capital for the FHA may necessitate its bailout.

A surge in suits involving mortgage-backed securities propelled litigation cases for mortgage servicers to 218 over the third quarter last year, according to a recent index. Mortgage-backed securities litigation rose by 36 cases over the third quarter, up from 26 seen from the last quarter and just 12 in the third quarter 2010. Foreclosure-related suits also went up from 67 in the second quarter to 90 in the third quarter, followed shortly by litigation from investors, which leapt from 50 to 82 over the same time frame.

Ed Delgado, CEO of our parent company, the Five Star Institute, reflects on 2011 as we enter a New Year. He takes into account events from around the economy over the last year to forecast a period of hoped-for renewal in 2012.

Twists and turns led the housing market into uncertainty in 2011, with concerns about undercapitalization for the Federal Housing Administration driving a feeding frenzy on Capitol Hill and around the nation about the fate of a time-honored agency. A report by Joseph Gyourko, a University of Pennsylvania real estate and finance professor, leveled claims in November that the FHA├â┬ó├óÔÇÜ┬¼├óÔÇ×┬ós failure to answer more than $1 trillion in insurance-in-force with $2.6 billion in capital reserves may damn it to its place as the next housing bailout. Gyourko's report put Capitol Hill in a fighting mood.

The weak capital position of the Federal Housing Administration came into play at a hearing Thursday, where members of the House Financial Services Committee grilled HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. Lawmakers took turns interrogating the Obama administration official over substantially fewer reserves in place to meet loan guarantees at a time when the housing market stays near bottom. The federal agency recently came under fire from news media, think tanks, and academia for failing to meet the minimum threshold.