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The MReport Webcast: Monday 5/3/2015

Six federal financial regulatory agencies have issued minimum requirements for state registration and supervision of entities that provide appraisal management services to lenders, underwriters, and other principals in the secondary mortgage market. The new rules were jointly issued by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Federal Housing Finance Agency, and National Credit Union Administration.

According to FHFA, the new rules apply to states that elect to register and supervise AMCs, but do not compel a state to establish an AMC registration and supervision program. But while there will be no penalties for not establishing a supervisory agency, states that have not established a regulatory structure within three years will be barred from providing appraisal management services for federally related transactions.  The government, however, said it would rescind any ban if a state adopted a regulatory structure for AMCs after this 36-month period.

This week, Freddie Mac released the results of its Quarterly Refinance Analysis for the first quarter of this year, revealing that borrowers lowered their monthly mortgage payment and shortened their long-term payment by taking advantage unexpectedly low mortgage rates. Refinance activity accounted for 63 percent of all single-family originations during Q1. Approximately 27 percent of borrowers increased their loan amount when refinancing, either by cashing out equity or consolidating loans, versus 29 percent from last quarter and 17 percent from the same time last year.