Tag Archives: Veterans Affairs

In a new report, the National Association of Realtors revealed what a government shutdown would mean for the real estate industry, including the closing of some federal housing, mortgage, and other programs nationwide.

Rep. Nick LaLota's HR 3186 will provide financial assistance for supportive services for very low-income veteran families in permanent housing.

“The ability to find affordable housing in the current market is seen as a major challenge facing those transitioning from active duty,” said Stacy Walker, Director, Housing & Community Outreach for Freddie Mac.

Cake Mortgage CEO David Abelyan shares his perspective on what needs to be done in the market to help alleviate the affordability issue, and what products are ideal to assist first-time buyers.  

In Part One of this two-part series, the October issue explored Caliber Home Loans’ move to hire more military veterans. In Part Two, Caliber emphasizes education and dispels outdated beliefs to help veterans and military families find a home. Editor's note: This story was originally featured in the December issue of MReport, out now.

Total mortgage application volume, including both purchase loans and refinances, dipped a seasonally adjusted 0.9 percent for the week ending November 7, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported Tuesday a 0.6 percent increase in its Mortgage Credit Availability Index (MCAI) from May to June, putting the index at 115.8. The group links the increase in the headline index to "a slight net loosening in lender criteria regarding Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) loans with respect to minimum credit scores and maximum loan-to-value (LTV) ratios."

The Justice Department and JPMorgan both announced Tuesday that the bank will pay $614 million in restitution for violations of the False Claims Act. The government claims that starting as early as 2002, the firm knowingly originated and underwrote non-compliant loans submitted for insurance coverage and guarantees by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). As a consequence, the DoJ says FHA and VA ""incurred substantial losses when unqualified loans failed.""

Today's resilient capital market has the capacity to adapt readily to the pending ability-to-repay and qualified mortgage (QM) rules set to take effect January 10, 2014, according to a white paper CoreLogic released Friday. In its analysis, CoreLogic offers general support for the rules and suggests the industry will continue to prosper--albeit with more caution than in the years leading up to the housing crisis. "Making sure a borrower has the ability to repay is good business," the company said.

Most economists agreed that the broader effects of the shutdown should be minimal, assuming that the shutdown is short-lived.