National Mortgage News - August 2017

The year opened with hopes that regulatory and enforcement pressures would abate for the mortgage industry. The reality has turned out quite differently.

The Trump administration's Justice Department was expected to be less aggressive in its pursuit of False Claims Act cases against the mortgage industry. Instead, its focus has shifted to Federal Housing Administration-insured reverse mortgages.

Critics of recent False Claims Act enforcement argue the Justice Department is too heavy-handed toward lenders and servicers. But in an industry reputed for shoddy processes during the crisis, perhaps stringent oversight is warranted.

With traditional mortgage lending opportunities becoming increasingly scarce, banks in Seattle and Portland are loading up on jumbos, diving into multifamily and reviving dormant bridge loan programs.

The number of borrowers underwater on their mortgages is below 2 million for the first time since 2006, as rising home prices are improving homeowner equity and creating new lending opportunities.

Federal Reserve Board Gov. Jerome Powell stopped short of endorsing any single housing finance reform plan, but called on lawmakers to resolve what he described as the biggest unfinished business of the crisis.

The Main Street GSE Reform Coalition offered three principles: creating a capital buffer for Fannie and Freddie, continuing with reforms by their regulator and ending the conservatorship that began in 2008.

Seeking to stay below $50 billion, the regional is selling its origination and servicing businesses.

The National Association of Home Builders is objecting to a measure that would impose a surcharge on National Flood Insurance Program policies for newly constructed homes.

It's the largest increase in five years; the percentage of securitized commercial mortgages behind on payments is now 5.75%, according to Trepp.

Affordable housing shortages and declining loan volumes are making it difficult for banks to originate enough mortgages to meet their Community Reinvestment Act obligations, which could make filling shortfalls with loans from nonbanks more expensive.

The renewed debate on reforming Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is focused on how small and midsize banks would be affected.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's final rule to formalize guidance on a number of TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosures compliance points omits an originally proposed fix for the so-called black hole that's created when a mortgage closing is delayed.

A key question for the future of housing finance is whether large and small lenders will both be able to compete, or will a new system favor Wall Street giants?

From the largest banks to the smallest independents, policymakers want to hear the mortgage industry speak with one voice in the critical efforts to reform the government-sponsored enterprises.

Mortgage industry hiring and new job appointments for the week ending Aug. 4.

Here's a look at the 12 cities where the number of affordable homes increases the most when buyers have a 20% down payment rather than only putting down 10%.