Tuesday, January 24, 2012

anuary 24: Mortgage hiring; the latest on on-line lending; what principal forgiveness will cost; how HUD's changes will impact gov't lenders

Wanna save money? Let our professionals show you the benefits of refinancing today! Apply http://globalhomefinance.com/apply.php !

As red-blooded American males prepare for the advertising onslaught of

Valentine's Day (2/14), we are reminded that the media is indeed powerful -

just ask Sarah Palin.

(Hey, whatever happened to her?) All this month the public has seen the OCC

foreclosure ads. Supports Independent Foreclosure Review Program with Public

Service Ads. On  January 4, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency

(OCC) announced that it placed print and radio public service advertisements

to inform mortgage borrowers of the Independent Foreclosure Review (IFR)

program launched by the OCC in November 2011. The print feature explains

that borrowers foreclosed upon between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2010

are eligible to have their foreclosures independently reviewed to determine

if the borrowers suffered financial injury as a result of any errors by

certain large, federally regulated mortgage servicers. The ads will run in

Spanish and English in 7,000 small newspapers and on 6,500 small radio

stations.

For a copy of the OCC announcement with links to the ads, please see

OCCInYourEar

[http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=zy6u9cdab&et=1109130718033&s=8721&e=001MnLPLk

Rwzam1ZLLopyMubKOm_XX9BPamX_fBXgt0eOIB68U79eR0e_6UZO3C-RSY2cbNIqP9yyL5DttioZ

sPo1i3iXIi5kcFBAHO55o83VBCWfjFoav-ncXBHRQrVjIAzwJ8enIqVFDtU5-QH_FimFbWKr42jg

rKxPsr44MpJVjP1IRlesbLuQ==].



Hiring across the country continues for some companies. SecurityNational

Mortgage's Crown Group is hiring retail loan consultants, retail producing

managers, and branch managers for its Retail origination team, and wholesale

AE's who can build their  territory through wholesale, correspondent and

retail branch originations. The company is staffing up in the following

territories - Texas (DFW), Florida (Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Duval

counties), Missouri, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arkansas and Colorado.  (SNMC is

also hiring underwriters and processors in the Dallas area.)

"SecurityNational Mortgage is a nationwide lender offering Conventional,

FHA, VA  and USDA loans thru its Retail, Wholesale and Correspondent

business channels."

  If you know anyone interested, please send inquiries/resumes to




The other day someone told me that there were actually things on the

internet other than dirty pictures. I was stunned. Seriously, although the

article is a little slanted, here is some chatter on on-line lending

[http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=zy6u9cdab&et=1109130718033&s=8721&e=001MnLPLk

Rwzakd_JE_O6nYpnJXOVFeq-o9AK5u9bw8zXOmbuqIIILgI_bO3wJxyMPdBsOmi4wRVDMhWTMYI0

LFqSRJZJkyVnK6JBssehQ8OPpSmZfnGc0KNUPTiNlNvFfIGrd96rj6ZcIZ9pLq2nQGoMPQdZB0Ti

CGSPT-9sFMycWXzsMOJLssWCBwjMuMGby79x7zYlAa7R-uQQE1w4xX4w==].

The average LO probably doesn't care too much about the proposed settlement

between the states and the servicers. But the large servicers, which are

pretty much the  large banks, care, and probably really want to "move on"

from this, which in turn would help return the flow of business. At this

point, supposedly state AG negotiators have reached the final terms on a

settlement deal w/the country's biggest banks,  and the preliminary pact is

now being circulated among the 50 AGs. The price tag for the servicers is

around $25 billion, depending on how many states sign on (California and NY

remain on the fence). The tentative agreement still must be approved by all

50 state attorneys-general, and the states will be asked either to agree to

proposals or decline to participate with Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase,

Wells Fargo, Citigroup and Ally Financial. Other banks, such as US Bancorp

and PNC Financial Services, have set aside reserves for such an outcome.

Stay tuned...and remember that the money has to come from somewhere...



Speaking of which, the FHFA noted that forgiving mortgage debt on Fannie Mae

and  Freddie Mac loans would cost F&F almost $100 billion. Freddie & Fannie

guarantee nearly 3 million mortgages on single- family homes that are

underwater, but almost 80% of these borrowers are still current. Principal

forgiveness would increase the size of the government's bailout of the

companies, which have cost taxpayers more than $153 billion since they were

taken under government control in 2008. One can almost hear Mr. DeMarco

thinking, "First you made us raise our g-fees, and now this...don't complain

when we lose more money..." For the letter go to: TaxPayerDeepPockets

[http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=zy6u9cdab&et=1109130718033&s=8721&e=001MnLPLk

RwzambhxVBt6bXTAvlW_JDYw1KU5VmmxRv4I3B6W7zMCfRajhlPJdSOA3LN7V8MUVgQCRn9MFwy_

fBhtSXOtVkYjMX3b8-mQiwjWwb-GrD_M2gu5tSqcuEXvogDoYEiEcU-ocoIXbIjUCH8rPeHJpmlD

4qE-k9pq4aWejIqaoa-2FVEw==].



And for more on government mortgage agencies, late last week HUD released

its final rule to improve and expand the risk management activities of the

FHA. It was pretty much as expected but a few things should be noted. First,

HUD will seek to force  indemnification for "serious and material"

violations of FHA origination requirements.

For those cases not involving fraud or misrepresentation, HUD will require

indemnification within five years from the date of the mortgage insurance

endorsement. Second, the proposed rule will also require delegated FHA

lenders to continually maintain an  acceptable claim and default rate, both

to gain special lender status as well as to preserve it. HUD will require

that the claim and default rate for a lender be  at or below 150% of the

average rate of all of the states in which it does business.

Specifically for indemnifications, HUD says that lenders may need to buyback

loans if they failed to verify and analyze the creditworthiness, income,

and/or employment of the borrower, verify the source of assets brought by

the borrower for payment  of the required down payment and/or closing costs,

address property deficiencies identified in the appraisal affecting the

health and safety of the occupants or the structural integrity of the

property, or ensure that the property appraisal satisfies FHA appraisal

requirements. HUD may seek indemnification irrespective of whether the

violation caused the mortgage default. Clearly, the rule change should

result in more putbacks to lenders going forward.



What does this mean? Since HUD will be requiring a buyback only if the loan

has seasoned less than 5-years (unless there is fraud), similar to GSE

loans, this may lead to a reluctance from lenders to refinance existing FHA

loans due to the fear of resetting the seasoning on the loan. Further, this

impact is not restricted to loans that are seasoned more than 5-years as the

seasoning is reset on all loans.

Although this change points towards a general tightening in underwriting and

a potential slowdown in prepays, experts are uncertain how putbacks will be

implemented for loans that go through FHA streamline refinancings. For these

loans, FHA does not  require an appraisal or income/asset verification and

hence it is not clear what criteria will be used for the putback. That said,

most believe that lenders will  be more careful in refinancing borrowers

once this rule goes into effect. Since  lenders will be assessed on the

credit performance of their overall FHA book, this should also lead to lower

delinquencies and defaults on newly originated FHA loans going forward.



And put another way, the FHA's rule 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. And the rule authorizes

more extensive examination for lenders in order to ensure that they are able

to meet the FHA's new qualifications.

It requires that certain lenders indemnify HUD in claims over loans. And

let's not forget that many believe the FHA fund is insolvent - perhaps this

will help.



The government has trouble not interfering with home lending in the U.S.,

and in  fact HUD has come out saying it would like to see FHA lenders relax

their credit score minimums allowing more borrowers to qualify for FHA

loans.  But lenders are telling HUD officials the agency must first change

FHA's lender/monitoring system ("Neighborhood Watch") so they aren't

stigmatized for making loans to borrowers with lower credit scores.

Neighborhood Watch ratios are used by everyone to measure performance in

relation to other lenders in a certain geography, and a high default and

claim rate can trigger audits by FHA or the HUD Inspector Generals, and

these audits often lead to indemnification demands for actual and future

losses. Because of the Neighborhood Watch "triggers", many lenders are only

comfortable originating high credit score FHA loans. Other lenders are

interested in venturing a little down the credit quality curve, and will

often bring in outside help in making sure their originations, operations

and quality control procedures can withstand the scrutiny of the HUD's

Quality Assurance Division, Mortgagee Review Board and the  Office of the

Inspector General. The Collingwood Group LLC has been partnering with

lenders in navigating these issues to unlock this valuable product

development opportunity in ways that are responsible and defensible.

Inquiries should be directed to Brideen Gallagher at


(And nope, this is not a paid ad.)



For news moving rates, the two-day FOMC meeting begins today and concludes

with a news conference Wednesday.  It is expected that the Fed will maintain

its rock-bottom policy rate, so the anticipation lies in the new decision to

publish rate forecasts of each district bank out to 2015 to show greater

transparency. Any hint of QE3 from the FOMC tomorrow "will send mortgages

off to the races." And tonight's State of the Union Address has been known

to move markets.



Yesterday MBS prices were nearly unchanged whereas the 10-yr T-note lost

nearly

.375 in price and closed at a yield of 2.07%. Today for excitement we have a

$35  billion 2-yr note auction at 11AM MST. In the early going the 10-yr is

down to 2.04% and MBS prices are a shade better.



(Parental discretion advised.)

A woman asks her husband, "Would you like some bacon and eggs? A slice of

toast and maybe some grapefruit and coffee?" she asks.

He declines. "Thanks for asking, but I'm not hungry right now. It's this

Viagra,"

he says. "It's really taken the edge off my appetite."

At lunchtime she asked if he would like something. "A bowl of soup, homemade

muffins, or a cheese sandwich?"



He declines. "The Viagra," he says, "really trashes my desire for food."

Come dinnertime, she asks if he wants anything to eat. "Would you like a

juicy porterhouse steak and scrumptious apple pie? Or maybe a rotisserie

chicken or tasty stir fry?"

He declines again. "Naw, still not hungry."



"Well," she says, "would you mind letting me up? I'm starving."



If you're interested, visit my twice-a-month blog at the STRATMOR Group web

site  located at www.stratmorgroup.com

[http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=zy6u9cdab&et=1106435366068&s=4179&e=001SVt-lj

bp53436QjxD9vbwURtIPPjV05jEcEKyBN3SjS2forXe0C_foO8RjEV-Uye0N7Z_Sh1il0SRXPx6P

jQauayNXQjni-Hc9Sseu-hhZcR1ujeZyAEpw==]

. The current blog discusses residential lending and mortgage programs

around the world. If you have both the time and inclination, make a comment

on what I have written, or on other comments so that folks can learn what's

going on out there from the other readers.



Rob



(Check out


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ress%2Fdefault.aspx]


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721&ts=S0720&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.thebasispoint.com%2Fcategory%2Fdaily-basis].

For archived commentaries, go to www.robchrisman.com

[http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=zy6u9cdab&t=r9kpv5iab.0.fpg7qedab.zy6u9cdab.8

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Copyright 2012 Rob Chrisman.  All rights reserved. Occasional paid notices

do appear.

This report or any portion hereof may not be reprinted, sold or

redistributed without the written consent of Rob Chrisman.)

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