Jeff
Lipes notes, "Statistics are like bikinis, they reveal some very
interesting information, but hide the most interesting parts." The ABA
reports community banks now spend about 15% of revenue on
compliance to meet regulatory requirements. True, the cost of doing business
for a regulated business does not drive Congress or the CFPB decision-making,
but these costs are passed on to the consumer - who can have quite a voice.
On
the MI-front, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have announced an effective
implementation date of October 1, 2014 for new mortgage insurance master
policies. U.S. Mortgage Insurers (USMI) noted that, "New master
policies provide assurances about the consistent handling and payment of claims
and bring greater transparency to contractual protections for lenders and
investors with regard to "representations and warranties." This
important step forward is a component of meaningful reforms that will help
ensure that the industry maintains a strong financial position and meets its
obligations."
Back
in March this commentary had a quote from Claudia J. Merkle, an EVP and Chief
of Insurance Operations at NMI Holdings, Inc. (National MI) in response to
comments about standardized MI master policies, "I'd like to pass along an
important distinction about National MI. A good analogy: BMW and Yugo are the
same in that they are both cars, but there is a lot of variation between the
two. I encourage lenders to be skeptical of any MI firm that openly brags that
we are all the same. I have personally been involved with the GSEs and the FHFA
through the National MI master policy development process, and although some
firms would like to have the market believe that all of the policies are the
same, there are some significant differences that will either save or cost
the lender real dollars. Later this year, the new MI master policies will
be similar to the extent that they all contain the general principles required
by FHFA and GSEs, but they are not mandated to be entirely identical."
I
received this note from the Northeast: "Our company strives to comply with
the myriad of rules and regulations with which we are faced. We are having
difficulty paying our recertification fee on FHA LEAP. Do you know of any
tricks to it? It is like the FHA's version of the Obamacare website
fiasco." I don't know any tricks, but Karen Garner of the Collingwood Group certainly
has the background and current situation nailed down. "For what it is
worth, you are in good company. Everyone is having problems. The
good news is that FHA knows it so the worry over being sanctioned should go
away. In my experience the FHA will give guidance about extending the recert IF
its staff doesn't get it up and working soon. As I understand it management
hopes to have things fixed by the end of June (next week) so if it is not
fixed then yes I am sure they will. They have already extended the deadline
before because LEAP was not out so I think they will do it again. But to be
safe, my suggestion is to try and log in and if you get an error message, print
the screen. I've been in compliance over 30 years and we are all about
the paper trail. That way if anything should happen you would have evidence
that you tried and it was their system that did not work." Thank you
Karen, and here is what has been sent by the FHA:
"As
most lenders are aware, FHA's Lender Electronic Assessment Portal (LEAP)
version 3.0 was deployed on May 27, 2014. While FHA is
enthusiastic about the long-term business transformation benefits of LEAP 3.0,
we are aware that users are currently having difficulty executing some functions
in the system. FHA is working diligently to resolve these issues, and
hopes to have LEAP operating at its full capacity as quickly as possible.
Lenders facing access issues, particularly with the functionality for providing
access to independent public accountants for purposes of recertification
functions, should visit the "IPA Registration and Assignment
Instructions" on the LEAP information page. For
access issues related to certifying officials or other lender functions in LEAP
and/or FHA Connection, lenders should access the LEAP 3.0 User Manual.
The FHA Connection User Guide can be found here.
"FHA is
also aware of difficulties lenders are encountering in LEAP when adding new
branches, making changes to existing branches, and changing Cash Flow
Accounts. FHA is highly focused on correcting these issues, and
hopes to have these functions working properly very soon.
Finally, FHA is aware of the complications that some lenders have
faced in submitting their annual re-certifications in LEAP. Many of these
challenges have now been addressed, and lenders should continue working to meet
the June 30 deadline for submitting their recertification
packages. Visit the LEAP Information Page or
the online resource."
Donna
Beinfeld with Donnashi writes,
"The LEAP (Lender Electronic Assessment Portal) will be used not only for
new mortgagee applications, but also for the re-certification process and other
HUD lender assessment activities. I spoke to a member of the HUD Resource
Center and he indicated they are aware of the issues with new applications not
being processed because of an error on their end. For lenders who have
pending new mortgagee applications the process is as follows. Call the HUD
Resource Center (800-225-5342), indicate you are a lender and then press 4,
which is for all other questions. They do not have a specific extension for
LEAP related questions and issues. The Resource Center individual will take
your name, company name, etc., and forward your call to a LEAP specialist. The
LEAP specialist can tell you the status of your application. Since payment of
your application fee, and other fees related to FHA loans once you are approved
are handled through Pay.gov, I highly recommend a company applying to work with
HUD registers with www.Pay.gov before
they start this process. The information available to the lending community
related to LEAP can be found here, or for a PowerPoint
on the program go to ApprovedMortgagees.
Thomson
Reuters reported that Auction.com, the largest online real estate dealer in
the US, will stop selling residential mortgage loans. "The company,
which made a name selling distressed properties after the financial crisis,
came under fire last year in connection with a lawsuit over RMBS loans sold on
the site. RMBS bondholders sued Nationstar Mortgage Holdings for selling roughly
US$150m in soured securitized home loans on Auction.com without notifying them.
EVP Rick Sharga said that the decision to exit the residential loan market was
unconnected to the case, which was settled out of court, and based on a desire
for growth instead. IFR reports, "It's not that this doesn't work
online," he said. "It's just a question of where the best return
is...Auctions.com has also been selling bulk pools of soured residential and
commercial loans from servicers in an eBay-type auction. It will continue
selling commercial real estate loan and properties. It said it sold more than
US$7bn in real estate online last year. Auction.com was valued at US$1.2bn in
March after Google Capital made a US$50m investment in the platform. Others
shareholders include Starwood Capital Group, Starwood Property Trust, Stone
Point Capital and funds managed by affiliates of Fortress Investment
Group."
Turning
to rates, it almost seems that regardless of the news, rates seem quite
comfortable where they are - surprising given the bad news out yesterday.
Durable Goods Orders for May fell -1.0%, the first drop since January. And Q1
GDP, in its final number, was -2.9%, below the expected fall of -1.8% and down
from second revision of -1.0%. This was the biggest loss since Q1 2009.
Analysts were quick to slice and dice the numbers, and when the dust settled it
turned out a portion of these dismal numbers can be explained away due to
weather and Obamacare! Nonetheless, rates improved slightly with the 10-yr
closing at 2.56% and agency MBS prices better by about .125.
No comments:
Post a Comment