(From Florida thanks to Stephen G. who sent
this one.)
There were four churches and a synagogue in
a small town: a Presbyterian church, a Baptist church, a Methodist church, a
Catholic church, and a synagogue. Each church and the synagogue had a
problem with squirrels.
The Presbyterian church called a meeting to
decide what to do about their squirrels. After much prayer and consideration,
they concluded the squirrels were predestined to be there and they shouldn't
interfere with God's divine will.
At the Baptist church the squirrels had
taken an interest in the baptistery. The deacons met and decided to put a water
slide on the baptistery and let the squirrels drown themselves. The squirrels
liked the slide and, unfortunately, knew instinctively how to swim so twice as
many squirrels showed up the following week.
The Methodist church decided that they were
not in a position to harm any of God's creatures. So, they humanely
trapped their squirrels and set them free near the Baptist Church. Two weeks
later the squirrels were back when the Baptists took down the water slide.
But the Catholic Church came up with a very
creative strategy. They baptized all the squirrels and consecrated them as
members of the church. Now they only see them on Christmas and Easter.
Not much was heard from the Jewish
synagogue; they took the first squirrel and circumcised him. They haven't seen
a squirrel since.
There's been a lot of chatter in the industry to the effect that
TRID has significantly increased appraisal turn-times and cost. To get at the
truth, our friends over at STRATMOR have recently launched their August
Spotlight Survey: Lender Appraisal Processes and Turn-Times, that examines
when in the origination process lenders order appraisals; how they obtain them,
i.e., via an Appraisal Management Company, an internal Appraisal Panel, or
both; when and how they collect appraisal fees; and the impact of all this on
appraisal turn times and costs and how these metrics may vary with loan purpose,
method of obtaining an appraisal and other factors. Launched on August 10th,
the survey will remain open until September 16th with results available for
purchase on or about October 7th. As with all Spotlight Surveys, there is no
up-front charge for taking the survey, which should not take more than 15-20
minutes. Instead, you can purchase results when they come available. If you are
interested in taking this survey or finding out more, you can click here.
For you CFPB watchers, it has ordered First National Bank of Omaha to provide $108 per head, or
$27.75 million, in relief to roughly 257,000 consumers harmed by illegal
practices with credit card add-on products. See? Mortgages aren't the only
industry in its crosshairs. BuckleySandler partners Andrew L. Sandler and Valerie Hletko led the team that advised First National
Bank of Omaha in relation to the CFPB's most recent Order. (CFPB Press
Release: http://bit.ly/2bK0h74).
Yesterday a little uncertainty was removed from the
conventional conforming arena. The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), which
runs Freddie & Fannie for the U.S. Government, has announced that the
Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) will be extended nine months to
September 30, 2017, continuing to provide liquidity to support eligible borrowers.
After that, apparently, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will introduce new high loan-to-value (LTV) ratio same-investor refinance options, scheduled to be available in October 2017 - yet to be named. The new options will be for existing loans with LTV ratios exceeding the maximum otherwise allowed, supporting borrowers who are making their payments but are constrained by a high LTV from refinancing. Under the new options, as with HARP, the refinance must provide a borrower benefit, such as a lower interest rate. Unlike HARP, the new options will not have an effective date or an expiration date. Full details will be available in the coming months through the Enterprises, but the offering will make use of the lessons learned from the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) and its streamlined approach to refinancing.
Refer to the Selling Notice for more information on the extension of DU Refi Plus™ and Refi Plus™. To preview Fannie Mae's new high LTV refinance option, read the fact sheet; detailed requirements will be provided in a future lender communication although it is believed that the program is more targeted than HARP and, unlike HARP, can be used more than once by eligible borrowers. Existing HARP loans, however, will not be eligible for the new program.
After that, apparently, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will introduce new high loan-to-value (LTV) ratio same-investor refinance options, scheduled to be available in October 2017 - yet to be named. The new options will be for existing loans with LTV ratios exceeding the maximum otherwise allowed, supporting borrowers who are making their payments but are constrained by a high LTV from refinancing. Under the new options, as with HARP, the refinance must provide a borrower benefit, such as a lower interest rate. Unlike HARP, the new options will not have an effective date or an expiration date. Full details will be available in the coming months through the Enterprises, but the offering will make use of the lessons learned from the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) and its streamlined approach to refinancing.
Refer to the Selling Notice for more information on the extension of DU Refi Plus™ and Refi Plus™. To preview Fannie Mae's new high LTV refinance option, read the fact sheet; detailed requirements will be provided in a future lender communication although it is believed that the program is more targeted than HARP and, unlike HARP, can be used more than once by eligible borrowers. Existing HARP loans, however, will not be eligible for the new program.
The Fannie Mae Post-Purchase
Adjustment (PPA) Data Change Rules Matrix was recently enhanced featuring
easier navigation and a simpler look and feel. In this update, documentation
requirements were streamlined for certain data attributes and Special Feature
Codes (SFCs).
This Exhibit provides the new Fannie
Mae Standard Modification Interest Rate required for all Fannie Mae
conventional mortgage loan modifications, excluding Fannie Mae HAMP
Modifications.
DU Version 10.0 is coming to town the weekend of September
24. DU Version 10.0 The integration testing environment has opened for testing
of DU 10.0 and integration customers have been notified. Find more information
about DU 10.0 on the DU web page.
Flagstar Bank announced updates to Fannie Mae
HomeReady which include: Occupant borrowers are no longer restricted from
having an ownership interest in other residential properties. Requirement for
homeownership education has been removed for rate/term refinance
transactions. Education is still required for purchase transactions.
Requirement for landlord education has been removed for loans secured by 2- to
4-unit properties.
LHFS Wholesale posted
information to align with DU's HomeReady loans with a Note Date on or after July 26, 2016. The occupant borrower
may now own other residential properties and be eligible for a HomeReady
transaction. The property ownership restriction has been removed. Homeownership
education is now required for purchase transactions only. DU
messaging that conflicts with these changes may be disregarded until the DU
future update is released reflecting the changes.
Income from future employment will be acceptable for
Desktop Underwriter Approve transactions in the Fannie Mae Eligible products
for ditech clients if specified criteria has been met.
M&T
Bank, August 10th, for new
registrations and existing pipeline loans, issuing a clarification for Agency,
Treasury and FHA loans. Wedding gifts may be an acceptable explanation for a
large deposit as long as acceptable documentation is provided. Underwriting and
UES guides will be updated for each product type to reflect acceptable
documentation.
Franklin American
Mortgage has
updated its guides to include: The 2016 HomeReady income limits, including the
change to 100% AMI (or no limit in certain census tracts) which became
available in DU during the month of July. The removal of the previous
restructured refinance requirements for DU loans as announced by Fannie Mae. In
addition, Lenders may now follow Fannie Mae's guidance regarding sufficient
business liquidity.
Plaza'sHomeReady Program Guidelines have been updated per Fannie
Mae announcement SEL-2016-06. Updates include: Removed the restriction
against occupant borrowers owning other residential property. Homeownership
education is no longer required for rate/term refinance transactions. Landlord
education is no longer required for borrowers financing 2-4 unit properties.
Updated the Maximum Financed Properties to match standard Fannie Mae Guidelines
as the restriction against owning other properties has been eliminated.
Click here for First Community Mortgage underwriting guideline updates as of
August 1st.
Flagstar's Conventional Underwriting Guidelines have
been updated, effective immediately. Updates include changes to social
security income, properties with resale restrictions, restricted mortgage, and
student loans.
U.S. Bank Home Mortgage has updated its
underwriting guidelines for work completion escrows. Updates include
clarification in transactions and property types. Applicable to FHA (excluding
HUD REO), VA and Conventional Purchase Transactions and Refinance of a New
Construction Loan for one unit primary residences only. USBHM will not allow
escrow for items that impact the immediate habitability of the property. Those
items must be repaired prior to closing (i.e. well/septic, other health/safety
issues, non-functioning utilities electric/heat/water, kitchen, bathroom etc.)
Escrows for well/septic, other health/safety issues or interior work will be
considered on an exception basis only (except for Rural Housing where it is not
allowed).
M&T Bank has clarified and enhanced FNMA
HomeStyle property type guidelines to be inclusive of multiple scenarios:
Eligible and Ineligible Properties and Programs.
In addition, as of August 1st, its tax service fee has increased
to $82.50.
NYCB Mortgage Table Funding Clients, effective for
loans with an Initial AU Submission on or after August 20th,
HomeReady Mortgage underwriting guideline updates designed to simplify and
expand options. See HomeReady Mortgage product page and Seller's Guide section 4.8 Homeownership Education and Housing Counseling for
complete details.
One important note from yesterday on the appraisal front. Pacific
Union Financial, LLC had announced a change for the required appraisal, if
applicable to the transaction, to be submitted at loan submission for
all refinances...the appraisal to be submitted with the credit package. Pacific
Union revoked this change. "While appraisals may be submitted with the
credit package to initiate review of the collateral earlier in the process, the
appraisal will no longer be required at time of initial loan submission.
Appraisals can continue to be submitted as a condition."
Interest rates? There isn't much to move them - things are
pretty quiet overseas - and they've been steady at these levels for nearly two
weeks with little to report. Current coupon agency MBS prices have traded in a
.250 range for the last week or so, up a little, down a little. Thursday, for
example, the 10-year note price worsened about .125 and wound up yielding 1.58%
but mortgage-backed securities were pretty much unchanged.
Today, in Wyoming, one could either fish, do some mining,
or attend the first full day of the KC Fed's 2016 Economic Policy Symposium
("Designing Resilient Monetary Policy Frameworks for the Future")
which is being held in Jackson Hole, WY. Why Jackson Hole? Paul Volker likes to
fish. Currently, futures are implying a 32% chance of a rate hike at the next
FOMC meeting on 9/21. This probability has increased significantly over the
past few weeks, but as we've found out, Fed Fund targets don't directly
correlate to 30-year mortgage rates.
We've already had the 2nd release of Q2 GDP. Expected to
show a little pick up, it showed GDP is +1.1%. Also we've seen the advanced
readings for July on goods trade, wholesale and retail inventories (the deficit
narrowed sharply). And then at 10:00am the University of Michigan Sentiment
Index. As noted above the 10-year closed at 1.58% and this morning, after these
numbers and ahead of Janet Yellen's speech, it is at 1.56% with agency MBS
prices a shade better.
That's a mesmerizing post and I simply enjoyed it. The church loans in USA products are doing really well and the rate of church foreclosing is decreasing.
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