Mortgage Bankers Recommendations for Future of FHA and Ginnie Mae.

Full report is HERE. 

FHA recommendations were:

1. Give FHA and Ginnie Mae the needed appropriations to hire new staff.
2. Provide FHA with the needed appropriation to develop and implement modern information technology (IT) systems and processes, including anti-fraud tools. FHA should also refine the FHA TOTAL Scorecard.
3. Define and update FHA’s mission, including a re-examination of the current FHA loan limits.
4. Strengthen the FHA reverse mortgage product (Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM)).
5. Provide FHA with the expanded authority to increase premiums.
6. Give the FHA Commissioner the authority, with the concurrence of the HUD Secretary, General Counsel and Ginnie Mae president, to temporarily suspend problem lenders.
7.Balance FHA’s proposed multifamily risk management protocol against the backdrop of rising affordable housing needs, declining incomes and the on-going credit crisis.
8.Examine the existing Homeownership Center and Hub structure.

 Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

Mortgage Bankers, Some Financial Service Firms, Don't Like Some SAFE Act Proposed Regulations from HUD.

37 page letter from Mortgage Bankers Association, commenting on a proposed HUD regulation, is HERE. The Docket for the proposed HUD regulations, with more than 4,000 comments, is HERE.

Generally, MBA and others don't like possible inclusion of loan servicers and loan modification specialists as part of SAFE registration requirements.

Originally created and posted on the Oregon Housing Blog.

1st Qtr Data Added to Mortage Delinquency and Foreclosure Comparison Tool.

Last December I constructed a new Excel tool that allows the comparison of current Oregon delinquency and foreclosure data with periods going back as far as the 1970's. (A detailed explanation of the tool in a prior blog post is HERE; my prior blog post with a summary of 4th quarter 2008 data is HERE).

I have now updated the tool to include 1st quarter 2009 data; the permanent link to the most recent data is in the right pane, titled Current Oregon Foreclosure Data Tool.

That data shows that, compared to the prior quarter:

• For all loans, foreclosure starts increased by 16% from 55 a DAY to 65 a DAY. Prime loan foreclosure starts increased by 20%; subprime by 11%.
• All seriously delinquent loans (foreclosure inventory + 90 day delinquencies) increased by 33% from 20,331 to 26,792. Prime loan seriously delinquent loans increased by 45%; subprime by 23%.

Despite the higher increase in rate of troubled prime loans, the rate of troubled subprime loans remains FAR above the rate of troubled prime loans, as the table below shows:

Measure	Subprime Rate /Prime Rate	Prime	Subprime
% Foreclosures Started	764%	1%	4%
% Foreclosure Inventory	782%	1%	11%
% Past Due	538%	4%	19%
% Past Due 90 Days	615%	1%	8%
% Seriously Delinquent	701%	3%	19%

HUD Issues Interim Report on Causes of Foreclosures, As Mandated by SAFE Act Section of Housing and Economic Recovery Act.

82 pages, Issued without much fanfare last week, HERE.

(The MBA document issued last year HERE is a teriffic cheat sheet showing HERA implementing actions and timelines. I count at least 75 items with specific due dates).

Oregon 4th Qtr 2008 Foreclosures: Starts are Up 111% and Seriously Delinquent Loans Up 140% from a Year Ago.

I have updated the Excel Current Oregon Foreclosure Tool in the right pane (and HERE) to include 4th quarter MBA data. (My prior 3rd quarter post, with explanation of what the tool does is HERE). Key feature of the tool is ability to compare for loans and problem loan rates between loan categories (all loans, prime loans, and subprime loans) and over time.

Four Items to Note

1. For all loans, foreclosure starts increased by 111% from 26 a DAY to 55 a DAY from 4th quarter 2007 to 2008. Prime loan foreclosure starts increased even higher, by 182% (see item 3 below).
   
2. Seriously delinquent loans (foreclosure inventory + 90 day delinquencies) increased by 140% from 8,578 to 20,331. Prime loan seriously delinquent loans grew even faster at 214% (see item 3 below).
   
3. Subprime loans continue to have higher rates of problems than prime loans, but the rate of increase in PRIME problem loans is much higher than for subprime loans. Suprime loans account for 9% of all loans but 40%+ of problem loans; prime loan problem loans however grew by 180%-240% in several problem loan categories.(The PDF HERE provide the data to demonstrate this conclusion).
4. Total loans serviced as reported by MBA declined by 8,454 loans. As the all loan total includes all loan categories, either reporting changes were made, loans switched to servicers not reporting in the MBA survey, OR we had 8,454 fewer homeowners with loans than a the same quarter a year ago. (or some mix of all three reasons). The national survey also saw a decrease of 592,000 loans but no explanation was offered for the change. This kind of change in loans surveyed may be a regular occurrence that slips public attention; I will look at future reports and call out changes for Oregon in future quarterly updates.

Update to Citigroup Cramdown Agreement Post Includes Citigroup Letters; Mortgage Bankers Association Still Opposed.

WSJ has good follow up story this morning, including links to PDF's of letters from Citigroup President to Senate and House.

Story is HERE.