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Obama’s mortgage-refinancing options

Posted by Amanda Arwood
Sep 8 2011 - 10:17am

 In his address on the economy, President Obama announces a plan to offer some kind of refinancing option for homeowners with government-backed mortgages. (We covered the potential plan here and here.)

Now Jaret Seiberg, a research analyst at MF Global (a commodities and derivatives broker), published a short analysis of what the President’s options are, titled, naturally, “Mortgage Refinancing: Evaluating Obama’s Options.”

FHFA suing all them banks: Q&A

Posted by Amanda Arwood
Sep 8 2011 - 9:49am

A Wall Street Journal column by Nick Timiraos does a decent job answering the question “Why is the federal government suing 17 of the largest financial institutions in the world?”

The (very) short answer: These lender sold mortgage bonds to Fannie and Freddie, but misrepresented their quality — you know, the whole ‘AAA rating on a mortgage sold to a guy without a job’ thing.

Goldman Sachs agrees to stop illegal robo-signing

Posted by Amanda Arwood
Sep 7 2011 - 9:16am

As part of a settlement with a the New York Department of Financial Services and Banking, Goldman Sachs has agreed to stop robo-signing mortgage paperwork.

Per MSNBC:

As part of the deal, the Goldman subsidiary said it will stop the practice of robo-signing mortgage paperwork. Robo-signing came to light last fall when it was revealed that the largest banks had outsourced mortgage paperwork to processing companies that, in turn, hired unqualified people to sign thousands of mortgage affidavits without reviewing loan documents. The practice is illegal.

 

Morgan Stanley has a plan for distressed properties

Posted by Amanda Arwood
Sep 7 2011 - 9:00am

Morgan Stanley is really pushing it’s plan — called REBUILD (I’m sure it stands for something cute, but honestly I don’t think it matters) — where investors would buy big blocks of distressed homes, fix ‘em up, and rent ‘em. With something like six million such properties (either in or nearing foreclosure), that’s a lot to work with.

 “We believe this framework for a solution would benefit all stakeholders at the expense of none, while being fair and sensitive to the hardships faced by all Americans,” said the company. And if you can’t trust a large global financial services firm, who can you trust?

The idea is that organizations with a large stack of REOs — the housing agencies (e.g., Fannie, Freddie, and FHA) and lenders — would agree to sell those properties in bulk to investors.

Fannie & Freddie begin compiling appraisal database

Posted by Amanda Arwood
Sep 2 2011 - 9:39am

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have begun collecting appraisal information for any property for which they own the mortgage. Because F&F buy more than 90% of the mortgages on the market, the Uniform Appraisal Dataset will essentially become a nationwide database of property appraisals.

And the two government-sponsored enterprises haven’t decided — or at least haven’t said — what they plan to do with the information.

(As an aside, I wonder if it will be made public, and if it’s something that will eventually make its way into the Realtor Property Resource. But that’s just idle speculation.)

imageThe basic goal is to “improve the quality and consistency of appraisal data” according to Fannie Mae. For one, combined with the forthcoming Uniform Collateral Data Portal (where appraisers will submit their work), it will standardize the terminology. For example, it will eliminate variations in numbers and measures (e.g., “1/4 acre” vs “.25 acre” vs. “10890 sq. ft.”).

HUD extends aid program for unemployed homeowners

Posted by Amanda Arwood
Sep 1 2011 - 4:57pm

You may have heard that HUD has a program to help unemployed homeowners make their mortgage payments — the Emergency Homeowners Loan Program. The EHLP had $1 billion in funding to be used to give interest-free loans of up to $50,000.

The program officially ended on July 27, but HUD found it had money left over. So it’s taking applications through September 15 through its NeighborWorks America housing counselors — until the funds run dry.

Click here for more info you can give clients on getting help.

Fed would go along with Obama refinance program

Posted by Amanda Arwood
Sep 1 2011 - 4:50pm

Last week we told you about an Obama Administration plan to offer a streamlined process that would allow homeowners to refinance at today’s lower interest rates.

Today (per Housing Wire), analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods investment bank said that remarks made by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke on August 26 indicate that the Fed would support such a refinance program.

Regional Forum on Workforce Housing

Date: 
September 28, 2011 (All day)
Location: 
Grand Hyatt Washington 1000 H Street, NW Washington DC

Join your colleagues from the Mid-Atlantic at a Forum on Workforce Housing

Bring Workers Home will explore the nature of the workforce housing challenge in the Mid-Atlantic region and highlight some of the region’s successful housing programs and best practice efforts underway in DC, Maryland, Virginia and Pennsylvania.

The day’s agenda will include:

FDIC: Mortgage delinquency rate at lowest level since 2009

Posted by Amanda Arwood
Aug 30 2011 - 4:44pm

The FDIC says that only 6.68% of mortgages held by major banks were delinquent in the second quarter of the year — the lowest level in two years.

For the seventh consecutive quarter, the actual amount of loans between 30 days and 90 days delinquent decreased. Today only about $70 billion is in “early-stage delinquency,”  the lowest level since the late 2007.

Click here to read the full story at Housing Wire.

No, there’s still no deal on flood insurance

Posted by Amanda Arwood
Aug 30 2011 - 4:36pm

The National Flood Insurance Program expires on September 30, and no, Congress has not yet decided how it’s going to extend the program. According to this article in the Wall Street Journal, there’s unlikely to be a long-term agreement before the expiration date.

Private insurers won’t offer flood insurance to areas where flooding is likely, notably parts of Texas and Florida, so the NFIP was created to reduce reliance on federal disaster aid. The idea was that local communities would create (and enforce) laws to map flood plains and reduce the danger to new properties, and the federal government would offer flood insurance.

 Unfortunately, rather than reduce the flood danger, the availability of inexpensive insurance (premiums are about $600 per year) encouraged people to move to flood zones. In 2004, the plan paid out $200 million per year just for “repetitive-loss properties.”