Daily Dose

Lenders can expect to see some changes and clarification with how the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) will handle defect taxonomy and their guidelines. Today, the FHA posted its Single Family Loan Quality Assessment Methodology or “Defect Taxonomy”, which explains how FHA intends to categorize loan defects found in Single Family FHA endorsed loans today.

When purchasing a home, it’s important to consider the extra or hidden costs. Many homeowners are blissfully unaware of just how much these additional fees can costs on top of their mortgage. Zillow and Thumbtack recently released a study that found homeowners can pay more than $9,000 in hidden and home maintenance costs every year.

Construction is the key to a positive long-term outlook for the housing market. It is likely the most important facet of the industry and can be a determining factor of a slowly recovering housing market. In an article titled “New Home Construction Is Gearing Up for a 15-Year Boom. Who's Ready?” author John Burns, CEO of John Burns Real Estate Consulting, did research on the rate of construction over the next 15 years and came up with data that determines how to meet the overwhelming housing demand.

A proposal to delay the effective date of the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) rule was announced on Wednesday by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB). The proposal is requesting that the TRID rule be postponed until October 1, 2015 due to an administrative error. The TRID rule was originally set to go into effect on August 1, 2015.

In an effort to escheat any remaining uncashed payments that borrowers made pursuant to the 2013 Independent Foreclosure Review (IFR) Payment Agreement, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) announced today that six servicers will now face several business restrictions for not complying with the consent order requirements.

Today, the Federal Open Market Committee announced in a press release that it has decided to further postpone raising federal rates until inflation improves. This meeting is the fourth of eight meetings the committee will have this year to discuss market developments, economic conditions, and the highly anticipated federal funds rate increase.

More borrowers are looking to revise and replace their old loans and receive new ones with better conditions, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency's (FHFA) monthly April 2015 Refinance Report. Refinance volume increased for April 2015, while mortgage rates remained near 20 month lows in March.

Mortgage lenders are feeling more positive on purchase mortgage demand, profit margin, and credit standards over the next three months, according to a recent Fannie Mae’s second quarter 2015 Mortgage Lender Sentiment Survey. The survey shows that lenders’ near-term outlook for purchase demand and profit margin are reaching higher levels than 2014’s survey results.

After only three short years of business, Discover Financial Services announced today in a press release that its mortgage origination business, Discover Home Loans Inc. will close. The origination business was acquired in 2012 to focus on profitable direct banking products that the company believed would produce greater growth opportunities.

Approximately 254,000 properties regained equity in the first quarter of 2015, bringing the total of residential mortgaged properties with equity nationwide up to 44.9 million – approximately 90 percent of all mortgages, according to data released by CoreLogic on Tuesday.