Government

Today, Ginnie Mae announced its plans to thoroughly update program requirements and infrastructure in relation to loan documents that serve as collateral for securitized pools of loans.

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.

In an unexpected turn of events, retired House Democrat, key architect of the financial crisis era legislation, and more important namesake of the 2010 Dodd Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, Barney Frank has joined the board of directors of New York-based Signature Bank (SBNY), according to a company announcement on Wednesday.

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.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac investors made some careful moves after Monday’s court decision between American International Group (AIG) and the GSEs. The share of the GSE’s stock went up about 9 percent before dropping back down, however, Monday’s ruling may not necessarily mean good news for shareholders, according to multiple media reports.

After awarding $36 million worth of grants to hundreds of national, regional, and local organizations to help families and individuals with their housing needs and to prevent future foreclosures in April, HUD recently awarded an additional $6 million in grants to add to that total, according to a press release.