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Zillow to Offer Prize for Creative Solutions to Jumpstart Housing Market

Posted on September 13, 2018September 13, 2018 by Safeguard

On January 23, HousingWire published an article titled Zillow plans event to “hack” housing.

Zillow plans event to “hack” housing

Offers $10,000 prize for creative solutions to jumpstart market

Zillow (Z) is offering $10,000 to anyone who can come up with a “creative solution” to jumpstart the slumbering housing market.

The online real estate giant is planning a weekend “hackathon” from Feb. 6-8, where developers will be challenged to devise an innovative way to make it easier for first-time homebuyers, low-income renters and senior citizens to find a home that meets their needs, Zillow said.

And the prize for the most creative solution is $10,000.

The event, titled “Hack Housing: Empowering Smarter Decisions,” is being conducted in coordination with the White House, U.S. Department of Commerce and the Department of Housing and Urban Development and in partnership with the Department of Computer Science & Engineering at the University of Washington.

“Zillow provides an enormous amount of real estate data to consumers to help them through the process of finding a home, but information about government programs and data about accessibility of homes that qualify under these programs has remained fragmented or unavailable,” Zillow said.

“As part of the event, participants will have access to newly released government data sets on topics like federal housing programs; apartment buildings with accessible apartments; and transit information,” Zillow added. “In addition, Zillow will make available its data on home values and rents.”

In recent weeks, Zillow is taking a more active role in shaping the future of the housing market.

Earlier this week, Zillow hosted a fireside chat with HUD Secretary Julián Castro. During the event, which was moderated by Zillow Chief Economist Stan Humphries, Castro and Humphries discussed the current challenges facing potential homebuyers.

“Investment in a home is an investment in the long run in creation of wealth,” Castro said during the event. “A confluence of better economy, wages starting to go up and gas prices going down create some breathing room for people stuck in that rut to save some money to buy that first home.”

Zillow’s “hackathon” will be held Feb. 6-8 at Zillow Tower in Seattle.

Please click here to view the article online.

Please click here to view the Hack Housing: Empowering Smarter Decisions news release.

About Safeguard
Safeguard Properties is the mortgage field services industry leader, preserving vacant and foreclosed properties across the U.S., Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands and Guam. Founded in 1990 by Robert Klein and headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Safeguard provides the highest quality service to our clients by leveraging innovative technologies and proactively developing industry best practices and quality control procedures. Consistent with Safeguard’s values and mission, we are an active supporter of hundreds of charitable efforts across the country. Annually, Safeguard gives back to communities in partnership with our employees, vendors and clients. We also are dedicated to working with community leaders and officials to eliminate blight and stabilize neighborhoods. Safeguard is dedicated to preserving today and protecting tomorrow. Website: www.safeguardproperties.com.

VA Circular 26-14-1 Change 1 Lender Compliance with Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Requirements for Ability to Repay and Qualified Mortgage Rule

Posted on September 13, 2018September 13, 2018 by Safeguard

On January 22, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) issued Circular 26-14-1 Change 1, subtitled Lender Compliance with Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Requirements for Ability to Repay and Qualified Mortgage Rule.

Veterans Benefits Administration Circular 26-14-1
Department of Veterans Affairs Change 1
Washington, D.C. 20420

Lender Compliance with Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Requirements for Ability to Repay and Qualified Mortgage Rule

1. Purpose. The purpose of this Circular is to extend the rescission date of the basic Circular so that stations continue to provide guidance on VA’s position as it relates to these procedures.

2. Therefore, Circular 26-14-1, is changed as follows:

Page 1, paragraph 4: Delete “January 1, 2015.” and insert “January 1, 2016.”

By Direction of the Under Secretary for Benefits

Michael J. Frueh
Director, Loan Guaranty Service

Please click here to view the online circular.

Link to Circular 26-14-1.

VA Circular 26-11-3 Change 2 Servicemembers Civil Relief Act

Posted on September 13, 2018 by Safeguard

On January 8, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) issued Circular 26-11-3 Change 2, subtitled Servicemembers Civil Relief Act.

Veterans Benefits Administration Circular 26-11-3
Department of Veterans Affairs Change 2
Washington, D.C. 20420

SERVICEMEMBERS CIVIL RELIEF ACT

1. Purpose. The purpose of this Circular is to extend the rescission date of the basic Circular so that stations continue to provide guidance on VA’s position as it relates to these procedures.
2. Therefore, Circular 26-11-3, as amended by Change 1 on August 24, 2012, is changed as follows:

Page 2, paragraph 7.b: Delete “January 1, 2015.” and insert “January 1, 2016.”

By Direction of the Under Secretary for Benefits

Michael J. Frueh
Director, Loan Guaranty Service

Please click here to view the online circular.

Link to Circular 26-11-3 and Circular 26-11-3-Change 1.

The Freddie Mac 1099-C Filing Report is Available

Posted on September 13, 2018 by Safeguard

On January 16, Freddie Mac released an announcement titled The Freddie Mac 1099-C Filing Report Is Available.

The Freddie Mac 1099-C Filing Report Is Available

Your Freddie Mac 1099-C filing report is now available in Default Reporting ManagerSM. Please use this report to determine if you need to file Form 1099-C with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and provide the form to the borrower, when necessary. Review the requirements in Single-Family Seller/Servicer Guide (Guide) Section 55.3.1, IRS Form 1099-C, Cancellation of Debt, for more detailed information.

As a reminder, the Freddie Mac 1099-C filing report only includes foreclosure sales where:

You preserved the deficiency through foreclosure, and
Freddie Mac or its vendors decided post-foreclosure not to pursue the deficiency in 2014.

Follow Guide Section 55.3.1 for all other liquidation scenarios. For complete details about this report, please see page 4 of Guide Bulletin 2014-16 [pdf].

What to Do Next

Access the Servicer 1099-C filing report from Freddie Mac in Default Reporting Manager.
Determine the deficiency amount and the amounts to include on IRS Form 1099-C. Review the report and determine if you need to file Form 1099-C with the IRS and provide it to the borrower.
Provide a paper copy of IRS Form 1099-C to the borrower by February 2, 2015. You are also required to file IRS Form 1099-C with any state that has this requirement.
File IRS Form 1099-C on Freddie Mac’s behalf electronically no later than March 31, 2015. Visit www.irs.gov for guidelines on filing electronic reports and corrections.
Notify Freddie Mac that you filed Form 1099-C with the IRS. Submit Guide Form 1065 following Guide Directory 3.

If you have questions, contact your Account Manager or Customer Support (800-FREDDIE).

For More Information
Visit the Default Reporting Manager Web page.
Review Single-Family Seller/Servicer Guide Bulletin 2014-16 [pdf].
Sign up for the latest emails on Single-Family news, updates, and alerts on our Subscription Center.
Contact your Freddie Mac representative.

Please click here to view the announcement online.

Supreme Court Eases Notification Rules for Mortgage Rescissions

Posted on September 13, 2018 by Safeguard

On January 13, HousingWire released an article discussing a U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing borrowers to notify creditors in writing of their intention to rescind their mortgages within three years.

Supreme Court eases notification rules for mortgage rescissions

Change makes it easier for borrowers to walk away from underwater homes

Borrowers need only notify creditors in writing of their intention to rescind their mortgages within three years, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Tuesday, which could make it easier for underwater owners to walk away from their mortgages.

The ruling by the Supreme Court on Tuesday overturned a September 2013 ruling in the 8th Circuit that held that Larry and Cheryle Jesinoski of Eagan, Minn., were required to sue Countrywide Home Loans Inc. to have their mortgage financing rescinded within three years of the transaction closing under the Truth In Lending Act.

According to Law360, the Jesinoskis argued that TILA only requires borrowers to give notice in writing within those three years.

The entire high court agreed with the Jesinoskis.

“The language leaves no doubt that rescission is effected when the borrower notifies the creditor of his intention to rescind. It follows that, so long as the borrower notifies within three years after the transaction is consummated, his rescission is timely. The statute does not also require him to sue within three years,” Justice Antonin Scalia wrote for the court in a unanimous opinion.

This ruling means that TILA does not in fact require borrowers to file a lawsuit to rescind a mortgage within three years of the home loan’s issuance.

Rather, all they have to do is file a notice that they intend to walk away from the loan.

According to Law360, the law also provides a more expanded rescission right in situations where borrowers do not receive mandated disclosures. There, the law provides three years from the closing date to provide such notice but with proof that the documents were not provided.

“The Jesinoskis mailed respondents written notice of their intention to rescind within three years of their loan’s consummation. Because this is all that a borrower must do in order to exercise his right to rescind under the Act, the court below erred in dismissing the complaint,” Justice Scalia wrote.

Please click here to view the article online.

Obama Stresses Nation’s Economic Growth in State of the Union Address

Posted on September 13, 2018 by Safeguard

Updated 1/22: On January 21, DS News released an article titled Economist Breaks Down Why Obama Omitted Housing Policy From State of the Union Address.

Link to article

On January 20, DS News published an article discussing the primary topics covered during President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address.

Obama Stresses Nation’s Economic Growth in State of the Union Address

During his State of the Union address Tuesday evening, President Barack Obama did not make any substantial announcements regarding the housing market, government mortgage-backed securities, or the GSEs. However, “lower mortgage premiums” were mentioned, alongside “child care and sick leave and equal pay” as “ideas [that] will make a meaningful difference in the lives of millions of families.”

Obama said his budget proposal is aimed at “middle-class economics,” with goals of “helping folks afford childcare, college, health care, a home, retirement.”

However, in addition to mentioning the need for lower mortgage premiums, Obama also spoke of one American family who spends more on childcare than on their mortgage, prompting Jed Kolko, chief economist and VP of analytics at Trulia, to tweet in response, “Not a hard sell for lower FHA premiums.”

Wall Street Journal journalist Joe Light tweeted during the speech, “Not much on housing in #SOTU but not much there could be. Housing needs stuff like wage growth to get going rather than legislation.”

Obama did mention wage growth as he spoke of the overall progress of the national economy. “Today, thanks to a growing economy, the recovery is touching more and more lives,” Obama said. “Wages are finally starting to rise again.”

“The shadow of crisis has passed, and the state of the union is strong,” the president said early in his speech.

The nation has experienced “the fastest economic growth in over a decade, our deficits cut by two-thirds, a stock market that has doubled, and health care inflation at its lowest rate in fifty years,” Obama said.

Obama touted the past year as “a breakthrough year for America” as job growth outpaced any year since 1999 and unemployment fell below pre-crisis levels.

However, not all agree with this rosy portrayal. “If only we could get more people to leave the labor force, the unemployment rate could fall some more,” tweeted Mark Calabria, director of financial regulation studies at the Cato Institute, a public policy research group.

Please click here to view the article online.

Obama Lauds Housing Market Progress in Phoenix Speech

Posted on September 13, 2018 by Safeguard

On January 8, DS News published an article detailing a speech made by President Barack Obama at Central High School in Phoenix, Arizona.

Obama Lauds Housing Market Progress In Phoenix Speech

In a 30-minute speech Thursday morning at Central High School in Phoenix, Arizona, President Barack Obama spoke of the progress the housing market has made since 2009 and measures his administration is taking to help everyone achieve homeownership.

Specifically, Obama addressed the topic of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) lowering its mortgage insurance premiums down from 1.35 percent to 0.85 percent, a move that is expected to save new homebuyers an average of about $900 per year in mortgage payments. That move will help the economy as a whole and not just housing, the president said.

“If they’re saving $900, that’s money that’s going to be going throughout the economy,” Obama said. “Over the next three years, these lower premiums will give hundreds of thousands of more families a chance to own their own home. It will help making owning a home more affordable for millions more households overall in the coming years.

“Keep in mind hundreds of thousands of new buyers is going to mean a healthier housing market for everybody. Even though you’ve already got your mortgage or own your own home, if your neighbors are buying more homes, that’s lifting the home market here, which means the value of your home starts going up, and that’s good for you. It means fewer foreclosure signs as people fix up old properties. It means more construction, which means more jobs, which means a better economy.”

Some analysts expected that Obama would not bring up the hot topic of the elimination of government-sponsored mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but he did briefly mention it. The two enterprises received a combined $188 billion bailout in 2008 at the time they were taken under conservatorship of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), but have since returned to profitability.

“The bottom line is we don’t think there’s anything wrong with pursuing a profit, but we want to make clear that the days of making bad bets on the backs of taxpayer money and then getting bailed out afterwards, we’re not going back to that,” Obama said. “We’ve worked too hard, and everything we’ve done to heal the housing markets, we want to preserve. But we do want to make sure that the housing market is strong and that responsible homeowners can get a good deal, or people who have saved, done the right thing and now are looking to buy their first home, we want to make sure they can get a little bit of help.”

The president warned that the new lower FHA mortgage insurance premium rates are for responsible buyers, and he cautioned the audience against borrowing to buy things they could not afford – and he spoke of actions taken against lenders who have pressured borrowers to accept loans they could not afford. He specifically mentioned the creation of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in 2010 as part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act and the record settlements that have been reached with financial institutions in the last year for engaging in predatory lending practices that led up to the financial crisis.

The overall progress of the housing market in the last five to six years is not an accident, Obama said, but rather it is what happens when policies put middle class families first. And while much progress has been made, he said there is still a lot of work to do.

“There are workers today with jobs who didn’t have jobs last year,” he said near the end of his speech. “There are families who’ve got health insurance who didn’t have health insurance before. There are students who are in college who didn’t think they could afford it before. There are heroes who have served tour after tour who are finally home with their families. There are auto workers who are building great American cars now when they thought that those plants were going to shut down. America is coming back, and the key, Arizona, is for us all to work together so that make sure we keep it going.”

Please click here to view the article online.

Please click here to view the HUD Press Release FHA to Reduce Annual Insurance Premiums online.

MHA Update: SD 15-01 Making Home Affordable Program-MHA Program Updates

Posted on September 13, 2018 by Safeguard

On January 29, Making Home Affordable (MHA) released an update titled Supplemental Directive 15-01: Making Home Affordable Program-MHA Program Updates.

MHA Program Update

Supplemental Directive 15-01: Making Home Affordable Program – MHA Program Updates

Today, January 29, 2015, Supplemental Directive (SD) 15-01: Making Home Affordable Program – MHA Program Updates was issued, expanding eligibility for certain “pay for performance” incentives offered under Treasury’s Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) to include certain GSE loans modified under GSE HAMP.

This SD applies only to servicers of GSE Loans that are subject to:

the terms of a SPA which has been amended to provide for services with respect to certain GSE Loans (such amendment is a GSE SPA Amendment), and
Service Schedule A-1 to the SPA, under which the servicer elected to provide services with respect to HAMP.

The SD applies only to those servicers that execute a GSE SPA Amendment on or before March 15, 2015.

The following topics are covered in this SD:

GSE Authorization of GSE SPA Services
Servicer Participation with Respect to GSE Loans
Eligibility for $5,000 Pay for Performance Incentive under a GSE Amended SPA
Data Collection and Reporting
Compliance

Servicers of GSE Loans should also refer to relevant guidance issued by the applicable GSE with respect to these matters.

This SD amends and supersedes notated portions of the Handbook and is effective April 1, 2015.

This guidance does not apply to servicers who are not subject to a GSE-amended SPA, Non-GSE Mortgages, or mortgage loans that are insured or guaranteed by the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Agriculture’s Rural Housing Service or the Federal Housing Administration.

Read SD 15-01 in its entirety for more information.

Questions?
For more information, email the HAMP Solution Center or call
1-866-939-4469.

Please click here to view the update online.

MHA HAMP Reporting Update HAMP Reporting Tool Servicer Test Environment Update

Posted on September 13, 2018 by Safeguard

On January 16, Making Home Affordable (MHA) released a HAMP Reporting Update, subtitled HAMP Reporting Tool Servicer Test Environment Update.

HAMP REPORTING UPDATE

HAMP Reporting Tool Servicer Test Environment Update

Today, January 16, 2015 the HAMP Reporting Tool servicer test environment will receive an early update to reflect updates in the February 2 release. As part of the Lender Processing Services re-branding update, servicers should be aware of the following:

References to “Lender Processing Services” are replaced with their new name, “Black Knight Financial Services”.
References to “LPS” are replaced with “Black Knight”.
The Lender Processing Services logo will be replaced by the Black Knight Financial Services Data & Analytics logo.
The URL to access the site is updated to https://hamptest.blackknightdna.com/default.aspx. Servicers using the old URL, https;//hamptest.lpsappliedanalytics.com/default.aspx, will automatically be redirected to the new URL.

In addition, the login screen and the automated password reset process have received security enhancements.

Questions?
Email the HAMP Solution Center or call 1-866-939-4469.

Please click here to view the update online.

MHA HAMP Reporting Update December 2014 UP Survey Reminder

Posted on September 13, 2018 by Safeguard

On January 8, Making Home Affordable (MHA) released a HAMP Reporting Update, subtitled December 2014 UP Survey Reminder.

HAMP REPORTING UPDATE

December 2014 UP Survey Reminder

The December 2014 Home Affordable Unemployment Program (UP) survey will be available on HMPadmin.com (login required) beginning Thursday, January 15, 2015. Servicers that have executed a Servicer Participation Agreement (SPA) and have cumulative UP forbearance activity must complete and upload their UP survey response to the HAMP Reporting Tool by Friday, January 23, 2015.

SPA servicers that have any cumulative UP forbearance activity as of December 31, 2014 should submit an UP survey by January 23, 2015.

For details on downloading and submitting the UP survey response, log in to HMPadmin.com, navigate to the HAMP Loan Reporting Tools & Documents area, and select the UP Survey tab.

Questions?
Email the HAMP Solution Center or call 1-866-939-4469.

Please click here to view the online update.