Page 428 – Safeguard Properties

VA Circular 26-13-29 Mandatory Electronic Delivery of Loan Files

Posted on September 13, 2018 by Safeguard

On December 26, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) released Circular 26-13-29, subtitled Mandatory Electronic Delivery of Loan Files.

Circular 26-13-29

Mandatory Electronic Delivery of Loan Files

1. Purpose. This Circular announces that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will require the electronic submission of home loan files selected for full file loan review, effective January 1, 2014.

2. Background. Currently, lenders can submit home loan files selected for review by Loan Guaranty Service (LGY) through either electronic upload or in hard copy form. Effective January 1, 2014, LGY will require the electronic uploading of these loan files, pursuant to 38 CFR 36.4333.

3. Training. LGY also wants to remind stakeholders of electronic file upload training available at: http://www.benefits.va.gov/homeloans/weblgy_stakeholders.asp.

4. Rescission: This Circular is rescinded January 1, 2015.

By Direction of the Under Secretary for Benefits
Michael J. Frueh
Director
Loan Guaranty Service

Please click here to view the online circular.

About Safeguard
Safeguard Properties is the largest mortgage field services company in the U.S. Founded in 1990 by Robert Klein and based in Valley View, Ohio, the company inspects and maintains defaulted and foreclosed properties for mortgage servicers, lenders, and other financial institutions. Safeguard employs approximately 1,700 people, in addition to a network of thousands of contractors nationally. Website: www.safeguardproperties.com.

Three Takeaways for Banks from State of the Union Address

Posted on September 13, 2018 by Safeguard

On January 29, National Mortgage News published an article titled Three Takeaways for Banks from Obama’s State of the Union Address.

Three Takeaways for Banks from Obama’s State of the Union Address

President Obama hit on several important issues for bankers in his annual address to Congress Tuesday night, though as expected financial services issues took a backseat to other national concerns, like unemployment and the minimum wage.

The president did not blast the banking industry as he has in years past, nor did he declare victory on the implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act, as some had predicted. Indeed, he didn’t even tout his success getting key regulators like Richard Cordray, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and Mel Watt, head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, confirmed to their posts in 2013.

But he did touch on the need for housing finance reform and announced a plan to launch government-backed retirement accounts that may prove to be a new line of business for the banking industry.

Below are three key takeaways from the night, including reactions from key lawmakers on the Senate Banking and House Financial Services Committees.

If you sneezed or turned your head at the wrong time you might have missed it, but ongoing efforts in Congress to overhaul Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac did get shout-out, albeit a vague one, during the speech.

Obama asked lawmakers to “send me legislation that protects taxpayers from footing the bill for a housing crisis ever again, and keeps the dream of homeownership alive for future generations of Americans,” building on his earlier support last fall of Senate efforts at a bipartisan housing reform.

A White House fact sheet accompanying the speech noted that Obama remains “encouraged” by efforts on the Senate Banking Committee to forge an agreement on the issue. Chairman Tim Johnson, D-S.D., and Sen. Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, the ranking member, have been working together for several months and are said to be working toward introducing legislation addressing the government-sponsored enterprises sometime later this year. Their efforts will likely build on work by Sens. Bob Corker, R-Tenn., and Mark Warner, D-Va., who were also praised in the fact sheet.

After the speech, lawmakers acknowledged that the issue is a terribly complex one, making a nuanced discussion unlikely during a high level address watched by millions of Americans.

“GSEs are a hard thing to cover in the State of the Union because it’s a very detailed, granular topic,” said Rep. John Delaney, D-Md., who is developing his own mortgage finance reform plan with two other House Democrats, in an interview. “You’re never going to get a lot of detail on GSEs because you either talk about GSEs for 30 seconds or for 30 minutes, there’s kind of no in-between.”

Moreover, Michael Stegman, a counselor to the Treasury Secretary on housing finance policy, gave a lengthy and detailed speech just last week at a securitization conference in Las Vegas that reiterated the White House’s commitment on the issue, likely sating many in the industry for now.

Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, added that Obama has already helped along the mortgage finance reform movement by getting Watt, a former Democratic congressman from North Carolina and member of the House Financial Services Committee, confirmed as director of the FHFA late last year.

“That’s significant because he came right off the committee, he knows what’s going on at the committee level,” Green said in an interview. “I think it’s going to be a real plus for our nation to have someone who has had a hands-on experience in the House with these concerns and who can relate across the aisle.”

Still, Rep. Scott Garrett, R-N.J., author of a conservative plan to overhaul the GSEs pending in the House, downplayed Obama’s efforts on the issue, arguing that more concrete work needs to be done.

“We’ve been waiting for his five years for them to do anything on housing finance, and they haven’t done anything,” he said in an interview. “He’s talked about it in the past, so now he’s talked about it again.”

President Obama also detailed a new government-backed retirement savings program during the speech, an effort that could provide additional fee income for banks.

Obama said that he would direct the Treasury Department on Wednesday to establish “to create a new way for working Americans to start their own retirement savings: MyRA.”

But there were few specifics on the plan—and what was said about it was confusing. During the speech, Obama called it a “new savings bond that encourages folks to build a nest egg” and “guarantees a decent return with no risk of losing what you put in.”

Yet a White House fact sheet referred to it as “starter retirement account” that would be offered through Roth IRA accounts and, like a savings bond, be backed by the U.S. government.

The Treasury Department is expected to release more details on the idea on Wednesday. If it is an account, it could provide banks with additional fee income if they are held and managed by private institutions.

For their part, lawmakers after the speech were interested.

“Anything to democratize savings is a good idea,” said Delaney, a former entrepreneur and banker, adding that there could be “business opportunities around something like that where you could tie it into financial services a lot of different ways.”

Green agreed.

“Any way we can give people an opportunity to save money and do it in such a way as to take care of their future needs, I think that’s a positive thing,” said Green. “So I see this as one additional tool that is to be utilized.”

Still, while reaction to the State of the Union address largely split along party lines, there was some concern on both sides of the aisle about the president’s focus on implementing executive actions, rather than going to Congress, on a number of issues. Phrases like “and if Congress wants to help” were uttered several times throughout the speech.

Please click here to view the article in its entirety.

Mortgage Servicers Still Facing Heat Under Settlement

Posted on September 13, 2018 by Safeguard

On January 2, Mortgage Servicing News published an article titled Mortgage Servicers Face More Heat Under Settlement.

Mortgage Servicers Face More Heat Under Settlement

So far, the big mortgage servicers have received stellar report cards for their compliance with the $25 billion national settlement. That could change this year as testing gets tougher—potentially costing these companies further embarrassment and penalties.

There is a big discrepancy between the strong test results to date and the massive number of consumer complaints, says Joseph A. Smith Jr., the settlement monitor. Consumers have filed more than 112,000 complaints with regulators, servicers and housing counselors since October 2012, mainly claiming that servicers are still too slow to determine if borrowers are eligible for loan modifications.

“Borrowers still don’t know what the rules of the road are and how long will it take for a servicer to look at a loan mod application and decide whether they get relief or not,” says Smith.

The biggest potential challenge for servicers could come in April when four new tests go into effect that specifically address consumer complaints about shoddy billing practices, lax communications, and widespread denials of loan mods.

The results of those tests won’t be available until the end of 2014 so it may be some time before it becomes clear how well servicers are complying with the servicing requirements in the settlement. If servicers are deemed to be lagging they would have to fix the problems and face fines if issues are not addressed.

“I think they’ve made some progress but it’s not mission accomplished,” says Smith, the former banking commissioner of North Carolina. “The acid test ultimately is whether the great body of public opinion believes we’re doing the right thing.”

Smith admits it’s unclear whether the testing process will ultimately be deemed a success by borrowers.

“I’m not saying the new metrics will address all the problems, but they have a greater ability to stop the music, to stop foreclosures and dual-tracking,” he says, referring to the process by which distressed borrowers can still be put into foreclosure at the same time that they are trying to get a load mod.

Smith is under pressure from borrowers and the state attorneys general who negotiated the February 2012 settlement to ensure the servicers are held to its terms. He has listened to borrowers describe what he calls “absolute horrific, terrible, unhappy situations,” in which they have fallen behind on their mortgage payments and “are caught up in a web and can’t get out.”

Meanwhile, advocates for borrowers continue to pressure servicers by picketing banks’ headquarters and delivering petitions signed by thousands of consumers. Advocates say the monitoring process is too weak and that the protracted testing period has worked against homeowners trying to save their homes from foreclosure.

“The experience of lots of borrowers out there is that banks are still slow to respond, they lose peoples’ paperwork and give consumers the runaround,” says Kevin Whelan, campaign director for the Home Defenders League, a consortium of nonprofit housing advocacy groups. “It doesn’t seem like banks have fundamentally altered their behavior in exchange for the liability they were released from in the settlement.”

The $25 billion mortgage settlement, which grew out of the robo-signing scandal, required that the top five servicers—Bank of America, Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Ally Financial, formerly known as GMAC—dole out $20 billion in consumer relief in the form of principal reductions, refinances, loan modifications and short sales directly to borrowers.

Smith also has been auditing the banks’ progress in meeting that $20 billion monetary requirement, which all of the servicers say they’ve completed. But there has been widespread criticism that the banks gave out the vast majority of aid in the form of short sales and forgiveness of second liens, while just 20% of relief was in the form of principal reduction of borrowers’ mortgages.

(The servicers paid another $5 billion in cash to individual states and the federal government when the settlement was signed last year.)

Mortgage servicers had previously been subject to little or no regulation, and when the housing crisis hit, they were overwhelmed by requests for loan mods.

“We have gone from a model that was not monitored ever before to a process that is monitored on a second by second basis,” says Ron D’Vari, CEO of New Oak Capital, a New York advisory firm that oversees servicing for private label investors. “They are trying to bring discipline to a process that really was not measured before, and they are working damn hard to get it done. But it’s complex and unfortunately, because of mistrust, it has to be very precise.”

In a compliance report released in December, Smith identified just seven failed tests in the first half of the year by three servicers—B of A, Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase—out of nearly 250 tests conducted so far. Wells Fargo, the largest servicer, passed all of the tests with no failures.

None of the failures identified so far have resulted in any harm inflicted on borrowers.

But a key issue is the long lag time of nearly six months between the testing and the monitor’s reports.

The monitor established 29 original tests that would determine whether the banks were complying with more than 300 servicing standards. The tests were phased in over the course of a year, and the banks were able to pick which tests they wanted to do first, allowing them to choose the low-hanging fruit that was easily fixable, according to two accountants with independent oversight of two servicers.

So it won’t be until June 2014 that Smith will have a year-over-year comparison of banks’ compliance with all the servicing standards.

Smith had to singlehandedly set up a quasi-regulatory agency in just six months with extensive work plans, overseen by 270 independent accountants and advisors. So far, the banks have paid $41 million for the settlement monitor’s work. The majority of the money has been paid to professional advisory firms including BDO Consulting, which developed uniform standards for determining whether the banks were in compliance.

Smith says most of the criticism has been about the structure of the settlement, not how he is overseeing it.

“I’m not pimping for the banks, I’m not their lawyer,” Smith says. “I’m putting stuff in the public domain about how this process works. I’m proud of it.”

Please click here to view the online article.

MHA Outreach and Intake Project Extension

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

On January 21, Making Home Affordable (MHA) announced an extension to the Making Home Affordable Outreach and Intake Project.

Announcement of Making Home Affordable Outreach and Intake Project Extension

Servicers are hereby notified that the term of the Making Home Affordable Outreach and Intake Project has been extended. Please refer to Section 4.7 of Chapter II of the MHA Handbook for detailed guidance concerning servicers’ obligations with respect to that project.

Under this extension, participating counseling organizations will be eligible to receive funding for Initial Packages that are submitted to servicers via Hope LoanPort through September 30, 2014, and subsequently accepted as complete by servicers in accordance with MHA guidelines.

Please click here to view the online announcement.

HUD Prepared Remarks on Future of Housing After the Crisis

Posted on September 13, 2018October 29, 2018 by Safeguard

On January 22, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released remarks of HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan, as prepared for delivery.

Remarks of Secretary Shaun Donovan at Congressman Denny Heck’s Conference: “The Future of Housing After the Crisis”

As prepared for delivery

Thank you very much, Congressman Heck, for that generous introduction. And thank you for your contributions to the 10th District and the entire nation.

In particular, I appreciate your leadership with the HECM bill, allowing HUD to make important reforms to this program, while continuing to help seniors age in place with comfort and dignity.
And I am deeply grateful that you invited me to be here today.

I always love coming to Washington, and during this visit, there is a special excitement in the air.
Now, I am under no illusion that it’s because the HUD Secretary is here. I know that all this joy is because the Seahawks are going to the Super Bowl.

To all you fans, congratulations on this milestone accomplishment. They made quite a comeback against the 49ers on Sunday. So I can’t think of a better place to talk about the housing market’s comeback and future than right here in Washington.

The Progress We’ve Made

It’s an important discussion to have because homes are the foundation of our lives and where we raise our families. Homes are at the center of healthy and thriving communities.

Owning a home helps families build wealth, start businesses and put their kids through college.
In short, home is critical to every aspect of our lives which is why we’ve got to ensure our housing market is healthy and provides opportunity to all responsible families.

Now, of course, this work hasn’t been easy in recent times. Just a few years ago, our nation endured a once-in-a-lifetime crisis that devastated Americans across the nation. When President Obama took office in 2009, the housing market was in free-fall.

Home prices had fallen nearly 20 percent from the year before – the largest one-year drop ever measured. Roughly three million borrowers were seriously delinquent. Construction projects and plans came to a halt, causing the industry to lose 100,000 jobs a month.

And of course, these drops represented more than shifting numbers on a spreadsheet. They represented people’s lives, savings and struggles. So as soon as the President and I took office, we took action to stabilize the market and help those in need.

We helped nearly 8 million families modify their mortgages. We allocated $7 billion to communities in all 50 states through our Neighborhood Stabilization Program to address foreclosed and abandoned properties. And during the most trying times, the Federal Housing Administration stepped up to keep capital flowing and stabilize the market.

As a result of these and other efforts, the market is healing. From the beginning of 2012 to the third quarter of last year, the number of underwater borrowers fell by nearly half, lifting 5.7 million homeowners above water. During that same period, homeowners have seen $3.4 trillion in home equity restored. And, home prices continue to rise.

Bottom line: progress is happening. But as all of us know, there is still more work to do.
Access to credit for responsible families is still too limited. Underwater borrowers are still too common.

That’s why the Administration is committed to accelerating the housing market recovery in a number of ways.

Accelerating Our Progress

First, we are empowering families with the tools they need to succeed in today’s housing market.
I don’t have to tell you that housing can be a complex and overwhelming source of frustration for families.

As we all know, a significant cause of the crisis was that many buyers simply didn’t know what they were getting into. That’s why, in the last four years, HUD-approved housing counselors have worked with more than nine million families, both in the pre-purchase and post-purchase phases.

By giving borrowers access to reliable and unbiased information, they will make better decisions and the entire market will benefit.

Another focus of ours is making it easier for single-family lenders to get quality products to those ready to buy. Right now, one of the major obstacles blocking a full housing recovery is regulatory uncertainty.

And I understand. The federal government has taken a lot of steps that were, in my view, necessary to restore confidence. But one of the outcomes was that, too often, the rules of the road weren’t clear enough and that led to a tightening of credit.

According to the Federal Reserve, from 2007 to 2012, mortgage lending to borrowers with credit scores over 780 fell by a third. Loans to those with scores between 620 and 680 fell 90%.

So my colleagues and I have been working with a wide-variety of stakeholders, including many of you, to simplify things moving forward. Case in point is the qualified residential mortgage rule, which we finalized last month.

It’s the result of six federal agencies, including HUD, coming together to make QRM equal to QM in order to simplify the mortgage origination process. This is a direct result of the feedback we’ve received since the first proposal in 2011.

Now our rule avoids greater complexity, and overly restrictive down payment requirements that could serve only to exclude creditworthy borrowers. Some of our critics have called this a dilution of our rule. But as you know, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s QM rule itself is a very strong measure. And we are confident that this will find the right balance between responsibility and opportunity moving forward.

I thank you for your engagement on this issue. We very much look forward to continuing to listen to stakeholders like you so we get these conditions right for the single-family market.

We are also committed to doing the same with the multi-family community. I’ve made it a priority to make it easier to do business with HUD so that we can put an end to unnecessary delays on the ground.

Case in point is our Low Income Housing Tax Credit Pilot Program. As you all know, in the past, investors using the Low Income Housing Tax Credit who wanted to access FHA financing had to follow an approval process that sometimes took a year or more.

Not only did that stall important affordable housing projects, it scared off other potential partners from trying in the first place. To address this challenge, we launched the pilot program last year and are seeing tremendous results.

Deals are taking an average of only 86 days from receipt of the complete application to closing.
And we are proud to be seeing these kinds of gains in a number of our initiatives. That’s why we’re committed to expanding this work with efforts like the transformation of our Multifamily Housing Office.

To compliment this work, the Administration continues to fight for the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit. All of us here know how important the LIHTC has been in generating multi-family activity.

That’s why the President and I have championed it time and again, most recently, calling on Congress to continue to support this tool as part of his housing plan announced last August.
And I urge you to continue to do the same by letting Congress know that not only do we need to keep the LIHTC, we need to expand it in order to better address the needs out there and provide more flexibility for the credit.

Together, all these steps will go a long way in accelerating our housing market’s growth.
And we want to make sure that this housing succeeds by working with public and private partners to improve surrounding community assets.

No housing can thrive if its residents don’t have access to things like good jobs, quality schools and reliable transit options. That’s why the Obama Administration has joined with local leaders to take a comprehensive approach to development.

At the community level, HUD launched the Choice Neighborhoods initiative, a competitive program that gives local leaders the flexibility to transform their neighborhoods in their own unique way.

Building off the HOPE VI public housing revitalization program, Choice expands the activities that resources can be targeted towards to include not just all forms of housing, but also neighborhood amenities.

This work is making a profound difference in communities like Yesler Terrace. In 2011, Seattle was one of the first five cities to be awarded Choice Neighborhoods implementation grant dollars – in total, receiving nearly $30 million.

Yesterday, I had the chance to visit Yesler Terrace and see up close the profound changes underway. The Housing Authority is overseeing the development of thousands of new, mixed-development homes. Seattle University is providing educational support services to help young people.

And a wide-variety of partners are coming together to link the community with surrounding neighborhoods by creating paths for pedestrians to connect with the Little Saigon business district located just down the hill from Yesler Terrace …as well as to maximize the impact of the new street car rail line that will run through the neighborhood, better connecting residents to downtown and the medical district.

In total, the partnerships created through Choice Neighborhoods are driving change and expanding opportunity. And at a time of tough budget choices, grantees are leveraging $8 for every $1 Choice Neighborhood brings, generating incredible outcomes at the community level.

At the regional level, the Partnership for Sustainable Communities is doing the same.
HUD has joined with the Department of Transportation, the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to make entire regions more economically competitive.

The 143 planning grants we have awarded include 5 grantees from the state of Washington – representing an investment of nearly $12 million.

One example is Puget Sound Regional Council’s “Growing Transit Communities” plan to locate housing, jobs and services close to transit options so that everyone has access to opportunity.
Another example is Thurston County which has an ambitious plan to revitalize the Capitol-Martin Corridor.

In total, our grants are touching and improving the lives of nearly half the U.S. population in a number of profound and innovative ways. This kind of work is ensuring that communities have all the support they need to grow.

But we can’t be satisfied by these results. After all, if the housing market were to collapse again, it would undermine all these efforts.

That is why we’ve got to ensure that a crisis of the magnitude we just saw never happens again by reforming our housing finance system.

Please click here to view the remarks in their entirety.

HUD Notice H 2014-1 HUD REO Lead Disclosure Requirements

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

On January 10, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released Notice H 2014-1, subtitled HUD Real Estate Owned (REO) Lead Disclosure Requirements.

Special Attention of:
All Homeownership Center Directors
All Real Estate Owned (REO) Directors
All Management and Marketing Contractors
All REO Purchasers

Notice H 2014-1
Expires: This Notice remains in effect until amended, superseded, or rescinded

Subject: HUD Real Estate Owned (REO) Lead Disclosure Requirements

Purpose: This Notice provides guidance to help ensure that HUD’s Asset Managers
(AMs), Field Service Managers (FSMs) and the Selling Brokers assisting in the
disposition of Federal Housing Administration’s (FHA) REO properties are in
full compliance with the requirements of the Department’s Lead Disclosure Rule
at 24 CFR Part 35, Subpart A. This Notice supersedes Housing Notice 2006-07.

This guidance only applies to the disclosure of information on lead-based paint
(LBP) and/or lead-based paint hazards for HUD-owned single family homes
constructed before 1978.

Related Forms:
Form HUD-9545-Y, “Property Disposition Program Lead-Based Paint Disclosure
Addendum to Sales Contract”

Form HUD-9545-Z, “Property Disposition Program Lead-Based Paint Disclosure
Addendum to Sales Contract”

Form HUD-9548-G, “Property Disposition Program 203(k) Rehabilitation
Financing Lead Agreement”

Form HUD-9548-H, “Property Disposition Program 203(k) Rehabilitation
Financing Lead Agreement Completion of 203(k) Rehabilitation Financing
Lead-Based Paint Stabilization and Clearance”

Background for Lead Disclosure Rule Compliance: HUD, its Management and Marketing contractors (FSMs and AMs), and Selling Brokers responsible for the management and sale of HUD-owned single family properties, must fully comply with the requirements of the Lead Disclosure Rule at 24 CFR Part 35, Subpart A with respect to the disposition of all properties constructed before 1978. Responsible parties should also be familiar with the Fair Housing and Lead Based Paint guidance document. Access to this document and the Lead Disclosure Rule are available on HUD’s website at: http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src=/program_offices/healthy_homes/enforcement/disclosure.

Please click here to view the notice in its entirety.

HUD ML 2014-1 Save Your Home Brochure for Delinquent Mortgagors

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

On January 10, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released Mortgagee Letter 2014-1, subtitled Save Your Home: Tips to Avoid Foreclosure – Brochure for Delinquent Mortgagors.

MORTGAGEE LETTER 2014-1

To: All FHA-Approved Mortgagees

Subject: “Save Your Home: Tips to Avoid Foreclosure”- Brochure for Delinquent Mortgagors

Purpose: The purpose of this Mortgagee Letter is to notify mortgagees that the “How to Avoid Foreclosure” brochure, HUD-PA-426, has been replaced. The new brochure is the “Save Your Home: Tips to Avoid Foreclosure” brochure, HUD-2008-5-FHA, which is to be sent with a cover letter to delinquent mortgagors pursuant to 24 CFR 203.602.

Effective Date: Mortgagees must comply with these requirements no later than 30 days from the date of this Mortgagee Letter.

Affected Topics: The topics addressed in this Mortgagee Letter supersede the requirements outlined in Mortgagee Letter 2002-14.

Please click here to view the letter in its entirety.

HUD December Housing Scorecard

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

On January 10, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) released an update titled Obama Administration Releases December Housing Scorecard.

OBAMA ADMINISTRATION RELEASES DECEMBER HOUSING SCORECARD
Key Indicators Continue to Show Important Progress in the Housing Market

WASHINGTON– The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Department of the Treasury today released the December edition of the Obama Administration’s Housing Scorecard – a comprehensive report on the nation’s housing market. The latest data show progress among many key indicators. Home values continue to rise, contributing to both an increase in homeowners’ equity and a decline in underwater borrowers. While there is much good news in this scorecard, officials caution that the overall recovery remains fragile. The full Housing Scorecard is available online at www.hud.gov/scorecard.

“December’s Housing Scorecard shows that we are continuing to make progress helping struggling homeowners get back on their feet,” said Associate Deputy Assistant Secretary for Economic Affairs Edward J. Szymanoski. “Since the beginning of 2012, the number of homeowners underwater has declined by 5.7 million and homeowners’ equity has risen by 55 percent to $9.7 trillion. There remains more work to do to address the 6.4 million homeowners who remain underwater; nevertheless, these are encouraging signs that the housing market recovery is providing millions of American homeowners with more economic security.”

“While the housing market continues to make progress, Treasury remains committed to helping homeowners who are still struggling to make their mortgage payments,” said Treasury Acting Assistant Secretary Tim Bowler. “December’s Making Home Affordable (MHA) report shows that nearly 1.3 million homeowners have received a permanent modification through the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) and the program has saved homeowners an estimated $24.2 billion to date in mortgage payments.”

Through Treasury’s Second Lien Modification Program:

More than 123,000 second lien modifications have been completed through the Second Lien Modification Program (2MP).
Homeowners in 2MP with an active permanent modification save a median of $153 per month on their second mortgage, resulting in a median total first and second lien monthly payment reduction of $784, or 41 percent of their median before-modification payment.
Homeowners who receive a full extinguishment of their second lien receive a median total first and second lien monthly payment reduction of $1,047, or 53 percent of their before-modification payment.
Effective September 2013, Treasury expanded the 2MP program to include qualifying first liens that have been modified under the GSE Standard Modification requirements. When a borrower’s first lien is modified under the GSE Standard Modification requirements and the first lien satisfies the HAMP eligibility criteria, the 2MP servicer must offer to modify or extinguish the borrower’s second lien under 2MP.

The December Housing Scorecard features other key data on the health of the housing market and the impact of the Administration’s foreclosure prevention programs, including:

Home Values Continue to Rise.As of October 2013, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) purchase-only index rose 8.2 percent from last year and ticked up 0.5 percent (seasonally adjusted) from September, showing that home values are now on par with prices in early 2005. The S&P/Case-Shiller 20-City Home Price Index for October posted returns of 13.6 percent over the past 12 months and was up 0.2 percent (not seasonally adjusted) over September, indicating that home values are at the same level as in mid-2004.
The Administration’s foreclosure mitigation programs continue to provide relief for millions of homeowners as the recovery from the housing crisis continues. Over 1.9 million homeowner assistance actions have taken place through the Making Home Affordable Program, including more than 1.2 million permanent modifications through the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), while the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) has offered more than 2.1 million loss mitigation and early delinquency interventions through November. The Administration’s programs continue to encourage improved standards and processes in the industry, with HOPE Now lenders offering families and individuals more than 3.9 million proprietary modifications through October.

Please click here to view the online scorecard.

HUD Announces Changes to Mortgage and Loan Insurance Programs

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

On January 23, the Federal Register posted a notice from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) regarding mortgage and loan insurance programs.

DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT

[Docket No. FR-5766-N-01]

Mortgage and Loan Insurance Programs Under the National Housing
Act–Debenture Interest Rates

AGENCY: Office of the Assistant Secretary for Housing–Federal Housing
Commissioner, HUD.

ACTION: Notice.

SUMMARY: This notice announces changes in the interest rates to be paid
on debentures issued with respect to a loan or mortgage insured by the
Federal Housing Administration under the provisions of the National
Housing Act (the Act). The interest rate for debentures issued under section
221(g)(4) of the Act during the 6-month period beginning January 1, 2014,
is 2 1/2 percent. The interest rate for debentures issued under any other
provision of the Act is the rate in effect on the date that the commitment to
insure the loan or mortgage was issued, or the date that the loan or
mortgage was endorsed (or initially endorsed if there are two or more
endorsements) for insurance, whichever rate is higher. The interest rate
for debentures issued under these other provisions with respect to a
loan or mortgage committed or endorsed during the 6-month period
beginning January 1, 2014, is 3 5/8 percent. However, as a result of
an amendment to section 224 of the Act, if an insurance claim relating
to a mortgage insured under sections 203 or 234 of the Act and
endorsed for insurance after January 23, 2004, is paid in cash, the
debenture interest rate for purposes of calculating a claim shall be the
monthly average yield, for the month in which the default on the
mortgage occurred, on United States Treasury Securities adjusted to
a constant maturity of 10 years.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Yong Sun, Department of Housing and
Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street SW., Room 5148, Washington, DC
20410-8000; telephone (202) 402-4778 (this is not a toll-free number).
Individuals with speech or hearing impairments may access this number
through TTY by calling the toll-free Federal Information Relay Service
at (800) 877-8339.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: Section 224 of the National Housing Act (12
U.S.C. 1715o) provides that debentures issued under the Act with
respect to an insured loan or mortgage (except for debentures issued
pursuant to section 221(g)(4) of the Act) will bear interest at the
rate in effect on the date the commitment to insure the loan or
mortgage was issued, or the date the loan or mortgage was endorsed (or
initially endorsed if there are two or more endorsements) for
insurance, whichever rate is higher. This provision is implemented in
HUD’s regulations at 24 CFR 203.405, 203.479, 207.259(e)(6), and
220.830. These regulatory provisions state that the applicable rates of
interest will be published twice each year as a notice in the Federal
Register.
Section 224 further provides that the interest rate on these
debentures will be set from time to time by the Secretary of HUD, with
the approval of the Secretary of the Treasury, in an amount not in
excess of the annual interest rate determined by the Secretary of the
Treasury pursuant to a statutory formula based on the average yield of
all outstanding marketable Treasury obligations of maturities of 15 or
more years.
The Secretary of the Treasury (1) has determined, in accordance
with the provisions of section 224, that the statutory maximum interest
rate for the period beginning January 1, 2014, is 3 5/8 percent; and
(2) has approved the establishment of the debenture interest rate by
the Secretary of HUD at 3 5/8 percent for the 6-month period
beginning January 1, 2014. This interest rate will be the rate borne by
debentures issued with respect to any insured loan or mortgage (except
for debentures issued pursuant to section 221(g)(4)) with insurance
commitment or endorsement date (as applicable) within the first 6
months of 2014.

Please click here to view the notice in its entirety.

HAMP Reporting System Preview; Updated Data Dictionaries

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

On January 24, Making Home Affordable (MHA) released updates titled HAMP Reporting System Servicer Release Preview and Updated Data Dictionaries and Compensation Matrix.

HAMP Reporting System Servicer Release Preview

On Monday, April 28, 2014, the HAMP^® Reporting System, including the HAMP Reporting Tool, will receive an update to support the following:

Servicer Incentive Changes for Non-GSE Modifications
Servicer Incentive Changes for GSE Modifications
Reporting Requirements Beyond Five Year Incentive Period
Additional End of Compensation Life (EoCL) Anniversary Scenarios

Please refer to the Release Preview for more details on these updates.

Updated Data Dictionaries and Compensation Matrix

In connection with the April 28, 2014 release, updated versions of the following Data Dictionaries were posted on HMPadmin.com:

HAMP Data Dictionary – 04/28/14 Release

HAFA Data Dictionary – 04/28/14 Release

Treasury FHA-HAMP Data Dictionary – 04/28/14 Release

HAMP Additional Data Requirements Data Dictionary – 04/28/14 Release

2MP Data Dictionary – 04/28/14 Release

RD-HAMP Data Dictionary – 04/28/14 Release

Servicing Transfer Data Dictionary – 04/28/14 Release

Servicers are encouraged to review the change logs for specific update information. View these data dictionaries under each corresponding program page on HMPadmin.com.

The MHA Compensation Matrix has been updated. Please refer to this document for a summary of servicer, investor, and borrower compensation by program.

Please click here to view the online update.