On January 3, Fannie Mae updated its mortgage loan underwriting system, Desktop Underwriter (DU), to support changes made to FHA and VA loan limits. The update will take place during the weekend of January 20. ...more
Just about every divorce case involves a house and its corresponding mortgage. In a small number of cases parties agree that dissolution of the marriage is also an opportune time to downsize the residence, but in most...more
As previously reported, in April 2020 the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General (HUD OIG) issued a statement criticizing how mortgage servicer websites were providing information on the...more
Two federal enterprises who purchase and securitize mortgages, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, along with three federal agencies who make, guarantee, and insure mortgage loans, the Department of Housing and Urban Development...more
On August 27, 2020, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced the extension of the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac moratorium on single-family foreclosures from August 31, 2020, to December 31, 2020. The moratorium on...more
Companion bills were recently introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives (H.R. 6794) and the U.S. Senate (S. 4260) to create the Promoting Access to Credit for Homebuyers Act of 2020. The Act would require Fannie Mae and...more
On June 17, 2020, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed S8428/A10530 and S8243-C/A10351-B into law. Collectively, in relevant part, the legislation creates N.Y. Banking Law § 9-x, which relates to residential forbearances as a result...more
On March 18, President Trump ordered FHA to suspend foreclosures and evictions on FHA-insured loans until at least the end of April. Immediately afterword, the Federal Housing Finance Agency announced that it was directing...more
In recent days, the federal government, the state of California, and many local governments have taken action to provide tenant and homeowner protections in response to the COVID-19 pandemic....more
Despite President Trump’s broad announcement yesterday that all evictions would be suspended by HUD, the Press Release and actual Order issued by HUD are much more limited. In short, HUD’s foreclosure and eviction suspension...more
Have you considered purchasing a condominium unit but were scared off when someone warned you that obtaining a mortgage loan could be difficult? It seems like most real estate professionals have war stories about seemingly...more
In Mortgagee Letter 2019-11, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) announced that it is reducing the maximum loan-to-value ratio and combined maximum loan-to-value ratio on cash-out refinance mortgages...more
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) recently announced in Mortgagee Letter 2018-11 a nearly 7% increase in the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) forward mortgage loan limits for 2019. ...more
On September 21, 2018, the Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”)’s Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) completed a review of HUD’s partial claims program. In many ways, the title of the OIG audit report, “HUD...more
In a July 2018 interview with HousingWire, FHA Commissioner Brian Montgomery stated that the FHA wants to bring big banks back to the FHA lending space by increasing transparency and decreasing False Claims Act (FCA)...more
Just in time for the end of the federal fiscal year (September 30), the HUD Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a flurry of internal and external audit reports over the last few weeks on a wide variety of topics....more
On the heels of Deutsche Bank’s $7.2 billion deal, Credit Suisse has finalized the terms of its own MBS-related settlement. The Swiss bank will pay $5.3 billion to resolve claims that it misled investors about the standards...more
In recent years, civil enforcement efforts involving the FCA have grown significantly. Today, the FCA impacts a vast array of businesses, as it is commonly used to redress false claims for government funds involving...more
The U.S. Federal Housing Administration (FHA) issued final guidance in the form of Mortgagee Letter 2016-11 regarding the subordination of Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) assessments on Tuesday, July 19, 2016. As...more
The purpose of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) is "to help creditworthy low income and first time homebuyers, individuals and families often denied traditional credit, to obtain a mortgage and purchase a home." This...more