The transition from a three credit report requirement to two reports — known as bi-merge credit reporting — for single-family loans acquired by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has faced its share of obstacles. Another potential roadblock to this change was introduced last week.
In case you weren’t aware, 2024 is a presidential election year. That means the usual campaigning and debating is ramped up many times beyond the usual rhetoric of non-election years. Though not as prevalent as other political topics, the housing and mortgage industries are not immune from legislators and policymakers trying to score political points.
President Joe Biden made housing and mortgages a key topic in his State of the Union speech last week, proposing a number of tax credits and proposals to help create more supply and improve affordability. While the President’s housing proposals received mostly positive feedback, one idea met with resistance.
Mortgage and housing experts continue to raise their optimism about the industry in 2024. That includes Fannie Mae. The company’s Economic and Strategic Research Group said last week that existing home sales and single-family housing starts are expected to grow modestly in 2024 amid lower mortgage rates and strengthening homebuyer sentiment.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have updated their two-year-old Single-Family Social Index and given it a new identity: The Mission Index. The Social Index was launched in 2022 as a way to help socially conscious investors who wanted to support affordable housing and credit access to underserved individuals.
Very recently, while teaching an FHA Underwriting class for FHA Online University, the history segment of the training made me stop and think. It was unusual really, because I have taught this particular class at least once a month for the past four years and honestly, other than an occasional joke as to how students need to take notes because the historic information pertaining to the agency was on the “big” test, I never really thought much about it.
Opinion-Editorial (Op-Ed) Disclaimer For NAMU® Library Articles: The views and opinions expressed in the NAMU® Library articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect any official NAMU® policy or position. Examples of analysis performed within this article are only examples. They should not be utilized in real-world application as they are based only on very limited and dated open source information. Assumptions made within the analysis are not reflective of the position of NAMU®. Nothing contained in this articles should be considered legal advice.
April showers bring Spring flowers and this year April also brings forth a list of significant FHA program changes that we all need to be aware of.
Opinion-Editorial (Op-Ed) Disclaimer For NAMU® Library Articles: The views and opinions expressed in the NAMU® Library articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect any official NAMU® policy or position. Examples of analysis performed within this article are only examples. They should not be utilized in real-world application as they are based only on very limited and dated open source information. Assumptions made within the analysis are not reflective of the position of NAMU®. Nothing contained in this articles should be considered legal advice.
• Manual ratio guideline is 31/43. If going higher, make sure you present the necessary compensating factors to justify! (See list of HUD-recognized compensating factors below)
Opinion-Editorial (Op-Ed) Disclaimer For NAMU® Library Articles: The views and opinions expressed in the NAMU® Library articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect any official NAMU® policy or position. Examples of analysis performed within this article are only examples. They should not be utilized in real-world application as they are based only on very limited and dated open source information. Assumptions made within the analysis are not reflective of the position of NAMU®. Nothing contained in this articles should be considered legal advice.
As FHA is pretty much the only game in town and most investor are becoming more documentation oriented, even on the conventional products, most processors are beginning to realize that utilizing AUS findings for the purpose of documentation guidance is no longer helpful. Over the past several months FHA, FNMA as well as FHLMC have made it very clear that they are looking for files that have been sufficiently documented regardless of AUS documentation waivers.
Opinion-Editorial (Op-Ed) Disclaimer For NAMU® Library Articles: The views and opinions expressed in the NAMU® Library articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect any official NAMU® policy or position. Examples of analysis performed within this article are only examples. They should not be utilized in real-world application as they are based only on very limited and dated open source information. Assumptions made within the analysis are not reflective of the position of NAMU®. Nothing contained in this articles should be considered legal advice.
Just when you think things couldn’t possibly get any better, they do. I am talking about HUD’s 203k program and their plans to implement changes to the program to provide for a more user-friendly program that will meet the needs of the current market which as we all know seems to be driven by foreclosure and short sales, so the timing couldn’t be any more perfect.
Opinion-Editorial (Op-Ed) Disclaimer For NAMU® Library Articles: The views and opinions expressed in the NAMU® Library articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect any official NAMU® policy or position. Examples of analysis performed within this article are only examples. They should not be utilized in real-world application as they are based only on very limited and dated open source information. Assumptions made within the analysis are not reflective of the position of NAMU®. Nothing contained in this articles should be considered legal advice.
Don’t forget that for all cases assigned on and after Monday, October 4th the MI premium structure changes for all of your FHA lending!
Opinion-Editorial (Op-Ed) Disclaimer For NAMU® Library Articles: The views and opinions expressed in the NAMU® Library articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect any official NAMU® policy or position. Examples of analysis performed within this article are only examples. They should not be utilized in real-world application as they are based only on very limited and dated open source information. Assumptions made within the analysis are not reflective of the position of NAMU®. Nothing contained in this articles should be considered legal advice.
Definition: Proposed Construction These are properties pre-approved for mortgage insurance prior to the beginning of construction, defined as the first placement of concrete or other permanent materials.
Opinion-Editorial (Op-Ed) Disclaimer For NAMU® Library Articles: The views and opinions expressed in the NAMU® Library articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect any official NAMU® policy or position. Examples of analysis performed within this article are only examples. They should not be utilized in real-world application as they are based only on very limited and dated open source information. Assumptions made within the analysis are not reflective of the position of NAMU®. Nothing contained in this articles should be considered legal advice.
Definition "Under Construction" Property. These are properties in which the first placement of concrete or other permanent materials has begun, but construction is not yet 100% complete.
Opinion-Editorial (Op-Ed) Disclaimer For NAMU® Library Articles: The views and opinions expressed in the NAMU® Library articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect any official NAMU® policy or position. Examples of analysis performed within this article are only examples. They should not be utilized in real-world application as they are based only on very limited and dated open source information. Assumptions made within the analysis are not reflective of the position of NAMU®. Nothing contained in this articles should be considered legal advice.
Definition: Existing Construction < 1 year old from Certificate of Occupancy Issue Date These properties are 100% complete at the time of appraisal. "Complete" means everything is complete including the installation of buyer preferences (flooring, appliances, etc.), utilities are on and fully functioning and all site improvements completed at the time of appraisal (Ready for Occupancy). If no repair or correction conditions are made by the appraiser, the appraisal serves as the final inspection.
Opinion-Editorial (Op-Ed) Disclaimer For NAMU® Library Articles: The views and opinions expressed in the NAMU® Library articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect any official NAMU® policy or position. Examples of analysis performed within this article are only examples. They should not be utilized in real-world application as they are based only on very limited and dated open source information. Assumptions made within the analysis are not reflective of the position of NAMU®. Nothing contained in this articles should be considered legal advice.
In today’s world of FHA underwriting, I think it can be said that we cannot assume that an automated underwriting establishes a positive credit risk. AUS approvals are really unreliable in today’s marketplace. Quite frankly, I consider them pretty much worthless. Manual underwriting is a much more sensible approach to analyzing credit risks and rendering loan decisions and the more documentation included in the loan file, the better the chance of catching any risk factors that might have otherwise escaped an automated underwriting system.
Opinion-Editorial (Op-Ed) Disclaimer For NAMU® Library Articles: The views and opinions expressed in the NAMU® Library articles are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect any official NAMU® policy or position. Examples of analysis performed within this article are only examples. They should not be utilized in real-world application as they are based only on very limited and dated open source information. Assumptions made within the analysis are not reflective of the position of NAMU®. Nothing contained in this articles should be considered legal advice.
Written By: Stacey Sprain
As an FHA originator, processor or underwriter, it’s likely that in the ongoing foreclosure market you’ll run across a HUD REO loan at some point. The purpose of this multi-part article is to provide you with some useful information to help in your endeavors.