03 Feb 10 FHA Credit Improving
The FHA home loans originated last year went towards borrowers with better credit scores than in previous years. These borrowers migrated to FHA when the subprime market disappeared. The average credit score of an FHA borrower is now 690, up from 630 only two years ago, agency officials said.
The agency banned 268 FHA lenders from making FHA mortgage loans last year, more than double the total terminated in the previous eight years. The FHA suspended six other firms. Among them were some of the largest FHA mortgage lenders –Taylor, Bean & Whitaker and Lend America, both of which shut their doors soon thereafter. Consumers taking out FHA mortgage loans will have to pay higher upfront fees, perhaps as early as this spring. Those with especially weak credit scores will also have to put down at least 10% instead of the usual 3.5% down-payment. Read the original article from the FHALoanBlog, > Better Credit FHA Loans Performing Well
16 Dec 09 Lend America Banned from FHA Mortgage Lending
According to a recent article from National Mortgage News, mortgage company, Lend America was banned from FHA mortgage lending on Monday. Apparently, the company was refinancing certain customers without paying off their prior existing lien. According to veteran mortgage banking attorney Robert Lotstein, who has clients that did business with Long Island-based Lend America, said this has created a situation where customers received a new loan from the mortgage lender but without their existing lien being paid off.
13 Oct 09 Uncertainty in Mortgage News with Predatory Lending Reform
Uncertainty highlights the mortgage news as the fate of government-sponsored mortgage agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, pending regulatory changes that are still under debate and a growing unease over the soundness of the FHA, which has come to dominate the mortgage-origination market in the wake of the financial crisis. “It’s going to be a couple of years of a really tough environment.” The more significant concern may be unemployment, which Brinkmann predicts will hit 10.2% by mid-2010. The continued bad news on the job front is sure to push loan delinquencies and foreclosures to new records next year. “We’re just getting into a lot of prime-mortgage adjustments, so we’re a long way from the bottom. Bad credit home mortgage opportunities continue to dwindle as FHA loans remain some of the only options for borrowers with less than perfect credit.
17 Aug 09 Mortgage Delinquency Rate Climbs to All Time High
The delinquency rate on U.S. home loans reached an all-time high in the second quarter. However the pace of growth for the mortgage delinquency rate slowed and some industry analysts see this as a possible sign the mortgage crisis may be beginning to turn the corner. Data provided by credit reporting agency Trans Union shows the ratio of mortgage holders who are 60 days or more behind on their payments increased for the 10th straight quarter, to 5.81% nationwide for the three months ended June 30. That’s up 65%, from 3.53%, in the 2008 second quarter. Delinquency of 60 days is considered a forecasting sign to foreclosure, because of the difficulty homeowners would have coming up with two back payments to bring themselves current.
While the delinquency rate hit a new high, however, the increase from the 1st quarter to the 2nd was 11.3%. In the two prior quarters, the delinquency rate spiked almost 16%. That slowdown may be a good sign, said FJ Guarrera, vice president of Trans Union’s financial services division. “We have reason to be cautiously optimistic,” he said. While there’s no way to know exactly why the pace of growth is slowing, Guarrera said, it appears that loan modification programs aimed at helping distressed homeowners from both the FHA mortgage and conventional lenders are beginning to help. In addition, he said, consumers are being more careful with their spending. Read the original article written by EILEEN AJ CONNELLY >
Tags: FHA mortgage, foreclosure, home loans, loan modification programs, mortgage crisis, Mortgage Delinquency, Trans Union
