Report: Treasury, Freddie Mac Flubbed HAMP Oversight

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Posted To: MND NewsWire

Paul Kiel of ProPublica has published a serious critique of the Treasury Department's early oversight of the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) that probably won't surprise anyone who has followed the troubled path of that program. HAMP, established in 2009, was an effort to stem the rapidly rising flood of foreclosures. It required mortgage servicers to offer loan modifications to eligible homeowners in order to lower their monthly payments and, theoretically, stay in their homes. The program was given a budget of $50 billion and a goal to modify three to four million mortgages; to date $4 billion has been spent and 1.1 million loans modified. Some servicers are independent companies but the largest are owned by the largest banks including Wells Fargo, CitiMortgage, Chase, and Bank...(read more)

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Mortgage Rates Steady To Slightly Improved After Strong Treasury Auction

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Posted To: Mortgage Rate Watch

Mortgage rates held their ground for the most part, though some lenders were slightly weaker when the day's first round of rate sheets came out this morning. The somewhat bumpy morning eventually leveled off into the afternoon before getting a significant dose of positivity from a well-received 30yr Bond Auction. As we often note, although US Treasuries are NOT directly linked to mortgage rates, they do tend to move in the same direction most of the time. The Mortgage-backed-securities that ARE directly linked with mortgage rates can ride the coat-tails of surging Treasury yields, and did so today. This helped the general mortgage rate landscape shift from a rather lackluster morning to improved rates in the afternoon. Lenders typically don't plan to release more than one rate sheet each day...(read more)

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Average Refinance Dropped Rates by 1.7% in Q3, Highest in Survey History

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Posted To: MND NewsWire

Americans continue to refinance with new loans the same size or smaller than the loans they are replacing. Freddie Mac's third quarter refinance analysis shows that 54 percent of homeowners who refinanced during the third quarter of 2012 took new loans of approximately the same size as the old and 29 percent brought funds to the table to reduce their mortgage balance. The aggregate 83 percent is only slightly below the record 85 percent of non-cash out borrowers in the fourth quarter of 2011. The 17 percent of homeowners who took out a new loan more than 5 percent larger than the old loan, Freddie Mac's definition of a cash-out refinancing, is the same as in the second quarter and the third quarter of 2011. These numbers are a vast departure from cash-out percentages during the period from...(read more)

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Wells Fargo Investigated for Failing to Disclose Securities Risks

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Posted To: MND NewsWire

Reuters is reporting that the federal government is investigating Wells Fargo & Company for its mortgage-related practices including the originating and packaging of home loans by its Wachovia unit. The information comes from the bank's third quarter securities filing. According to the bank, it may face federal enforcement action related to mortgage-backed securities deals leading up to the financial crisis, specifically whether it properly disclosed the risks associated with the securities in documents offering them for sale. Government investigators are also apparently looking at whether Wells Fargo complied with applicable laws, regulations, and documentation required for mortgage originations and securitizations including those originated at Wachovia which Wells Fargo acquired when...(read more)

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Mortgage Rates Sharply Higher Amid Election Day Jitters

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Posted To: Mortgage Rate Watch

Mortgage rates began the day only moderately worse off than yesterday's latest offerings, but rose sharply throughout the day . In the late morning and early afternoon, bond market conditions deteriorated rapidly, resulting in most lenders recalling rate sheets to revise rates and fees higher at least once. Several lenders recalled rate sheets twice as markets trading in the secondary mortgage market continued to struggle. At first glance, it's fair to assume that the volatility is related to today being election day , though we'd hesitate to specifically assign market movements to potential changes in sentiment. In other words, we've previously suggested that a Romney victory would likely coincide with higher rates, but wouldn't go so far as to say "rates moved higher today because a Romney...(read more)

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The Cons of Brokering Out Loans; Barron's take on Radian; Reverse Mortgage Lending Slows

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Posted To: Pipeline Press

Here's something that may sway a few undecided voters. (Is anyone undecided at this point?) The U.S. debt ceiling is expected to be reached before 2013, the Treasury Department said, but default won't happen until early next year (if at all) because of extraordinary measures. The debt ceiling is $16.4 trillion - with a "T". Next Monday is observed by many companies as Veterans Day . It originated as "Armistice Day" on Nov. 11, 1919, the first anniversary of the end of World War I. Congress passed a resolution in 1926 for an annual observance, and Nov. 11 became a national holiday beginning in 1938. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed legislation in 1954 to change the name to Veterans Day as a way to honor those who served in all American wars. The day honors military veterans with parades...(read more)

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Mortgage Rates Lowest In Three Weeks Ahead Of Election

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Posted To: Mortgage Rate Watch

While some of the improvement came in the form of late day reprices on Friday, mortgage rates are appreciably lower to begin the week. Movement varied this morning with some lenders holding fairly steady while others improved at much quicker paces. Regardless of the stratification, the net effect is a Conventional 30yr Fixed Best-Execution rate that is firmly at 3.375%. The closing costs associated with 3.375% are the lowest they've been since mid October for most lenders. ( Read More:What is A Best-Execution Mortgage Rate? ). Friday's Employment Report garnered a paradoxical reaction in markets. Typically, a stronger-than-expected level of job creation leads to strength in stocks and rising rates in Fixed-Income securities like Treasuries and MBS (the "mortgage-backed-securities" that most...(read more)

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