Condo lending standards post-Surfside cause consternation

In the two years after a notorious Surfside, Florida condo collapse, new temporary rules and increased enforcement have been instituted to ensure building safety, but these measures have also intensified the challenge involved in finding affordable financing in this market. "There are more and more buildings that don't meet the warrantable guidelines," said Melissa Cohn, regional vice president, William Raveis Mortgage, referring to the standards buildings must meet for government-sponsored enterprises to back condominium unit loans. At the same time the banking crisis reportedly reduced the supply of low-rate condo unit financing.?

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Rocket Mortgage faces four TCPA telemarketing lawsuits

Rocket Mortgage is fighting four class action complaints from consumers accusing it of persistent, unwanted calls and text messages, as it reckons with some of the numerous telemarketing complaints lodged against lenders. Citizens have filed over 65 lawsuits in the past few years against mortgage firms for alleged violations of the decades-old Telephone Consumer Protection Act. Four other TCPA complaints against Rocket have reached conclusions via arbitration or settlement, but four consumers continue to seek class action certification. The industry leader in a statement this week highlighted its awards for customer satisfaction, and suggested attorneys for plaintiffs are littering the industry with "baseless" TCPA claims in search of quick, lucrative settlements.?

Coalition calls for more time to sort out credit score transition

A large consortium of groups in the home finance ecosystem has called for more deliberation in the Federal Housing Finance Agency's timetable for transitions to new consumer credit measures in the next two years. Realtor, mortgage banking, depository, securities, community lending, building, insurer, credit union and fair housing groups called for more time due to operational complexities and their interest in reviewing historical data for the new methodologies the FHFA plans to use. "The transition, as outlined, will occur in a multi-stage process that does not adequately address the far-reaching impacts, significant costs, and immense operational complexity of the policy changes," 17 groups led by the Housing Policy Council said in a June 22 letter to the FHFA.

Housing market needs 4.3 million more homes to meet demand: report

The U.S. housing market is in need of 4.3 million more homes, a report by Zillow finds. Due to high mortgage rates and the low number of homes on the market, the deficit grew by 37% between 2015 and 2021. The market was only short of 2.7 million homes in 2015. Eight million families in the U.S. lived with nonrelatives, or "doubled up," in 2021. Zillow subtracted this from the total number of units for sale that year — 3.7 million — to measure the amount of inventory needed. The Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta's National Home Ownership Affordability Monitor index quantifies the current lack of affordability. The index hit 73.4 in April, with a median household income of $75,528 and a median home price of $356,667.?

Could mortgage reserve accounts reduce minority foreclosures?

Reducing the size of a down payment and instead using the funds to create a mortgage reserve account could lead to fewer foreclosures and stability in Black homeownership rates, a newly released study said. The report is the third in a series of papers from the Racial Accelerator for Homeownership, a partnership between the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, which sponsored the research, and the Urban Institute, the primary authors. While the FHLBank-San Francisco hasn't examined how to implement the recommendations, "what it does tell us is that this could be a really great solution for helping people stay or maintain their homeownership," said Teresa Bryce Bazemore, president and CEO.

GOP bill that would roll back mortgage pricing change passes House

The Middle Class Borrower Protection Act of 2023 has cleared one chamber of Congress with Republican support. The bill aims to roll back the latest update of grids Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac use to give lower-income borrowers breaks with some cross-subsidizing increases for those more well off, while still ensuring risk-based pricing is maintained. Supporters like Rep. Patrick McHenry, R.-N.C., chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, said they felt the regulator of the government-sponsored enterprises went too far in raising prices for higher-income borrowers and giving those with less wealth breaks.

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac foreclosures rise, delinquencies dip

More houses backing loans purchased by two government-related mortgage investors ended up in the distressed market during the first quarter, but that number would likely be larger if it hadn't been limited by home retention alternatives. Foreclosure starts (19,809) and sales (3,700) rose by 6% and 12% on a consecutive-quarter basis, but the 60-plus day delinquency rate inched down to 0.75% from 0.84%, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency's latest report. The serious delinquency (90-plus days late) rate also fell, slipping to 0.60% from 0.65%.?

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