Lack of consultants stymies FHA purchase-rehab loan program

The scaling back of procedural hurdles could revitalize the Federal Housing Administration's 203(k) program, according to trade groups like the National Association of Realtors and Community Home Lenders of America. Improving access to and the number of authorized consultants who have experience with contract work and are a requirement for the FHA's traditional rehabilitation and purchase loans would go far to improve things. "We recommend FHA expand its current pool to allow a wider range of professionals to qualify as consultants, especially in areas where they are not readily available," a letter from NAR and the community lenders said. The trade groups' letter could be influential because the Realtors association is a top lobbyist organization and community lenders play a key role in helping the FHA fulfill its affordable housing mission.

READ MORE: Lack of consultants stymies FHA purchase-rehab loan program

MBA aims to distance lenders from appraisal decisions in legal filing

The Mortgage Bankers Association filed an amicus brief Friday in regards to a discrimination lawsuit involving loanDepot, seeking to emphasize the business distinction between home appraisal and lending industries. The move comes after the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Department of Justice issued a statement of interest in mid March in the case, where they alluded to potential violations of the Fair Housing Act and Equal Credit Opportunity Act.  Without commenting on the specifics of the lawsuit nor the actions of the defendants, the MBA asked the court to recognize that a mortgage lender should not be liable for the alleged actions of an appraiser it does not choose. 

The Loan Store to team with iBuyer HomeLight

The Loan Store, the Tucson, Arizona-based lender in the process of acquiring Homepoint's wholesale business, is now offering a "buy before you sell" product in conjunction with HomeLight. This offering will be available to the Loan Store's mortgage brokers and non-delegated correspondent clients for conventional loans only. Homepoint did not have a "buy before you sell" product on its menu, but was getting one ready to launch before deciding to sell to the Loan Store. "We're pushing wholesale loan originators even more to the forefront with this buy before you sell product, giving them a tool that makes it much easier for homebuyers to secure the home they want in this hypercompetitive purchase market," said Brandon Stein, president of The Loan Store, in a press release.

Figure Technologies closes first rated HELOC securitization

Figure Technologies, the blockchain-focused financial technology firm, announced its first asset-backed securitization of home equity lines of credit, underwritten by three investment banks. The securitization FIGRE 2023-HE1 consists of Class A and B notes with ratings of AAA and A (low) from DBRS Morningstar. Jefferies, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase served as underwriters for the transaction, one of the few publicly rated HELOC securitizations since the Great Recession. The notes are backed by 3,568 loans with a total unpaid principal balance of $236.8 million and includes Figure's own originated loans, as well as smaller numbers of HELOCs from Homebridge Financial Services, Movement Mortgage, Guaranteed Rate and others, according to Morningstar. 

CFPB still has not notified consumers about data breach

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau said it has not yet notified 256,000 consumers, nearly two months after data was potentially compromised by a bank examiner with access to supervisory information and large-scale data collections. The CFPB said it is still working with financial institutions to notify consumers about the Feb. 14 breach in which a now-former bank examiner sent supervisory information on 45 institutions, and personal identifiable information on 256,000 consumers at seven institutions to his personal email account. The bureau said there is no evidence that the information was disseminated beyond the former examiner's email account, and it remains unclear what harm — if any — has occurred. 

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