The Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Veterans Affairs are now permitting lenders to charge borrowers MERS registration fees on all FHA-insured and VA-guaranteed mortgages, according to MERS, a McLean, Va.-based electronic loan registry.R. K. Arnold, president and chief executive officer of MERS, said the agencies' new policy is significant "because it reduces paperwork for lenders and will save borrowers a few more dollars because MERS eliminates the need to prepare and record assignments." The company said HUD has instructed its Homeownership Centers of the new policy and revised its Reference Guide, while the VA has made the change in its Administration Circular 26-05-04 and placed it on the VA loan guaranty website. MERS, which stands for Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, can be found on the Web at http://www.mersinc.org.
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The increasing frequency and severity of droughts was top of mind for panelists at AmeriCatalyst's "Going to Extremes" conference Thursday.
11h ago -
In a Senate hearing, Director Sandra Thompson said a raise to the required income threshold provided to affordable housing was on the table, while housing regulators also faced questions related to property insurance hikes and title insurance waivers.
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The nonpayment rate for non-qualified mortgages is up 21 basis points from February and 134 basis points from March 2023, Morningstar DBRS said.
April 18 -
The government mortgage-bond guarantor will require additional information on foreclosure prevention actions, and retire some forbearance reporting.
April 18 -
But views are split, at least in the near-term on whether rising mortgage rates are holding back the Spring home purchase season.
April 18 -
The top five producers had an average dollar volume of FHA loans of more than $50 million in 2023.
April 18