Tag Archives: HUD

HUD's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) reviewed more than 250 loans from 15 lenders and found that nearly half of those loans did not meet the Federal Housing Administration's (FHA) guidelines. The OIG launched Operation Watchdog in January 2010 to examine loans from the lenders and found areas of noncompliance, including misstatements of a borrower's income, liabilities, and credit history, which resulted in actual or expected FHA losses on default claims of more than $11 million.

AARP, the nation's largest nonprofit membership organization established to support the social wellbeing of individuals over the age of 50, filed a lawsuit this week against HUD on behalf of three surviving spouses of reverse mortgage borrowers who are now facing foreclosure. The lawsuit names HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan as the defendant and alleges that the federal agency has made changes to federal rules that offer protection for surviving spouses to allow its lenders to initiate foreclosure and eviction actions against the plaintiffs.

Members of the House Financial Services Committee are advocating for the termination of federal foreclosure relief programs largely based on the argument that their cost outweighs the benefits. Committee members are scheduled to vote on bills ending the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) and HUD's Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) on Wednesday. Information provided by the Congressional Research Service indicates that the price tag for the government's foreclosure mitigation programs will come in well below earlier estimates.

While both the House and Senate seem to have similar ideas - that changes in foreclosure prevention are needed, and fast - the groups seem to have completely different takes on how to achieve those changes. This week members of a House committee reviewed proposals advocating for the termination of four foreclosure prevention programs and voted to send two of those proposals to the full House. Meanwhile, senators sent a letter to several government agencies, urging them to modify the very programs the House will consider terminating.

On Thursday banks received the much awaited proposal that many speculated would detail the potential ramifications for their part in the foreclosure and robo-signing mess. According to various reports, the proposal could force banks to reduce principal loan balances for borrowers who are delinquent or underwater, or pay a multi-billion dollar fine. Reports have surfaced that banks are pushing back against proposed mandatory write-downs, claiming that such a practice could invite fraud.

On Wednesday, a hearing was held by the Insurance, Housing and Community Opportunity Subcommittee to determine the fate of four federal foreclosure mitigation programs. The Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), HUD's Neighborhood Stabilization Program, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Refinance Program, and the Emergency Mortgage Relief Fund all have bills in play advocating for their termination. Witness testimony was mixed on whether the programs should continue or come to an end.

Treasury released its new numbers for the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) Wednesday, just hours before a House subcommittee convened a hearing to terminate the government's flagship foreclosure prevention program and three other federal housing programs. As of the end of January, active permanent HAMP mods totaled 539,493, but critics say the numbers aren't high enough and the House subcommittee's looming ""kill-bill"" hearing was a sensitive subject for officials.

New Vista Asset Management announced Tuesday that it has purchased the REO asset management business unit of REDC Default Solutions, LLC. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The asset management unit, previously operated within REDC, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Irvine, California-based Auction.com, LLC(formerly Real Estate Disposition, LLC), offers outsourced residential asset management services for banks and other financial institutions.

Default Resource, a provider of REO management, valuation, and loss mitigation services, has entered into a strategic partnership with Mortgage Specialists International (MSI) that allows Default Resource to add property preservation and hazard insurance claims to its list of services. MSI is a national property preservation, field services, and hazard claims provider that offers customized services while maintaining compliance with HUD or other investor and agency regulations.

Rep. Spencer Bachus, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, announced this week that he has scheduled a subcommittee hearing and full committee markup of four bills that will terminate what he says are ""failed and ineffective housing foreclosure programs."" On the chopping block are the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), HUD's Neighborhood Stabilization Program, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Short Refi Program, and the Emergency Homeowner Relief Fund passed under the Dodd-Frank Act.