Tag Archives: Mortgage Insurance

Genworth Financial announced a new comprehensive capital plan for its mortgage insurance business on Wednesday.

National Mortgage Insurance Corporation (National MI) is now approved to write mortgage insurance in 22 states, having recently gained approval in the key state of New York.

Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW) a boutique investment bank and broker-dealer, recently released its predictions for the mortgage market for the year 2013, entitled Watching Grass Grow: Mortgage Reform in 2013. As the title implies, KBW does not expect major changes in the New Year. However the investment bank does expect some ""modest changes in the mortgage landscape driven by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).""

The new year may bring with it new reforms for the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) as Congress considers a bill designed to bring the agency back to fiscal solvency. It was revealed in November that FHA's Mutual Mortgage Insurance (MMI) Fund--its protection against the cost of default claims--had fallen to a reserve ratio of -1.44 percent for fiscal year 2012. The agency is mandated by law to have a ratio of 2 percent. In response, Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pennsylvania) has introduced an amendment to reduce the risk of what would be FHA's first-ever taxpayer bailout.

In a testimony before the Senate Banking Committee on Thursday, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan defended the Federal Housing Administration's (FHA) recent role in the housing market and the steps the agency has taken to avoid a possible bailout. In an annual report issued to Congress in mid-November, HUD revealed the capital reserve ratio of FHA's Mutual Mortgage Insurance (MMI) Fund had fallen to -1.44 percent (representing -$16.3 billion) based on data from an independent actuary. The report has many analysts, policymakers, and trade groups speculating about the likelihood of an imminent Treasury draw to keep the FHA alive.

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced revisions to parts of its loss mitigation program last week in order to expand the number of borrowers who can receive assistance. Through changes to the Loss Mitigation Home Retention Options, more homeowners in distress should be able to qualify for FHA foreclosure prevention efforts and the level of assistance available should also increase.

National Mortgage Insurance Corporation (National MI) announced it has been approved by the California Insurance Department to write mortgage insurance in the state.

Mortgage Insurance Companies of America (MICA), an association of private mortgage insurers, reported Monday that since 2009, its members have insured $86.9 billion in mortgages modified or refinanced through the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) and the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) as well as in mortgages modified through other means. The $86.9 billion is distributed among 496,961 homes across the nation.

Vintage loans brought the Federal Housing Administration's (FHA) Mutual Mortgage Insurance (MMI) Fund to its knees in fiscal year 2012, but the agency insists it does not immediately need to draw from the Treasury. A review conducted by an independent actuary found that the capital reserve ratio of the MMI Fund fell below zero to negative 1.44 percent, representing a negative economic value of $16.3 billion.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac servicers will be able to skip a step when attempting to get a short sale or deed-in-lieu of foreclosure approved. On Wednesday, the GSEs announced standard delegation agreements were reached with nine mortgage insurers to allow servicers to approve of short sales and deeds-in-lieu without a separate review process with the mortgage insurer. The agreement takes effect November 1, along with additional short sale guidelines the GSEs announced in August.