ABA: ABA to Congress – GSE Reform Essential to Stability of Housing Finance
The American Bankers Association outlined a set of key principles that should guide GSE reform, and explained why legislative action is needed to preserve access for lenders of all sizes and from all regions of the country in testimony before the House Financial Services Committee today. Brenda Hughes, senior vice president and director of mortgage…
HUD: Observing National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week
HUD and its partners to generate awareness of lead poisoning and solutions October 22 – 28 Nearly half a million children living in the United States have elevated levels of lead in their blood that may cause significant harm to their health. To help increase awareness of this preventable disease, the U.S. Department of Housing…
FHFA: Preferred Language Question to be Added to the Redesigned Uniform Residential Loan Application
The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) today announced its decision to add a preferred language question to the redesigned Uniform Residential Loan Application (URLA). This question will enable borrowers who prefer to communicate in a language other than English to identify that language. It also provides clear disclosures that the mortgage transaction is likely to…
CFPB: eClosing And Buying A Home: Technology’s Role In Closing On A Mortgage
By Noerena Limón Technology is transforming everything; it is changing the way we communicate, the way we access goods and services, and even the way we purchase homes. Soon, more and more consumers may increasingly find themselves being offered technology that allows them to access, sign, and submit mortgage closing documents online. We believe that…
CFPB: Interim Final Rule Issued To Help Mortgage Servicers Communicate With Certain Borrowers At Risk Of Foreclosure
Bureau Also Seeks Comment on Separate Proposed Rule Modifying Timing Requirements for Bankruptcy Periodic Statements The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) today issued an interim final rule and a proposed rule to provide mortgage servicers more flexibility and certainty around requirements to communicate with certain borrowers under the Bureau’s 2016 mortgage servicing amendments. The interim…
Federal Reserve: FEDS Notes | Are Rising Home Values Restraining Homebuying For Lower-Income Families?
Neil Bhutta, Steven Laufer, and Daniel R. Ringo1 Since bottoming out in 2012, house prices in the U.S. have been recovering rapidly. According to Zillow, the median home value has been growing about 6 percent per year. While incomes have also been recovering, they have not quite kept pace with home prices. The median household…
CFPB: Things to Consider before Borrowing a Reverse Mortgage to Delay Collecting Social Security
For most people, the amount of money you bring in each month decreases after you retire. Yet your expenses, particularly for health care, may not follow suit. So the question on the minds of many approaching this life stage is: how do I replace or supplement my monthly income when I retire? The most obvious…
CFPB: Report Warns that Taking out a Reverse Mortgage Loan can be an Expensive Way to Maximize Social Security Benefits
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) today issued a report warning older consumers about taking out a reverse mortgage loan in order to bridge the gap in income while delaying Social Security benefits until a later age. The CFPB report found, in general, the costs and risks of taking out a reverse mortgage…
HUD and Census Bureau: New Residential Home Sales July 2017
WASHINGTON – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the U.S. Census Bureau today jointly announced the following new residential sales statistics for July 2017: NEW HOME SALES Sales of new single-family houses in July 2017 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 571,000, according to estimates released jointly today by…
FHFA: U.S. House Prices Rise 1.6 Percent in Second Quarter 2017
Washington, D.C. – U.S. house prices rose 1.6 percent in the second quarter of 2017 according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) House Price Index (HPI). House prices rose 6.6 percent from the second quarter of 2016 to the second quarter of 2017. FHFA’s seasonally adjusted monthly index for June was up 0.1 percent…