Jun. 16, 2012: A Saturday morning of FHA Streamline, investor, training, agency, conference, and M&A news
Rob Chrisman
The
lender/investor/M&A/vendor/training/conference updates
keep coming. As always, it is best to read the actual bulletin,
but these recent notes should give folks a flavor of the trends.
Frankly, I just don’t know how underwriters keep up with things!
First
a quick correction to yesterday’s lender updates: I confused PennyMac
with PMAC on news regarding “all new DU Refi Plus loans
over 125%”. This product is not offered by PennyMac, but is
offered by PMAC.
U.S.
Bank’s
Wholesale Group got the word out Friday, “Changes on
Streamline Refinances went into effect with Case Number
Assignments issued on or after Monday, June 11, 2012. Streamline
Refinance loans that are refinancing FHA loans endorsed on or
prior to May 31, 2009 will have a reduction of the UFMIP to .01%
and the monthly MIP will be .55%.The endorsement date can be
found in the FHA Connection on the following screens: Case
Query, Refinance Authorization and Refinance Query. All other
Streamline Refinance loans that are refinancing loans endorsed
after May 31, 2009 are subject to the new UFMIP effective April
9, 2011 as well as the new annual MIP rates. U.S. Bank Home Mortgage
Wholesale Division will no longer accept any new registration
or locks for FHA Streamline Refinance loans that ARE NOT refinances
of
existing USBHM FHA loans currently being serviced by U.S. Bank
Effective Friday, June 22, 2012. This applies to all
CUSB, Table Fund and Purchase Fund Lenders.
On
the other hand, Plaza Home Mortgage sent out, “In spite
of recent investor changes in the FHA streamline refinance
program, Plaza is continuing to accept FHA streamline's under
our current published guidelines.”
In
recent M&A and take-over news…
Community
Bank Investors Bancorp will acquire Piraeus Bank S.A.'s Marathon
Bank for $135mm, or about 1.45x tangible book. First Virginia
Community Bank will buy 1st Commonwealth Bank of
Virginia in an all-stock transaction valued at about $3.7mm.
First-Citizens Bank & Trust has sold its asset-based lending
and factoring loan portfolio to Crestmark Bancorp for an
undisclosed sum. First Citizens will continue to offer these
services to its customers in partnership with Crestmark.
BNC
Bancorp, parent company of Bank of North Carolina, has signed a
merger agreement with the Charlotte, NC-based First Trust Bank,
which has $436 million in assets. The deal is valued at about
$35 million and will add three new branches to Bank of North
Carolina in Charlotte along with $228 million in loans and $374
million in deposits. This transaction is Bank of North
Carolina’s latest in a series of strategic acquisitions, which
have expanded its reach across the Carolinas to Myrtle Beach,
Asheville, Greensville, Durham, Cary, and Chapel Hill, and was
handled by Keefe, Bruyette & Woods.
In
another KBW deal, Chemical Bank, a subsidiary of Chemical
Financial Corporation, has agreed to purchase 21 branches from
Independent Bank in northeast Michigan and Battle Creek. The
deal will comprise about $420 million in customer deposits and
$40 million in loans, and Chemical Bank plans to pay a deposit
premium of 2.93% of deposits and acquire the loans at a 1.75%
discount.
Trustmark Corporation and BancTrust Financial Group, Inc. have
signed a merger of BancTrust’s 49 Alabama and Florida offices
into Trustmark. The deal will comprise $1.3 billion in loans,
$1.8 billion in deposits, and $55.4 million in common stock.
The transaction, another one by KBW, is expected to close in
late 2012. And Berkshire Hills Bancorp, Inc. and Beacon Federal
Bancorp, Inc. have signed a definitive merger agreement that
Berkshire will acquire Beacon for approximately $132 million.
East Syracuse-based Beacon comprises seven offices with deposits
of $677 million, while Berkshire currently has three offices in
the region. Beacon’s Chelmsford, MA office will serve as
Berkshire’s first Eastern Massachusetts office.
Moving
on to investor updates, GMAC has increased the charge on
Jumbo Fixed and ARM products for Cash Out and LTVs of over 75%
from -0.500 to -0.625. This took effect on June 8th.
Stearns Lending has published its updated Lock-In Policy,
which went into effect on June 4th. The policy outlines lock
periods, lock changes, the Float Down option, the Extension
option, relocks, and confirmations and provides an FAQ section.
To read the policy in full, visit http://www.stearnswholesale.com/rate-sheets/pdf/all/stearnsLockInPolicy.pdf.
For Portfolio DU Refi Plus and Portfolio DU Refi Plus High
Balance loans, Stearns has reduced the maximum LTV to 105%. All
loans with over 105% LTV that have an Approved status can
continue as approved, and all locked pipeline loans with over
105% LTV will be honored. Loans that are over 105% LTV that
have been registered, submitted, or received by underwriting are
required to have a Property Inspection Waiver. The requirements
for CLTV and HCLTV remain the same.
MSI is re-introducing its Conventional Jumbo product. As
a reminder, all loans must be submitted to and approved by the
applicable AUS, submitted to MSI for a full review of RESPA, and
then submitted to a third party underwriter.
Pricing
solution and product eligibility provider LoanSifter
received an Innovation Award from the Progress in Lending
Association for the LoanSifter AMRi real-time mortgage rate
index. The index gets its results from using the LoanSifter
search engine, which mines the database for data from 25 major
wholesale and correspondent lenders.
Mountain West Financial reminded brokers of a few summer
deadlines. In order for refinance transactions to fund in June,
the full submission package was required no later than June 14th
so that initial disclosures may be sent out. All refinance
transactions should be submitted for underwriting by 3:00PM on
the14th, and all PTD conditions for refinancing must be
submitted no later than June 19th. The latter are required to
be signed off for underwriting by the afternoon of June 21st,
which is necessary for the documents to be drawn with an August
1st payment. For TILs that must be re-disclosed due to a 1/8th
variance in the APR, the borrower should have consented to the
electronic delivery of re-disclosure by email on the 19th. MWF
will be taking document requests for August 1st payments on
regular refinance or purchase transactions until August 1st,
while requests for special programs should be made prior to June
27th. Refinancing documents must be signed by June
22nd in order to fund by the 28th and then record by the 29th;
documents signed after June 23rd will not be reviewed by MWF,
resulting in the loan not closing in June. For loans whose
documents were drawn in June that don’t fund by July 6, 2012,
there will be a full redraw.
MWF has updated its Annual and Up-Front Mortgage Insurance
Premiums to reflect changes to base loan amounts for FHA Jumbo
loans.
In
response to the Supreme Court’s ruling on RESPA Section 8(b),
law firm Ballard Spahr offers a webinar titled “The Fate
of Mortgage Fee Mark-Ups After Freeman vs. Quicken Loans” on
June 18th. The role of the CFPB in prohibiting or limiting fee
mark-ups, the implications of the ruling, and the extent of the
power of state law will all be discussed. More information and
registry links can be found at http://info.ballardspahr.com/Reaction/rsgenpage.asp?RSIDI2fCXT37AD2RYc2sizlAEX0yfx-J-dMrecYbhwK640g.
Along with its loss mitigation webinar series, the FHA’s
National Servicing Center is offering live courses in
Oklahoma City, OK on August 15th and 16th. Designed for
HUD-approved mortgagees, HUD-approved housing counselors, and
non-profit housing counselors, the event will cover
delinquencies, defaults, mortgage collection activities, and
initiation of foreclosure as outlined in the HUD handbook.
Interested parties can register at http://portal.hud.gov/hudportal/HUD?src/program_offices/housing/sfh/nsc/training.
From August 13th-17th, the NeighborWorks America Training
Institute will be providing a variety of development courses for
housing counselors, non-profits, and community development
professionals in Cincinnati, OH. Register at http://www.nw.org/network/training/upcoming/CincyNTI12.asp.
MGIC is hosting a number of online training events
throughout June. Appraisal training will take place on June
21st and MGIC MI basics on the 12th and 22nd. A webinar titled
Putting the Pieces Together: Processing Mortgage Apps will take
place on June 13th. Self-employed borrower training for both
the AGI method (June 26th) and SAM method (June 18th) is also
available. The advanced AGI and SAM webinars will take place on
June 12th and 13th, respectively.
Everyone should know by now that FHA Streamline Refinance
loans with case numbers assigned on or after June 11th will be
subject to the new mortgage insurance premium structure.
The Up-Front premium will be 0.01%, regardless the base loan
amount, while the Annual MIP will be 55 bps. Lenders may
request FHA case numbers for Streamlines with reduced MIPs from
June 11th and will be permitted to cancel existing case numbers
provided that they’re for Streamline refinance mortgages that
have not yet closed and were endorsed on or before May 31,
2009. Case number assignments are predicted to take longer than
normal due to a high volume of requests.
Previously Fannie Mae had allowed lenders a 90-day repurchase
and make-whole requirement, effective until June 30th. This
extended repurchase accommodation, in which lenders can complete
a repurchase or submit any documentation necessary to back up a
formal appeal, will now be effective until December 31, 2012.
Fannie has also postponed the effective date for implementing
the new lender-placed property insurance requirements, which had
previously been set at June 1st. Communication on the new
effective date is coming soon.
New foreclosure prevention job aids are available on the Fannie
website. The Know Your Options Marketing Storefront, which can
be found at http://cl.exct.net/?qs(1a8f3cc62cedc369624cfc032949dff5aa9854ed3017b32f9078b62daf2dbd,
includes free marketing materials like brochures, letters,
flyers, and pocket folders that can be customized and printed
directly.
The Fannie Sellers Guide has been updated to include
clarifications on flood insurance, liability insurance on
attached condos and PUDs, an update on the Conventional PUD
Questionnaire, FHA netting escrows, refi authorization, and DU
update on government loans.
The Freddie Mac Standard Modification interest rate will be
lowered from 5% to 4.625% for new trial period plan evaluations
conducted on July 1st and after, and services are encouraged to
begin using the new rate as soon as possible. The fixed
interest rate should be used when evaluating borrowers to
determine eligibility, the terms of a trial period plan payment,
and final modification.
Phew!
That’s enough for a Saturday morning!
Quotes
for Father's Day (Part 2 of 2)
"Every mother generally hopes that her daughter will snag a
better husband than she managed to do...but she's certain that
her boy will never get as great a wife as his father did."
Anonymous
"A king, realizing his incompetence, can either delegate or
abdicate his duties. A father can do neither. If only sons could
see the paradox, they would understand the dilemma." Marlene
Dietrich
"My father didn't tell me how to live; he lived, and let me
watch him do it." Clarence B. Kelland
"One father is worth more than a hundred schoolmasters." 17th
century English proverb
"Blessed indeed is the man who hears many gentle voices call him
father!" Lydia M. Child
"Sometimes the poorest man leaves his children the richest
inheritance." Ruth E. Renkel
"You don't have to deserve your mother's love. You have to
deserve your father's. He's more particular." Robert Frost
If
you're interested, visit my twice-a-month blog at the STRATMOR
Group web site located at www.stratmorgroup.com.
The current blog discusses the issue of the Freddie Mac &
Bank of America buybacks, and its potential impact on the
industry. If you have both the time and inclination, make a
comment on what I have written, or on other comments so that
folks can learn what's going on out there from the other
readers.
