The HENN Blog: Higher Education Now for Mortgage & Real Estate News

New Credit Score Floor Reminder:
Effective for Reservations made after January 1, 2012, CHFA’s Home Finance programs will no longer be available to borrowers with credit scores below 620. CHFA’s goal has been and continues to be to create a process which not only allows people to achieve homeownership, but provides them the education and resources to be successful homeowners. In today’s environment, CHFA believes it is in the interest of potential borrowers and our organization to serve borrowers who have achieved a credit score of 620 or higher.

CHFA will continue to accept Reservations for borrowers who have no credit score and require the use of alternative (non-traditional) credit reports. The CHFA RISC will remain a requirement for borrowers whose loans are manually underwritten for any reason and borrowers with credit scores from 620 through 659 where the DTI exceeds 43 percent.

Posted by Melanie A. Henn on January 5th, 2012 10:57 AMPost a Comment (0)

FHA Waives Anti-Flipping Rule Through Year-End to Speed REO Sales

01/03/2012 By: Carrie Bay

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA) is extending the temporary waiver of its property anti-flipping rule through the end of 2012.

FHA rules typically prohibit insuring a mortgage on a home owned by the seller for less than 90 days. In 2010, however, the agency waived this regulation, and later extended the waiver through 2011.

The new extension announced late last week will permit buyers to continue to use FHA-insured financing to purchase HUD-owned and bank-owned properties, no matter how long the homeowner has held the title, through December 31, 2012.

FHA says the waiver will allow homes to resell as quickly as possible, helping to stabilize real estate prices and revitalize communities experiencing high foreclosure activity.

“This extension is intended to accelerate the resale of foreclosed properties in neighborhoods struggling to overcome the possible effects of abandonment and blight,” said Carol Galante, FHA’s Acting Commissioner. “FHA remains a critical source of mortgage financing and

stability and we must make every effort that to promote recovery in every responsible way we can.”

According to FHA, the waiver contains strict conditions and guidelines to prevent the predatory practice of property flipping, in which properties are quickly resold at inflated prices to unsuspecting borrowers.

Among these conditions, all transactions must be arms-length, with no link between the buying and selling parties.

In addition, in cases in which the sales price of the property is 20 percent or more above the seller’s acquisition cost, the waiver will apply only if the lender meets specific conditions, and documents the justification for the increase in value.

FHA’s property-flipping waiver is limited to forward mortgages, and does not apply to the agency’s Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) for purchase program.

Since the original waiver went into effect on February 1, 2010, FHA has insured nearly 42,000 mortgages worth more than $7 billion on properties resold within 90 days of acquisition.

The agency says its own research has found that in today’s market, acquiring, rehabilitating, and reselling foreclosed properties to prospective homeowners often takes less than 90 days.

As a result, FHA says prohibiting the use of its mortgage insurance for a subsequent resale within 90 days would adversely impact the willingness of sellers to consider offers from potential FHA buyers, namely because they would be required to cover holding costs and the risk of vandalism that comes with allowing a property to sit vacant over a 90-day period of time.


Posted by Melanie A. Henn on January 5th, 2012 10:45 AMPost a Comment (0)

Enhanced Reserve Underwriting Requirements

United Guaranty is enhancing the reserve underwriting requirements for Performance Premium mortgage insurance submissions effective January 3, 2012. For a 1-unit Primary Residence on a Rate/Term Refinance, no reserves are required. (Previously, a minimum of 2 months’ PITIA reserves was required for loan amounts of $729,750 or less, and a minimum of 6 months’ PITIA reserves was required for loan amounts of $729,751–$850,000.) All other minimum reserve requirements continue to apply for purchase and cash-out refinance transactions, multiple units, and second homes and investment properties.

For United Guaranty’s complete underwriting requirements, please see the Performance Premium Underwriting Requirements Guide. See page 27 for the revised reserve requirements.

Posted by Melanie A. Henn on January 3rd, 2012 10:41 AMPost a Comment (0)

On December 29, 2011, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), pursuant to the Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act of 2011, Section 401 ("Act"), directed Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae ("GSEs") to increase guarantee fees by 10 basis points on all Mortgages delivered for inclusion into mortgage-backed securities pools. Additionally, FHFA directed Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae to increase the credit fee on whole loans by a similar amount. To meet the requirements of the Act, FHFA expects to announce plans for additional pricing increases in the future.

Investors will bury this fee into the base price by late January / early February to be ready for April securities.

Posted by Melanie A. Henn on January 3rd, 2012 10:36 AMPost a Comment (0)

Ever wonder how long you or someone you know needs to wait to buy a home after a Foreclosure, Short Sale, Deed in Liu or Bankruptcy?  Well, we've made it easy for you by uploading a document that is very informative for that exact purpose.  Feel free to share this with anyone you know who may benefit from it.  Just click below and view this invaluable cheat sheet!  

Bankruptcy and Foreclosure Cheat Sheet.pdf

As always, if you have any questions, feel free to call or email:

Melanie A. Henn, CML                      Direct:  719-499-8061  

email: mhenn@ccmclending.com

Posted by Melanie A. Henn on November 22nd, 2011 10:05 AMPost a Comment (0)

November 22nd, 2011 9:52 AM

Good news for those who want an FHA Mortgage but may be over limit with the new changes!! FHA has decided to reinstate their old FHA loan limits through December 31, 2013!  That means for El Paso County, the new FHA loan limits should be $325,000.  However, we are waiting for FHA to formally update their site.  Once they do, I will keep you informed!

FHA Mortgage Limit Implementation

The law states that the new limits are effective for case numbers assigned today (date of enactment) until December 31, 2013 (case numbers assigned). Below is the language from the law on this provision.

The bill states:

Sec. 238. (a) Federal Housing Administration- Notwithstanding any other provision of law, for mortgages for which a Federal Housing Administration case number has been assigned during the period beginning on the date of enactment of this Act and ending on December 31, 2013, the dollar amount limitation on the principal obligation for purposes of section 203 of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1709) shall be considered to be, except for purposes of section 255(g) of such Act (12 U.S.C. 1715z-20(g)), the greater of--

(1) the dollar amount limitation on the principal obligation of a mortgage determined under section 203(b)(2) of the National Housing Act (12 U.S.C. 1709(b)(2)); or

(2) the dollar amount limitation that was prescribed for such size residence for such area for 2008 pursuant to section 202 of the Economic Stimulus Act of 2008 (Public Law 110-185; 122 Stat. 620).

Contact me for any questions!

Melanie A. Henn, CML, Direct: 719-499-8061, email: mhenn@ccmclending.com

 

Posted by Melanie A. Henn on November 22nd, 2011 9:52 AMPost a Comment (0)

MGIC Underwriting Changes for Mortgage Insurance

Effective Nov. 1, 2011

The minimum credit score for a rate/term refinance with a maximum LTV of 95% and a maximum loan amount of $417,000 will be lowered to 660.

The maximum LTV for a purchase or rate/term refinance with a minimum credit score of 700 and a maximum loan amount of $625,500 will be raised to 95%.

 

 Many have always assumed that once a collection was taken to court and the creditor received a judgement, that there was no longer any room for negotiation. A co-worker recently shared a success story with us in regards to this subject.

" In less than 30 minutes, start to finish, a local law firm representing a huge national credit card company agreed to 53 cents on the dollar, immediate release of the lien so their sale could be completed tomorrow, and a very reasonable 6 month payment plan for the balance remaining after taking the cash available from the closing table.

If we had not been able to accomplish this, it would have been yet another foreclosure statistic, and 100% of the lien would have still remained on the clients' primary residence.

Everybody's happy. If you have such a situation, I'd be glad to share what I learned that made this happen. Love learning new stuff, especially if it turns out well! "

Thanks Carol for sharing this information. If you know of someone that may have a judgement on their credit report let them know it's never too late.

Loan Program Highlight  

This program is great for Jumbo Loans.

  • Offer aggressive 7/1 and 5/1 ARMs to $3,000,000
  • No penalties for FICO Scored
  • No price hits for Loan-To-Vaue or Condos
  • No Escrows on every loan
  • Max LTV for Loan amounts up to $850,000 is 70% 

  •             
Posted by Melanie A. Henn on November 4th, 2011 6:29 PMPost a Comment (0)

October 25th, 2011 1:32 PM

The President announced yesterday that thousands of Homeowners who could not refinance their home in the past due to being under water may not have the possibility of doing so.  This program will most likely be introduced to us by mid November, and officially available after December 1st.  If you or someone you know would like to refinance, but were unable to in the past due to being negative in equity, now may just be your opportunity.  Feel free to call or email me with any questions you may have:  719-499-8061 or mhenn@ccmclending.com. - Melanie Henn, Branch Manager/CML

New HARP program

The administration will be implementing a change to the HARP program this morning. The attached press release details the changes to the existing HARP program.

  • LTV requirements will be waived for borrowers looking to refinance FNMA/FHLMC loans

  • The loan-level fee structure will be altered

  • Loans must have been sold to FNMA/FHLMC before May 2009 to be eligible

  • Existing HARP loans are not eligible unless they were originated between March-May 2009

Currently, the HARP program allows borrowers to refinance with LTVs of up to 125% – as long as they are current, and are employed.

This program will likely begin by December 1, although capacity limits may result in a delay for some investors.

This is all of the information that I have at this time. I will provide updates as information is released from the agencies and the investors

Posted by Melanie A. Henn on October 25th, 2011 1:32 PMPost a Comment (0)

October 21st, 2011 3:32 PM

Did I get your attention?? Think before you act and don't do stupid things before finalizing the purchase or refinance of your home.

This is a great blog to pass on to Clients, friends and family looking to buy or refinance their home.  Did you know that any changes in the initial disclosed debt and liabilities could adversely affect your loan closing??  Changes could include, but is not limited to:

  1. New Credit applied for
  2. New credit established
  3. Credit Scores
  4. Increased minimum credit payments on existing credit
  5. Missed or late payments
  6. Judgments
  7. Liens
  8. Inquiries not listed on the initial credit report
  9. Any information that can be considered derogatory

It is in your best interest to take all necessary steps to make sure that your credit information does not change from your initial loan application through your loan closing date, so that you're LOAN CLOSING & EARNEST MONEY is not in jeapordy...

Questions?  Email or call me!

 

Melanie A. Henn, CML

Direct:  719-499-8061 or mhenn@ccmclending.com    

 

Posted by Melanie A. Henn on October 21st, 2011 3:32 PMPost a Comment (0)

October 10th, 2011 4:17 PM

 

VA Funding Fee News !!

VA has posted an update to the VA Funding Fee changes. Reduced funding fees will begin for all loans closing on or after November 18, 2011.

Please read the attached VA Circular for more information.

Updated Funding Fee Changes.pdf

Posted by Melanie A. Henn on October 10th, 2011 4:17 PMPost a Comment (0)
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Melanie A. Henn, Certified Mortgage Lender 

7680 Goddard Street, Suite 201, Colorado Springs, CO 80920
Direct: (719) 434-8394   Office: (719) 499-8061   Efax (866) 213-4170
     Email mhenn@ccmclending.com and hennteam@ccmclending.com   

                                        

 

                                        

 


Melanie A. Henn, Certified Mortgage Lender Cherry Creek Mortgage CO 7680 Goddard St #201 Colorado Springs, CO 80920
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