FREE MORTGAGE NEWS 4U.COM by Brenda Jarvis

December 8, 2008

With rates falling to all time lows, people are starting to ask a lot of questions about FHA streamline refinances. Usually they begin with, “Does FHA have a stated income refinance program?” to which I promptly respond “No”. They do however have a streamline refinance program that is designed to refinance borrowers who already have an FHA insured mortgage, into a lower interest rate. The program, designed to simply put the borrower into a better financial position, does not verify Read Full Article

November 25, 2008

I had a great question come in yesterday that I thought would make a great topic for this week’s article. An originator asked- “How does HUD define a homeowner association’s “right of first refusal” regarding condominium project review for approval or for spot loan review for approval? What does that term mean?” The reason this question is an important one regarding FHA financing is because it is a HUD requirement that the subject condominium association not maintain a right of Read Full Article

October 3, 2008

WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 1, 2008) — The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) today released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending September 26, 2008. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, was 455.4, a decrease of 23.0 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from 591.4 one week earlier. On an unadjusted basis, the Index decreased 23.4 percent compared with the previous week and was down 28.4 percent compared with the same week one Read Full Article

October 2, 2008

This morning, FHA Commissioner Brian Montgomery announced that the new HECM nationwide loan limit (maximum claim amount) will be $417,000. The target effective date is November 1. This is a target date right now, not a set deadline. We still expect FHA to increase the "floor" on the origination fee from $2,000 to $2,500. A mortgagee letter will be published shortly that provides additional details. There was some debate within HUD to consider area limits at 115% Read Full Article