With the passage of new laws in Massachusetts and Delaware, all but five states, as well as the District of Columbia, now have permanent laws in place permitting remote online notarization (“RON”). To facilitate the continued execution of documents requiring notarization during the COVID-19 pandemic, most states issued temporary orders allowing RON. Many of these […]
On February 14, 2023, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced scheduled changes to the VA funding fee rates in VA Circular 26-23-06. The VA funding fee is a one-time upfront cost that is paid by the veteran borrower for ongoing support of the VA home loan benefits program. Certain veterans and beneficiaries are […]
On February 22, 2023, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) announced a reduction on mortgage insurance premium (MIP) pricing for most Title II forward mortgages. The new MIP amounts to a 30 basis point reduction in the annual premium charged to borrowers who obtain an FHA-insured mortgage. The FHA stated that this reduction “will translate to […]
A rule proposed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”) aims to establish a public registry of terms and conditions used by supervised nonbanks that waive or limit consumer rights in non-negotiable form contracts. The rule would require supervised nonbanks to submit information on terms and conditions in so-called “take it or leave it” form […]
The CFPB’s first lawsuit against a nonbank mortgage lender for redlining has been dismissed byan Illinois federal Court. The Court held that the protections offered to actual loan applicants arenot extended to prospective applicants. Bureau of Consumer Fin. Prot. V. Townstone Fin., Inc.,2023 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 18405, 2023 WL 1766484 (N.D. Ill. Feb. 3, 2023). […]
In late-December 2022, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac officially announced that SOFR (Secured Overnight Financing Rate) will serve as the replacement index for their legacy LIBOR-based adjustable rate loans. A follow-up announcement was issued by each of the GSE’s on January 25, 2023, providing more clarity on the SOFR transition for legacy single-family ARM loans […]
This past fall (2022), the IRS published a new version of Form 4506-C, Request for Transcript of Tax Return. This new revised version initially was scheduled to become effective December 1, 2022. However, because the IRS did not publish the final version until November 1, 2022, the required effective date was extended to March 1, […]
The Federal Housing Administration (‘FHA”) announced last week that it is increasing the options available to borrowers unable to make their payments on FHA-insured mortgages. FHA is now making COVID-19 loss mitigation options available to all eligible borrowers, regardless of the reason for their delinquency. FHA is also raising the maximum partial claim amount from […]
The CFPB’s sense is that a sharper focus on relationship-based banking could play a critical role in fostering a fair, transparent, and competitive marketplace.
The IRS is modernizing the Income Verification Express Service (“IVES”) used by mortgage lenders to confirm the income of a borrower by adding Optical Character Recognition (“OCR”) software. The new software will read Form 4506-C, the form submitted by lenders to request a borrower’s transcripts, which will automate what was previously a manual process. In […]
