Tuesday, September 21, 2010

LIVE SAFE Prep Course Coming Soon!

Due to popular demand, Praedo Institute is spreading it's live course offerings to Nevada. We have a class scheduled for October 7th, 2010 at 9am. This course is 3 hours long and will help students prepare for the national and state portion of the SAFE exam. Included also in the course is our popular review manual. Sign up today as seats are going fast!! Sign up now!!

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

September 16th SAFE Prep Course

Praedo Institute has an upcoming SAFE prep course on Thursday, September 16th from 9:00 am-12:00 pm! The class will be held in the Wasatch room of the Salt Lake Community College located at 9750 South 300 West in Sandy. This 3-hour course will count as 3 credits toward your continuing education and will prepare you for the SAFE exam. Sign up today as seats are going fast. Sign up today!

Friday, September 3, 2010

FHA Announces New Credit Score Requirements, Delays Other Changes

It’s been a busy week for HUD as far as mortgagee letters go. HUD released the updated LTV/credit score requirements, which they announced earlier this year. Loan to value (LTV) ratios will now be limited depending on the borrower's credit score as follows:

• Borrowers with a minimum score of 580 or above are eligible for maximum financing;
• Borrowers with a minimum score of 500 to 579 will be limited to a 90 percent LTV; and
• Borrowers with a minimum score under 500 are not eligible for FHA financing.

Borrowers without credit scores may still qualify for financing under the non-traditional credit underwriting requirements. These requirements are effective for all case numbers ordered on or after October 4, 2010.

HUD has delayed any changes in the maximum amount of seller concessions or any changes in manual underwriting requirements.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

FHA Announces Mortgage Insurance Changes

Yes, as soon as I advised everyone to wait for FHA’s announcement, it was released. FHA released the mortgagee letter today finalizing the changes in monthly and upfront mortgage insurance.

The changes are effective for any case numbers ordered on or after October 4, 2010. The changes apply to all traditional FHA purchase and refinance mortgages, including FHA and FHA streamlines.

The Up Front Mortgage Insurance Premium will now be one percent of the base loan amount. The monthly mortgage insurance will depend on the loan-to-value (LTV) ratio. Loans with an LTV of 95 percent or less will be subject to a monthly mortgage insurance payment of 85 basis points. Loans with an LTV exceeding 95 percent will be subject to a monthly mortgage insurance payment of 90 basis points. These changes only apply to amortization periods greater than 15 years. Guidelines for loans with amortization periods of 15 years or less remain unchanged.

What is going on with FHA mortgage insurance?

We continue to receive multiple questions regarding the implementation date of FHA’s changes in the monthly mortgage insurance premium as well as the Up Front Mortgage Insurance Premium (UFMIP). As you may know, Congress passed H.R. 5981 which increased the statutory limit on monthly mortgage insurance 1.55 percent. This does not mean the monthly mortgage insurance premium will increase to 1.55 percent, but does mean HUD has the authority go to as high as 1.55 percent. Currently, HUD has the statutory authority to charge up to 3.0 percent on the UFMIP but only charges 2.25 percent.

A few days after the passage of H.R. 5981, Commissioner Stevens, Federal Housing Commissioner, released a statement which included the following:

"It is our intention that effective on September 7, 2010, FHA’s upfront mortgage insurance premium will be adjusted down to 100 basis points on all amortization terms and the annual mortgage insurance premium will increase to 85-90 basis points on amortization terms greater than 15 years². A Mortgagee Letter will be forthcoming once President Obama signs the bill into law…"

Notice the words “intention” and “mortgagee letter will be forthcoming”. A few days later, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Vicki Bott, released a statement, which included the following:

"Last week, FHA Commissioner David H. Stevens announced plans for implementing FHA’s new mortgage insurance premium structure. As we work to publish a Mortgagee Letter, it is our intention to announce that based on industry feedback and our desire to have this change implemented successfully in the marketplace, FHA will make the premium fee changes on all new case numbers effective October 4, 2010."

Again, notice “intention” and “as we work to publish a mortgagee letter.” In the release, Deputy Assistant Secretary Bott clarified that HUD’s intention was to simultaneously decrease the UPFMIP to 1.0 percent and increase the monthly MIP to 85-90 basis points on amortization periods over 15 years.

Bottom line…we still do not know the exact details of the change including the implementation date or the amount. We will post the final details as soon as we see the mortgage letter announcing the change.