Financial Assistance For Homeowners Expands As Interest Rates Continue To Skyrocket

By NICOLE MURRAY There have been 1.3 million cases where loss mitigation options have helped borrowers remain in their homes since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to officials at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. A few common tools available through these home retention programs include a loan modification, forbearance agreement, or repayment plan. However, some of these resources that once were effective in avoiding foreclosures now result in little to no reductions in monthly mortgage payments due to spiking interest rates. As a result, a new proposal is being offered by the Federal Housing Administration, so borrowers have a potentially more effective option to avoid foreclosure. This tool is called the Payment Supplement Partial Claim.…

Opinion: Another Pointless Government Mortgage Pricing War Begins

By TOBIAS PETERĀ  Last month, at the behest of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government-sponsored enterprises, announced new risk-based pricing guidelines that loosen mortgage credit for higher-risk loans. Since the Federal Housing Administration traditionally serves higher-risk borrowers, this move represented the latest salvo in a renewed battle for such borrowers. As a response, FHA is rumored to announce today (2/22/2023) a 30 bps mortgage insurance premium cut that will expose taxpayers and not help prospective homebuyers. The last time FHFA imposed credit loosening on the GSEs in 2014, FHA responded shortly thereafter in kind with a large 50 bps MIP cut. At the time, FHA predicted that this cut would lead to 250,000 new…