News and Alerts
OHFA Annual Plan - 8/31/10
Ohio Housing Finance Agency has published it's annual plan, and it is available for download. Document...
Florida Clarifies Underwriter Licensing Requirements - 8/20/10
On Thursday, the Florida Office of Financial Regulation (OFR) issued a legal opinion (see attached) stating that underwriters who are W-2 employees of licensed mortgage lenders are not required to obtain loan originator licenses with the OFR. More...
Feds Approve State Plans for $600M in 'Hardest Hit Fund' Foreclosure Prevention Assistance - 8/5/10
Ohio was among the five states that will receive a portion of $600 million in additional funds in foreclosure-prevention assistance from the Housing Finance Agency Innovation Fund for the Hardest Hit Housing Markets ("Hardest Hit Fund"). The funds will be used to support local initiatives to assist struggling homeowners in these five states that have high percentages of their population living in areas of economic distress because of unemployment - defined as exceeding 12 percent in 2009. More...
Mortgage Action Alliance - MBA's Grassroots Newsletter - 8/2/10
As the House raced to adjourn for the month of August, it packed its final week with a series of bills important to the mortgage industry. Last week saw Congress send to the president's desk an emergency spending bill containing an MBA-supported provision to jump-start USDA's rural housing program. The House also passed legislation, at MBA's and MAA's urging, to provide FHA's multifamily programs with enough to commitment authority to keep those programs running for the rest of the fiscal year, as well as a separate bill authorizing the agency's single-family programs to charge higher annual premiums. And it passed the annual HUD appropriations bill, which extends the high-cost loan limits for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and FHA, and contains a needed subsidy for the department's reverse mortgage program. Meanwhile, the House Financial Services Committee held its first markup in many months, approving legislation to establish a regulatory framework for covered bonds and a housing preservation bill. More...
OHFA Notice To Members Who Perform Servicing - 7/26/10
The Ohio Housing Finance Agency (OHFA) is seeking proposals from qualified companies for a Special Servicer for the Ohio Hardest Hit Fund (Ohio HHF) as specified in the Request for Proposal (RFP) posted on OHFA’s website: www.ohiohome.org. The Special Servicer will collect, report and transmit payments from homeowners who have been approved to participate in the Ohio HHF Program. The purpose of the Ohio HHF is to help families stay in their homes or otherwise avoid preventable foreclosure. Ohio has designed a program that is statewide and comprehensive in scope, focused on unemployed and underemployed homeowners who are at risk of mortgage default or foreclosure due to a temporary or permanent reduction in income. More...
Mortgage Action Alliance - MBA's Grassroots Newsletter - 7/26/10
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act crossed the finish line last week when President Obama, surrounded by jubilant lawmakers, signed the 2,300-page bill into law. The effort now enters a lengthy implementation phase, as federal agencies begin the arduous task of promulgating the hundreds of new rules called for in the bill, as well as the establishment of an independent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to be housed within the Federal Reserve. Congress, meanwhile, shifted its focus to some of the unfinished items on its agenda, including an extension of FHA and GSE loan limits, action on covered bond legislation, and an autumn slate of hearings on the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. More...
Controlling Board Approves Funds for Foreclosure Aid Program - 7/20/10
The Ohio Housing Finance Agency (OHFA) is set to move forward on a program that helps Ohioans in danger of foreclosure after the Controlling Board approved funds for its administrative costs on Monday.
The program, which will be funded as a part of the Obama administration's Hardest Hit Fund and using Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) funds, will use $172 million to help 18,000 Ohioans who are experiencing financial hardship in order to prevent foreclosures. More...