HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan has announced a temporary policy that will lift the 90-day waiting period to obtain Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage insurance for the purchase of a foreclosed home. FHA research has shown that acquiring, rehabilitating, and reselling foreclosed properties often takes less than 90 days. The temporary waiver will allow FHA borrowers to purchase HUD-owned, bank-owned, or properties resold through private sales as soon as they hit the market.
The banking industry may go as far as a court battle to challenge the constitutionality of President Obama's bailout tax. One of the financial industry's top lobbying groups, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA), says the tax unfairly penalizes big banks. The organization has already hired a well-known Supreme Court litigator to study whether a tax on one industry to recoup government rescue dollars could be considered arbitrary and punitive.
Mortgage interest rates for 30-year fixed loans are projected to hit 6.00 percent by the end of 2010, according to the latest housing and mortgage market outlook from the PMI Group. Long-term interest rates have generally headed higher since the end of November, and PMI expects this trend to continue, with a notable increase coming in Q2 when the Federal Reserve withdraws from the secondary mortgage market.
In an effort to prevent foreclosures in communities across the country, Wells Fargo & Co. said it is continuing to use the federal Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) and other modifications to provide customers with mortgage payment relief. As a result, over 400,000 Wells Fargo loan customers received assistance through active trial and completed modifications in 2009.
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