The deadline is upon us for the increase in the upfront mortgage insurance for FHA loans.  All net branch manager, loan officers, processors and independent owners need to be aware of this information.

From HUD:
Lenders are reminded that effective for FHA loans for which the case number

is assigned on or after April 5, 2010, FHA will collect an upfront mortgage

insurance premium of 2.25 percent. This policy change will increase premiums

for purchase money and refinance transactions, including FHA-to-FHA credit-

qualifying and non-credit qualifying streamlined refinance transactions. For

more detailed information on this premium increase, please see Mortgagee

Letter 2010-02 at:

http://www.hud.gov/offices/adm/hudclips/letters/mortgagee/files/10-02ml.pdf

Lenders should make every effort to order case numbers early in the week of

March 29, 2010, since it is possible that case numbers requested on Friday or

Saturday may not be assigned prior to April 5, 2010, and therefore, be

subject to the higher premium.

If your branch is sitting on loans you need to register them now for your borrowers to take advantage the current lower upfront mortgage insurance premium.

If you would  like to know more about our net branch partner program visit our Frequently Asked Questions page.

Very soon if you do not have a credit score of 600 or higher, your out!
The net worth for a broker now will $25,000 and require audited financials.
The education requirements will now require 3 time more classroom hours.

Where does the N.C. brokers association – NCAMP stand on this?
Apparently on the sidelines.
A recent news article quoted Jennifer Salemson of the N.C. Association of Mortgage Professionals “Anything that would improve the quality of the mortgage industry, we would view as beneficial.”

Is more education a good thing – certainly it is and increasing the current 8 hours to 24 hours is not a burden on anyone and can only help originators stay up on the ever increasing complex laws and regulations we all are faced with.

I’m not so sure about the credit score requirement or the audited net worth requirement.

When has a good credit score reflected a persons trustworthiness?

Does anyone remember that one of the reasons we have a crisis in the mortgage industry is that underwriting basics were thrown out the window and replaced with credit scores as the deciding factor?

What is the credit score requirement in North Carolina for tax preparers, attorneys, financial advisers, insurance sales people, auto finance and sales people, home builders, etc.?

I doubt that any one in North Carolina politics has researched the cost for a small company to get audited financials. The cost can be from $750 to $2,500. This alone will greatly reduce the ranks of mortgage professions in the state.

Today I visited the NCAMP web site to see what they had to say about this up coming change – the only info I found was about the original bill passed in 2001.. isn’t this 2008?

North Carolina is leading the way once again in legislation that will harm the people of their state instead of help them.