By jguerin@housingwire.com It’s been just a few weeks since the Federal Housing Administration announced that it will now require a second appraisal on select reverse mortgage loans, but lenders are already feeling the effects. And so far, it’s not all that bad. Via:: FHA’s second appraisal rule for HECMs has minimal impact so far       

By jguerin@housingwire.com It’s only been in play for a few weeks, but the HECM industry continues to speculate just how impactful FHA’s new second appraisal mandate has been. In the meantime, the agency sought to clear up any confusion among lenders, recently publishing a list of FAQs on the new guideline. The biggest takeaway? Its process is proprietary, so don’t …

Class Appraisal named Gary Ferguson as its chief technology officer to spearhead its pursuit of tech solutions. Ferguson has 20 years of experience in enterprise application development and has spent most of his career in the mortgage industry. Prior to joining Class Appraisal, Ferguson was CTO at Centric Technology Solutions. Via:: Class Appraisal names Gary Ferguson as its new CTO …

By jguerin@housingwire.com Valuations provider Veros predicts seven of the 10 top-appreciating markets in the next 12 months will be in Washington and Nevada, and that the most populated metro areas will see a 4.5% uptick in appreciation. “We are forecasting that the overwhelming number of metros across the nation, approximately 97%, will appreciate,” said Eric Fox, VP of statistical and …

By blane@housingwire.com The FHA has already identified issues in appraisals on reverse mortgages and is taking steps to address the problem. But now, FHA Commissioner Brian Montgomery told the crowd at the Mortgage Bankers Association 2018 Annual Conference in Washington, D.C., on Monday that the FHA is seeing some things in forward appraisals that give him “pause.” Via:: FHA Commissioner …

By jguerin@housingwire.com An estimate by real estate data provider ClosingCorp reveals that more than 1,600 pending mortgage transactions are in jeopardy as a result of the devastating impact of Hurricane Michael. The Category Four storm may affect more than $400 million in loans as residents and lenders grapple with the damage left behind in Michael’s wake. Via:: Hurricane Michael may …

By blane@housingwire.com The Texas Sunset Commission, a state government watchdog agency, said in a report published this month that the Texas Real Estate Commission and the Texas Appraiser Licensing and Certification Board are keeping excess revenue in their coffers to pay for a new building rather than using the money to deal with customer service problems that are “overwhelming” the …

By jguerin@housingwire.com The latest change to the reverse mortgage program was just announced, and it requires a second appraisal on select HECM loans. Now, the industry is abuzz with speculation as to just how impactful the new requirement will be. Will turn-times slow down? Will the loan be more expensive for most borrowers? We talked to appraisal management companies to …