The trade group representing Massachusetts’ mortgage industry fired a broadside at one of the top federal housing regulators, accusing it of exposing consumers, appraisers and lenders to “needless risk” during the coronavirus pandemic.
Massachusetts Mortgage Bankers Association Executive Director Debbie Sousa sent an open letter to Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mark Calabria Thursday morning asking his agency and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – the two largest actors on the mortgage market and under the FHFA’s supervision – to reconsider three key policy stances: how appraisals are used in mortgage refinancings, to be willing to buy mortgages from banks where the borrower is in financial distress due to COVID-19 and provide a liquidity facility for mortgage servicers.
Due to the risk of contracting the coronavirus, many appraisers are unwilling to conduct – and many homeowners seeking refis are unwilling to allow – interior inspections of homes. Under standards set by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for refi mortgages sold on the secondary market, this type of appraisal is required in the vast majority of these deals. However, the current public health crisis is not only increasing risk of the virus’ transmission, the MMBA letter says up to 80 percent of mortgages in local lenders’ pipelines are affected thanks to a large surge in refi applications in March.
“FHFA, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have the opportunity and the moral obligation to allow appraisers and lenders flexibility. There is state of the art technology available to appraisers that allow for obtaining interior inspections in alternative ways, but the GSE’s will not allow or consider these options,” Sousa wrote. ” If [the Federal Housing Administration] is agreeing to insure new refinance mortgages, paying off any lender’s or investor’s mortgage, without an interior property inspection, why shouldn’t the GSE’s follow?”
The letter also takes issue with Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s unwillingness to purchase mortgages where the borrower has applied for forbearance due to the COVID-19 economic crisis, even if the loan has been sold by the lender that originated it.
Lastly, the letter calls on the FHFA, Federal Reserve and Treasury Department to act quickly to provide liquidity for residential and commercial mortgage servicers, who are required to continue forwarding payments to mortgage-holders even if the mortgage itself is in forbearance.
“The FHFA isn’t honoring their mission statement and consumers, lenders and servicers are paying the price,“ Sousa said in an email to Banker & Tradesman.
The FHFA was not immediately available for comment.
