2011-1360. Credit Watch Termination Initiative Termination of Origination Approval Agreements

AGENCY:

Office of the Assistant Secretary for Housing—Federal Housing Commissioner, HUD.

ACTION:

Notice.

SUMMARY:

This notice advises of the cause and effect of termination of Origination Approval Agreements taken by HUD's Federal Housing Administration (FHA) against HUD-approved mortgagees through the FHA Credit Watch Termination Initiative. This notice includes a list of mortgagees which have had their Origination Approval Agreements terminated.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:

The Quality Assurance Division, Office of Housing, Department of Housing and Urban Development, 451 Seventh Street, SW., Room B133-P3214, Washington, DC 20410-8000; telephone [phone] (this is not a toll-free number). Persons with hearing or speech impairments may access that number through TTY by calling the Federal Information Relay Service at [phone].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

HUD has the authority to address deficiencies in the performance of lenders' loans as provided in HUD's mortgagee approval regulations at 24 CFR 202.3. On May 17, 1999 HUD published a notice (64 FR 26769), on its procedures for terminating Origination Approval Agreements with FHA lenders and placement of FHA lenders on Credit Watch status (an evaluation period). In the May 17, 1999 notice, HUD advised that it would publish in the Federal Register a list of mortgagees, which have had their Origination Approval Agreements terminated.

Termination of Origination Approval Agreement: Approval of a mortgagee by HUD/FHA to participate in FHA mortgage insurance programs includes an Origination Approval Agreement (Agreement) between HUD and the mortgagee. Under the Agreement, the mortgagee is authorized to originate single-family mortgage loans and submit them to FHA for insurance endorsement. The Agreement may be terminated on the basis of poor performance of FHA-insured mortgage loans originated by the mortgagee. The termination of a mortgagee's Agreement is separate and apart from any action taken by HUD's Mortgagee Review Board under HUD's regulations at 24 CFR part 25.

Cause: HUD's regulations permit HUD to terminate the Agreement with any mortgagee having a default and claim rate for loans endorsed within the preceding 24 months that exceeds 200 percent of the default and claim rate within the geographic area served by a HUD field office, and also exceeds the national default and claim rate. For the 45th review period, HUD is terminating the Agreement of mortgagees whose default and claim rate exceeds both the national rate and 200 percent of the field office rate.

Effect: Termination of the Agreement precludes branch(es) of the mortgagee from originating FHA-insured single-family mortgages within the area of the HUD field office(s) listed in this notice. Mortgagees authorized to purchase, hold, or service FHA-insured mortgages may continue to do so.

Loans that closed or were approved before the termination became effective may be submitted for insurance endorsement. Approved loans are those already underwritten and approved by a DE underwriter, and cases covered by a firm commitment issued by HUD. Cases at earlier stages of processing cannot be submitted for insurance by the terminated branch; however, they may be transferred for completion of processing and underwriting to another FHA-insured mortgagee with direct endorsement approval for the area covered by the termination. Mortgagees are obligated to continue to pay existing insurance premiums and meet all other obligations associated with insured mortgages.

A terminated mortgagee may apply for reinstatement of the Origination Approval Agreement if the approval for the affected branch or branches has been terminated for at least six months and the mortgagee continues to be an approved mortgagee meeting the requirements of 24 CFR 202.5, 202.6, 202.7, 202.8 and 202.12. However, Mortgagee Letter 2010-20 and Final Rule 5356-F-02 at 24 CFR 202 eliminates FHA approval for loan correspondents after December 31, 2010. Therefore, HUD will not accept requests for reinstatement from loan correspondents after that date. The mortgagee's application for reinstatement must be in a format prescribed by the Secretary and signed by the mortgagee. In addition, the application must be accompanied by an independent analysis of the terminated office's operations as well as its mortgage production, specifically including the FHA-insured mortgages cited in its termination notice. This independent analysis shall identify the underlying cause for the mortgagee's high default and claim rate. The analysis must be prepared by an independent Certified Public Accountant (CPA) qualified to perform audits under Government Auditing Standards as provided by the Government Accountability Office. The mortgagee must also submit a written corrective action plan to address each of the issues identified in the CPA's report, along with evidence that the plan has been implemented. The application for a new Agreement should be in the form of a letter, accompanied by the CPA's report and corrective action plan. The request should be sent to the Director, Office of Lender Activities and Program Compliance, 451 Seventh Street, SW., Room B133-P3214, Washington, DC 20410-8000 or by courier to 490 L'Enfant Plaza, East, SW., Suite 3214, Washington, DC 20024-8000.

Action: The following mortgagees have had their Origination Agreements terminated by HUD:

Mortgagee name	Mortgagee branch office address	HUD office jurisdictions	Termination effective date	Homeownership centers
Access Mortgage Services Inc	97 Main St., Ste 209, Woodbridge, NJ 07095	Newark	11/23/2010	Philadelphia
Anchor Mortgage	6260 S Rainbow Blvd., Ste 100, Las Vegas, NV 89118	Las Vegas	11/16/2010	Santa Ana
Benefit Funding Corp	10724 Baltimore Ave., Beltsville, MD 20705	Washington	11/15/2010	Philadelphia
Birmingham Bancorp Mortgage Corp	6230 Orchard Lake Rd., Ste 280, West Bloomfield, MI 48322	Detroit	11/15/2010	Philadelphia
Dedicated Mortgage Associates LLC	225 Derry Rd., Hudson, NH 03051	Bangor	11/15/2010	Philadelphia
Equitable Trust Mortgage Corp	5024 Campbell Blvd., Ste G, Baltimore, MD 21236	Washington	11/15/2010	Philadelphia
Equity Source Home Loans LLC	150 Airport Rd., Ste 1100, Lakewood, NJ 08701	Camden	12/14/2010	Philadelphia
Equity Source Home Loans LLC	1120 Campus Dr., Morganville, NJ 07751	Camden	12/14/2010	Philadelphia
First Performance Mortgage Corp	1221 Lake Dr., SE., Ste 103, Bessemer, AL 35022	Birmingham	11/15/2010	Atlanta
Freedom Mortgage Corp	10500 Kincaid Dr., Ste 300, Fishers, IN 46037	Indianapolis	11/15/2010	Atlanta
Homeland Lending Inc	105 S Wheeler St., Ste 300, Plant City, FL 33563	Jacksonville	11/15/2010	Atlanta
Metro Finance Corp	30 S Stolp Ave., Ste 314, Aurora, IL 60506	Chicago	11/15/2010	Atlanta
Moncor Inc	4660 Wadsworth Blvd., Wheat Ridge, CO 80033	Denver	11/16/2010	Denver
MVB Mortgage Corp	24400 Northwestern Hwy., Southfield, MI 48075	Detroit	11/16/2010	Philadelphia
Signature One Mortgage Inc	5875 S Rainbow Blvd., Ste 110, Las Vegas, NV 89118	Las Vegas	11/15/2010	Santa Ana
Valor Financial Services LLC	1911 Rohlwing Rd., Ste A, Rolling Meadows, IL 60008	Chicago	11/16/2010	Atlanta

Dated: January 12, 2011.

David H. Stevens,

Assistant Secretary for Housing—Federal Housing Commissioner.