Nenita Dasalla- Single Family Residence Real Estate Sales Consultant

The Los Angeles Times
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is considering tough rules for home loan servicers, including more easily understood statements and warnings before interest rate changes.

Read the full story
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-bank-rules-20120410,0,7307695.story

CNNMoney
Even as some mortgage standards have eased, hitting a needed appraisal value is proving a frustrating blocker for buyers and sellers and those looking to refinance.

Read the full story
http://money.cnn.com/2012/03/30/real_estate/mortgage-denied/index.htm?iid=HP_River

As of April 1, potential borrowers with ongoing credit disputes totaling more than $1,000 are no longer eligible for mortgages insured by the FHA.

Under the rule, borrowers must either pay off the outstanding balance on these collections accounts or document a payment arrangement that the lender must then submit to the FHA before closing. The payment arrangement will be counted into the debt-to-income ratio for the new home loan.

The rule excludes disputed accounts from more than two years ago, along with those related to theft. But the lender must document an identity theft or police report on the fraudulent charges.
An FHA spokesman said the rule was designed as another protection for the FHA emergency fund. The fund levels slipped to 0.2 percent of at-risk insurance last year, well below the 2 percent mandated by Congress. The FHA raised insurance premiums on April 1 as well to boost the fund by $1 billion.

http://www.housingwire.com/news/fha-deny-mortgage-backing-credit-disputes-above-1000

Wall Street Journal
For homeowners who have been waiting for interest rates to fall even further before refinancing, it might be time to pull the trigger on a deal.  Rates are moving up – and could stay higher for a while, experts say.

Read the full story:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303812904577295762407392928.html?mod=WSJ_RealEstate_LeftTopNews

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac completed more than 2.1 million foreclosure prevention actions since the start of conservatorship including 1.1 million permanent loan modifications. These actions, designed to help borrowers stay in their homes, are detailed in the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s fourth quarter 2011 Foreclosure Prevention and Refinance Report. The report also shows that after nine months, fewer than 20 percent of Enterprise loans modified in the four quarters ended March 31, 2011, had missed two or more payments, an improvement over prior years.

With this report, FHFA releases new state data sets and launches an interactive Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac State Borrower Assistance Map, showing the number of loans owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, delinquencies, foreclosure prevention activities, Real Estate-Owned (REO) properties, and refinances in each state. In addition, the report now includes a graphic showing Delinquent Loans by State and Profiles of Key States, with detailed information about states with the biggest five-year decline in house prices and the highest number and rate of seriously delinquent loans.

Also in the report:
Half of all borrowers who received loan modifications in the fourth quarter had their monthly payments reduced by over 30 percent, and one-third included principal forbearance.
Serious delinquency rates for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans remain below industry levels and continue to decline.
California had the largest number of completed foreclosure prevention actions since the beginning of conservatorship in 2008.

http://www.fhfa.gov/webfiles/23523/4Q_Forecl_Prev_release_031912.pdf