Mortgage: Dodd-Frank Brings Changes for 2014

As we close out 2013, the mortgage industry is bracing for significant changes.
The new year will usher in updated rules, emanating from the Dodd-Frank legislation, as well as the tightening of FHA loan standards. These changes will make obtaining a mortgage more challenging for some folks.
The high-cost loan limits on FHA loans are being lowered in 2014. The present high loan limit is $729,000. The new limit will be $625,500. This will put the FHA high limits in line with the high-cost loan limits. Washington, D.C., and most of its close-in jurisdictions are treated as high-cost areas. FHA mortgages enable a borrower to buy a home with a down payment of only 3.5 percent. There are no income limits on FHA borrowers.

The allowable debt ratios will be tightened in the new year. The new rule limits the debt limit to 43 percent of income. This number is derived by taking the overall house payment and dividing it by the required payments on installment and credit card debts. The old limits were 45 percent or higher.

These rules pertain to any mortgages that will be sold to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, which back up the vast majority of mortgages.

One option that some lenders will have is to issue mortgages that are not backed by Fannie and Freddie. These are commonly called portfolio mortgages. A portfolio mortgage is a mortgage that is held in a specific bank’s portfolio, instead of being bundled and sold to Fannie or Freddie. The rules on portfolio loans can be more flexible than the rules for non-portfolio mortgages. Portfolio mortgages are usually jumbo mortgages, which start above $417,000, the limit for non-high-cost conventional mortgages.

Among the more flexible rules for portfolio mortgages are higher debt-to-income limits and, in some cases, high LTV loans with no mortgage insurance. Expect strict asset requirements with the jumbo portfolio loans. Also, for the super jumbo portfolio loans (higher than $1,000,000), larger down payments are typically required. These requirements get stricter as the loan amounts increase.

One result of the new rules will be seen in the once “more nimble” smaller lenders losing some of their flexibility. The larger banks which have large cash reserves will tend to be more eager to lend the jumbo money. This will be seen in aggressive rates and more flexibility.

Bill Starrels lives in Georgetown. He specializes in home purchase and refinance mortgages. He can be reached at bill.starrels@gmail.com or 703-625-7355. NMLS #48502