Mortgage insurance

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Mortgage insurance (also known as mortgage guarantee and home-loan insurance) is an insurance policy which compensates lenders or investors in mortgage-backed securities for losses due to the default of a mortgage loan. Mortgage insurance can be either public or private depending upon the insurer. The policy is also known as a mortgage indemnity guarantee (MIG), particularly in the UK.

Contents

Australia

In Australia, borrowers must pay Lenders Mortgage Insurance (LMI) for home loans over 80% of the purchase price. [1] [ citation needed ]

Singapore

In Singapore, it is mandatory for owners of HDB flats to have a mortgage insurance if they are using the balance in their Central Provident Fund (CPF) accounts to pay for the monthly installment on their mortgage. However, they have the choice of selecting a mortgage insurance administered by the CPF Board or stipulated private insurers.[ citation needed ]

On the other hand, it is not mandatory for owners of private homes in Singapore to take a mortgage insurance.

United States

Private mortgage insurance

Private mortgage insurance, or PMI, is typically required with most conventional (non government backed) mortgage programs when the down payment or equity position is less than 20% of the property value. In other words, when purchasing or refinancing a home with a conventional mortgage, if the loan-to-value (LTV) is greater than 80% (or equivalently, the equity position is less than 20%), the borrower will likely be required to carry private mortgage insurance.

PMI rates can range from 0.14% to 2.24% of the principal balance per year based on percent of the loan insured, LTV, a fixed or variable interest rate structure, and credit score. [2] The rates may be paid in a single lump sum, annually, monthly, or in some combination of the two (split premiums). Most people pay PMI in 12 monthly installments as part of the mortgage payment.

In the United States, PMI payments by the borrower were tax-deductible until 2018.

Borrower paid private mortgage insurance

Borrower paid private mortgage insurance, or BPMI, is the most common type of PMI in today's mortgage lending marketplace. BPMI allows borrowers to obtain a mortgage without having to provide 20% down payment, by covering the lender for the added risk of a high loan-to-value (LTV) mortgage. The US Homeowners Protection Act of 1998 allows for borrowers to request PMI cancellation when the amount owed is reduced to 80% LTV. [3] The Act requires cancellation of borrower-paid mortgage insurance when a certain date is reached. This date is when the loan is scheduled to reach 78% of the original appraised value or sales price is reached, whichever is less, based on the original amortization schedule for fixed-rate loans and the current amortization schedule for adjustable-rate mortgages. BPMI can, under certain circumstances, be cancelled earlier by the servicer ordering a new appraisal showing that the loan balance is less than 80% of the home's value due to appreciation. This generally requires at least two years of on-time payments. Each investor's LTV requirements for PMI cancellation differ based on the age of the loan and current or original occupancy of the home. While the Act applies only to single family primary residences at closing, the investors Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac allow mortgage servicers to follow the same rules for secondary residences. Investment properties typically require lower LTVs.

There is a growing trend for BPMI to be used with the Fannie Mae 3% downpayment program. In some cases, the Lender is giving the borrower a credit to cover the cost of BPMI.

Lender paid private mortgage insurance

Lender paid private mortgage insurance, or LPMI, is similar to BPMI except that it is paid by the lender and built into the interest rate of the mortgage. LPMI is usually a feature of loans that claim not to require Mortgage Insurance for high LTV loans. The advantage of LPMI is that the total monthly mortgage payment is often lower than a comparable loan with BPMI, but because it's built into the interest rate, a borrower can't get rid of it when the equity position reaches 22% without refinancing.

Contracts

As with other insurance, an insurance policy is part of the insurance transaction. In mortgage insurance, a master policy issued to a bank or other mortgage-holding entity (the policyholder) lays out the terms and conditions of the coverage under insurance certificates. The certificates document the particular characteristics and conditions of each individual loan. The master policy includes various conditions including exclusions (conditions for denying coverage), conditions for notification of loans in default, and claims settlement. [4] The contractual provisions in the master policy have received increased scrutiny since the subprime mortgage crisis in the United States. Master policies generally require timely notice of default include provisions on monthly reports, time to file suit limitations, arbitration agreements, and exclusions for negligence, misrepresentation, and other conditions such as pre-existing environmental contaminants. The exclusions sometimes have "incontestability provisions" which limit the ability of the mortgage insurer to deny coverage for misrepresentations attributed to the policyholder if twelve consecutive payments are made, although these incontestability provisions generally don't apply to outright fraud. [5]

Coverage can be rescinded if misrepresentation or fraud exists. In 2009, the United States District Court for the Central District of California determined that mortgage insurance could not be rescinded "poolwide". [5]

History

Mortgage insurance began in the United States in the 1880s, and the first law on it was passed in New York in 1904. The industry grew in response to the 1920s real estate bubble and was "entirely bankrupted" after the Great Depression. By 1933, no private mortgage insurance companies existed. [6] : 15  The bankruptcy was related to the industry's involvement in "mortgage pools", an early practice similar to mortgage securitization. The federal government began insuring mortgages in 1934 through the Federal Housing Administration and Veteran's Administration, but after the Great Depression no private mortgage insurance was authorized in the United States until 1956, when Wisconsin passed a law allowing the first post-Depression insurer, Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation (MGIC), to be chartered. This was followed by a California law in 1961 which would become the standard for other states' mortgage insurance laws. Eventually the National Association of Insurance Commissioners created a model law. [7]

Max H. Karl, a Milwaukee real estate attorney, invented the modern form of private mortgage insurance. In the 1950s, Karl became frustrated with the time and paperwork required to obtain a home backed by Federal Government insurance, the only kind available at the time. In 1957, using $250,000 raised from friends and other investors in his hometown of Milwaukee, Karl founded the Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corporation. Unlike many mortgage insurers who collapsed during the Depression, MGIC would only insure the first 20 percent of loss on a defaulted mortgage, thus limiting its exposure and creating more incentives for savings and loan associations and other lenders to issue loans only to home buyers who could afford them. The guarantee was enough to encourage lenders across the country to issue mortgage loans to buyers whose down payments were less than 20 percent of the home's price. The availability of credit helped fuel the home building boom of the 1960s and 1970s. By the time of Karl's death in 1995, more than 12 percent of the nation's nearly $4 trillion in home mortgages had private mortgage insurance. [8]

In 1999 the Homeowners Protection Act of 1998 came into effect as a federal law of the United States, which requires automatic termination of mortgage insurance in certain cases for homeowners when the loan-to-value on the home reaches 78%; prior to the law, homeowners had limited recourse to cancel [9] and by one estimate, 250,000 homeowners were paying for unnecessary mortgage insurance. [10] Similar state laws existed in eight states at the time of its passage; [11] in 2000, a lawsuit by Eliot Spitzer resulted in refunds due to mortgage insurers lack of compliance with a 1984 New York state law which required insurers to stop charging homeowners after a certain point. [12] These laws may continue to apply; for example, the New York law provides "broader protection". [13]

For Federal Housing Administration-insured loans, the cancellation requirements may be more difficult. [14]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Federal Housing Administration</span> U.S. government agency responsible for mortgage insurance

The Federal Housing Administration (FHA), also known as the Office of Housing within the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), is a United States government agency founded by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, established in part by the National Housing Act of 1934. Its primary function is to provide insurance for mortgages originated by private lenders for various types of properties, including single-family homes, multifamily rental properties, hospitals, and residential care facilities. FHA mortgage insurance serves to safeguard these private lenders from financial losses. In the event that a property owner defaults on their mortgage, FHA steps in to compensate the lender for the outstanding principal balance.

This aims to be a complete list of the articles on real estate.

Title insurance is a form of indemnity insurance predominantly found in the United States and Canada which insures against financial loss from defects in title to real property and from the invalidity or unenforceability of mortgage loans. Unlike some land registration systems in countries outside the United States, US states' recorders of deeds generally do not guarantee indefeasible title to those recorded titles. Title insurance will defend against a lawsuit attacking the title or reimburse the insured for the actual monetary loss incurred up to the dollar amount of insurance provided by the policy.

A reverse mortgage is a mortgage loan, usually secured by a residential property, that enables the borrower to access the unencumbered value of the property. The loans are typically promoted to older homeowners and typically do not require monthly mortgage payments. Borrowers are still responsible for property taxes or homeowner's insurance. Reverse mortgages allow older people to immediately access the home equity they have built up in their homes, and defer payment of the loan until they die, sell, or move out of the home. Because there are no required mortgage payments on a reverse mortgage, the interest is added to the loan balance each month. The rising loan balance can eventually grow to exceed the value of the home, particularly in times of declining home values or if the borrower continues to live in the home for many years. However, the borrower is generally not required to repay any additional loan balance in excess of the value of the home.

Refinancing is the replacement of an existing debt obligation with another debt obligation under a different term and interest rate. The terms and conditions of refinancing may vary widely by country, province, or state, based on several economic factors such as inherent risk, projected risk, political stability of a nation, currency stability, banking regulations, borrower's credit worthiness, and credit rating of a nation. In many industrialized nations, common forms of refinancing include primary residence mortgages and car loans.

Home insurance, also commonly called homeowner's insurance, is a type of property insurance that covers a private residence. It is an insurance policy that combines various personal insurance protections, which can include losses occurring to one's home, its contents, loss of use, or loss of other personal possessions of the homeowner, as well as liability insurance for accidents that may happen at the home or at the hands of the homeowner within the policy territory.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">FHA insured loan</span> US Federal Housing Administration mortgage insurance

An FHA insured loan is a US Federal Housing Administration mortgage insurance backed mortgage loan that is provided by an FHA-approved lender. FHA mortgage insurance protects lenders against losses. They have historically allowed lower-income Americans to borrow money to purchase a home that they would not otherwise be able to afford. Because this type of loan is more geared towards new house owners than real estate investors, FHA loans are different from conventional loans in the sense that the house must be owner-occupant for at least a year. Since loans with lower down-payments usually involve more risk to the lender, the home-buyer must pay a two-part mortgage insurance that involves a one-time bulk payment and a monthly payment to compensate for the increased risk. Frequently, individuals "refinance" or replace their FHA loan to remove their monthly mortgage insurance premium. Removing mortgage insurance premium by paying down the loan has become more difficult with FHA loans as of 2013.

Lenders mortgage insurance (LMI), also known as private mortgage insurance (PMI) in the US, is a type of insurance payable to a lender or to a trustee for a pool of securities that may be required when taking out a mortgage loan. Its purpose is to offset losses in the case where a mortgagor is not able to repay the loan and the lender is not able to recover its costs after foreclosure and sale of the mortgaged property.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Second mortgage</span> Additional loan

Second mortgages, commonly referred to as junior liens, are loans secured by a property in addition to the primary mortgage. Depending on the time at which the second mortgage is originated, the loan can be structured as either a standalone second mortgage or piggyback second mortgage. Whilst a standalone second mortgage is opened subsequent to the primary loan, those with a piggyback loan structure are originated simultaneously with the primary mortgage. With regard to the method in which funds are withdrawn, second mortgages can be arranged as home equity loans or home equity lines of credit. Home equity loans are granted for the full amount at the time of loan origination in contrast to home equity lines of credit which permit the homeowner access to a predetermined amount which is repaid during the repayment period.

The loan-to-value (LTV) ratio is a financial term used by lenders to express the ratio of a loan to the value of an asset purchased.

A VA loan is a mortgage loan in the United States guaranteed by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The program is for American veterans, military members currently serving in the U.S. military, reservists and select surviving spouses and can be used to purchase single-family homes, condominiums, multi-unit properties, manufactured homes and new construction. The VA does not originate loans, but sets the rules for who may qualify, issues minimum guidelines and requirements under which mortgages may be offered and financially guarantees loans that qualify under the program.

Closing costs are fees paid at the closing of a real estate transaction. This point in time called the closing is when the title to the property is conveyed (transferred) to the buyer. Closing costs are incurred by either the buyer or the seller.

Mortgage life insurance is a form of insurance specifically designed to protect a repayment mortgage. If the policyholder were to die while the mortgage life insurance was in force, the policy would pay out a capital sum that will be just sufficient to repay the outstanding mortgage.

Loan origination is the process by which a borrower applies for a new loan, and a lender processes that application. Origination generally includes all the steps from taking a loan application up to disbursal of funds. For mortgages, there is a specific mortgage origination process. Loan servicing covers everything after disbursing the funds until the loan is fully paid off. Loan origination is a specialized version of new account opening for financial services organizations. Certain people and organizations specialize in loan origination. Mortgage brokers and other mortgage originator companies serve as a prominent example.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mortgage</span> Loan secured using real estate

A mortgage loan or simply mortgage, in civil law jurisdictions known also as a hypothec loan, is a loan used either by purchasers of real property to raise funds to buy real estate, or by existing property owners to raise funds for any purpose while putting a lien on the property being mortgaged. The loan is "secured" on the borrower's property through a process known as mortgage origination. This means that a legal mechanism is put into place which allows the lender to take possession and sell the secured property to pay off the loan in the event the borrower defaults on the loan or otherwise fails to abide by its terms. The word mortgage is derived from a Law French term used in Britain in the Middle Ages meaning "death pledge" and refers to the pledge ending (dying) when either the obligation is fulfilled or the property is taken through foreclosure. A mortgage can also be described as "a borrower giving consideration in the form of a collateral for a benefit (loan)".

Mortgage underwriting is the process a lender uses to determine if the risk of offering a mortgage loan to a particular borrower under certain parameters is acceptable. Most of the risks and terms that underwriters consider fall under the three C's of underwriting: credit, capacity and collateral.

Collateral Protection Insurance, or CPI, insures property held as collateral for loans made by lending institutions. CPI, also known as force-placed insurance and lender placed insurance, may be classified as single-interest insurance if it protects the interest of the lender, a single party, or as dual-interest insurance coverage if it protects the interest of both the lender and the borrower.

Loan modification is the systematic alteration of mortgage loan agreements that help those having problems making the payments by reducing interest rates, monthly payments or principal balances. Lending institutions could make one or more of these changes to relieve financial pressure on borrowers to prevent the condition of foreclosure. Loan modifications have been practiced in the United States since the 1930s. During the Great Depression, loan modification programs took place at the state level in an effort to reduce levels of loan foreclosures.

The Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) is a federal program of the United States, set up by the Federal Housing Finance Agency in March 2009, to help underwater and near-underwater homeowners refinance their mortgages. Unlike the Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), which assists homeowners who are in danger of foreclosure, this program benefits homeowners whose mortgage payments are current, but who cannot refinance due to dropping home prices in the wake of the U.S. housing market correction.

Streamline refinancing is a mortgage refinancing process in the United States for Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgages that reuses the original loan's paperwork allowing quicker refinancing. The program was introduced by the FHA as a way to speed up the home refinancing process. By reusing the original loan's paperwork, the process to refinance a home was reduced from a few months to only a few weeks. Streamline refinancing has become more popular because reuse of the original home's appraisal may be the only way someone underwater on the property can refinance it at all.

References

  1. ↑ "First Home Buyers: What is Lenders' Mortgage Insurance (LMI) | RAMS". www.rams.com.au. Retrieved 2018-03-14.
  2. ↑ https://www.mgic.com/-/media/mi/rates/rate-cards/71-61284-rate-card-pdf-bpmi-monthly-july-2018.pdf?la=en [ bare URL PDF ]
  3. ↑ "When can I remove private mortgage insurance (PMI) from my loan?". Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Retrieved 2021-08-18.
  4. ↑ Mortgage insurance master policies and other documents are filed with state insurance regulators and are available for public inspection. Some states make these filings available online, such as the State of Washington Office of Insurance's Online Rates and Forms Filing Search. For example, see OIC tracker ID 202889 for the mortgage insurance policy of Republic Mortgage Insurance Company of Florida.
  5. 1 2 Ellison JN. (2010). Emerging Mortgage Insurance Coverage Disputes Archived 2012-07-22 at the Wayback Machine . Reed Smith LLP. MBA Legal Issues/Regulatory Compliance Conference.
  6. ↑ Herzog TN. (2009). History of Mortgage Finance With an Emphasis on Mortgage Insurance. Society of Actuaries.
  7. ↑ Jaffee D. (2006). Monoline Restrictions, with Applications to Mortgage Insurance and Title Insurance. Review of Industrial Organization.
  8. ↑ Quint M. (1995). Max H. Karl, 85, Pioneer in Mortgage Insurance. "New York Times".
  9. ↑ Federal Reserve Board. On June 3, 2013, FHA will no longer eliminate mortgage insurance when the 78% LVT has been reached. FHA requires mortgageinsurance to be paid for the life of the loan.The Homeowners Protection Act (HOPA) Revised Examination Procedures. Consumer Affairs CA 04-5.
  10. ↑ Harney K. (1998). Congress Promises To End Unnecessary Mortgage Insurance Bill. Daily Press (Virginia) .
  11. ↑ Harney K. (1998) New Mortgage Insurance Bill Could End Unnecessary Overpayment. Daily Press (Virginia) .
  12. ↑ Fried JP. (2000). 10,000 Homeowners to Get Mortgage Insurance Refunds. New York Times .
  13. ↑ NY Ins. Section 6503(d) per FAQ: MI CANCELLATION UNDER THE HOMEOWNERS PROTECTION ACT AND REFUNDABLE VS. NON-REFUNDABLE PREMIUM Archived 2013-05-18 at the Wayback Machine . United Guaranty.
  14. ↑ McMahon B. (2011). Mortgage Insurance Cancellation: The Myths and Realities. RIS Media.
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