BREAKING NEWS: Overlays And LLPA Imposed By Lenders During Coronavirus Pandemic

The coronavirus pandemic has affected the mortgage industry.

• Most mortgage companies have to implement Overlays And LLPA due to illiquidity on the secondary market
• Investors have stopped buying mortgages with under 640 credit scores
• Prime mortgage borrowers can still get great rates
• Prime borrowers are folks financing a single-family home with 740 credit scores, 30% down payment and/or 70% LTV, lower debt to income ratios, and strong credit tradelines
• Unfortunately, not all qualified borrowers are prime borrowers
• All lenders who used to approve borrowers with lower credit scores have made changes to their credit guidelines and pricing adjustments
• All non-QM lenders have suspended non-QM loans until further notice
• Industry analysts expect non-QM loans may be a thing of the past and predict most non-QM lenders will go out of business
• Jumbo Loans and specialty loan programs have been suspended by lenders and are expected to reopen when the coronavirus pandemic is under control
• The great news is Gustan Cho Associates Mortgage Group is still originating mortgages for borrowers with under 620 credit scores with limited pricing adjustments

In this breaking news article, we will discuss Overlays And LLPA Imposed By Lenders During Coronavirus Pandemic due to illiquidity in the secondary market.

What Are Lender Overlays And LLPA

All mortgage lenders need to have their borrowers meet the minimum agency mortgage guidelines on government and conventional loans.

• However, lenders can impose higher mortgage guidelines called lender overlays that surpasses the minimum agency guidelines of FHA, VA, USDA, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac
• For example, the VA does not have a minimum credit score requirement
• However, most lenders will set minimum credit score requirements of 580, 620, 640 or higher
• The higher credit score requirements are called lender overlays on credit scores
• Same with FHA loans
• HUD sets the minimum credit score requirement of 580 FICO for borrowers with a 3.5% down payment to qualify for an FHA loan
• However, most lenders have lender overlays on FHA loans where the minimum credit scores may be 620 to 640 FICO
• LLPA stands for loan level pricing adjustment
• LLPAs are pricing hits for risk factors
• For example, there are LLPA for lower credit scores, high debt to income ratios, manual underwriting, condominiums, and other negative factors that is a risk for the lender

The mortgage crisis due to the coronavirus pandemic has many lenders nervous about liquidity on the secondary market.

The $2 Trillion Coronavirus Stimulus Package Hurt Lenders

President Donald Trump recently signed the $2 trillion coronavirus stimulus bill into law.

• Included in this bill was allowing homeowners affected by the economic impact due to the coronavirus the right of forbearance for six months and up to one year
• What this means is homeowners are exempt from paying their mortgage payments without being reported to the credit bureaus
• However, mortgage servicers still have to make the principal and interest payments to investors
• They also need to make tax, and insurance payments
• Up to 25% of homeowners are expected to take part in the federally mandated mortgage forbearance program
• This can bankrupt many mortgage lenders
• Due to this bill, the demand to purchase mortgage-backed securities (MBS) on less than 640 FICO borrowers is almost non-existent
• Due to the liquidity issues in selling mortgage-backed securities on the secondary market, lenders have all increased overlays and LLPA for lower credit borrowers
• All borrowers with under 680 FICO will have higher rates and pay points until the secondary market is restructured

The Central Bank is purchasing billions of dollars worth of MBS daily. However, it is a far cry from stabilizing the mortgage markets.

Is It Possible To Get Approval For Lower Credit Score Borrowers?

Every lender has adjusted its mortgage rates during the coronavirus economic crisis. For example, most lenders who had minimum credit score requirements of 580 on government loans have increased them to 640 to 680 FICO. Besides raising credit score overlays, lenders are charging discount points for any borrowers with under 680 credit scores. Some lenders are charging up to 10 points which means they really do not want to do the loan. The good news is Gustan Cho Associates Mortgage Group is aggressively approving mortgages with under 620 credit scores with nominal points. For example, we recently locked a 530 FICO VA borrower with a 4.5% rates charging 2 discount points. The points can be covered with sellers concessions. While many lenders have halted doing manual underwriting and 203k loans, Gustan Cho Associates is still originating and funding specialty loan programs. For more information about this article or to qualify for a mortgage with bad credit and/or lower credit scores, please contact us at 800-900-8569 or text us for a faster response. Or email us at gcho@gustancho.com. The team at Gustan Cho Associates is available 7 days a week, evenings, weekends, and holidays.