Las Vegas Lender Refutes FHA Terminations

International Home Capital Corp.’s president wrote MortgageDaily.com a letter in response to previous coverage of the fifteen lenders that had their participation in the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) mortgage insurance program terminated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

In his letter, Dave Enenbach noted that HUD terminated certain previously affiliated International branches because relationships with those branches had been terminated by International.

The Las Vegas branches — doing business as Express Equities, Guaranty Mortgage, and Milestone Financial — “were only a few of the approved ‘branches’ we have across the country,” Enenbach said in his letter. “The balance of (International’s) many offices remain open and or as approved HUD branches.”

MortgageDaily.com’s original article included a list specifying the company names and the locations of the terminated branches — derived from the physical addresses HUD provided in a Federal Register notice dated Jan. 12. In the section highlighting the “cause” for FHA approval termination, HUD cited that it could terminate the approval with any mortgagee having a default and claim rate, for loans endorsed within the past two years, that exceeded both the national rate and 200% of the local HUD Field office rate. In this particular period, termination was based on a rate exceeding 225% of the field office rate, said HUD.

Asked whether termination could be based on Enenbach’s claim, HUD spokesman Lemar Wooley said that the lender branches, noted by name and address of the branch in the Federal Register posting, were “terminated for the reasons listed under ‘Cause.'”

HUD posted one physical address with a Las Vegas location for International in the notice.