Wells Fargo isn’t trying to be the largest player in the mortgage market. Instead, the bank plans to focus on wealthy borrowers and customers that already have a relationship with the bank.
Impairments, which reflect delinquencies and modifications, increased on securitized non-QMs for a second consecutive month. In July, the performance of severely distressed borrowers also worsened.
Among the top 15 servicers of nonprime mortgages, portfolios increased slightly in the second quarter. Delinquencies, meanwhile, improved. (Includes data chart.)
Among the top 30 jumbo servicers, portfolios increased during the second quarter. Servicing declined at top-ranked Wells and increased at nearly all others in the top 10. (Includes data chart.)
The total delinquency rate stood at 3.44% as of the end of June, among the lowest levels seen since the launch of Inside Mortgage Finance’s Large Servicer Delinquency Index in 2003. (Includes data chart.)
Publicly traded nonbank mortgage lenders posted sharply lower profits in the second quarter as strong competition cut into margins. Two firms managed to increase mortgage-related income: homebuilders. (Includes data chart.)
The federal government should move forbearance to the front of the loss-mitigation waterfall, researchers at the Urban Institute proposed. A similar policy during the pandemic did more good than harm, they found.
The market for MSRs is now divided between portfolios with loans originated prior to 2022 and portfolios with loans that have prevailing interest rates, prompting some shifts in practices among servicers and investors.
Commenters said the challenges that servicers face in responding to COVID-related loss-mitigation programs argue against a rush by VA to implement its servicer tier rankings.