When the Federal Reserve hiked short-term rates back in mid-December, mortgage rates were expected to increase as well and keep heading north in the new year. But thanks to deep concerns about economic growth in China – not to mention plunging oil prices – all bets are now off. This past week, the price on the benchmark Fannie Mae 3.5 percent security increased by 44 basis points, according to figures compiled by MBS Quoteline. As Inside MBS & ABS went to press ...
New issuance of non-agency MBS rose smartly in 2015, nearly matching the highest annual production volume since the financial market meltdown back in 2007. Some $61.60 billion of non-agency MBS came to market last year, a solid 13.9 percent increase from 2014, according to Inside MBS & ABS. This figure does not include Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac credit risk-transfer deals – which attract traditional non-agency MBS credit investors but are ... [Includes three data charts]
The Internal Revenue Service recently provided guidance to an MBS trustee and master servicer confirming that a settlement with investors was compliant with requirements for real estate mortgage investment conduits. While Private Letter Ruling 201601005 applies only to the unidentified parties that sought the guidance from the IRS, industry attorneys suggest that the letter could be useful when structuring settlements with MBS investors. The letter was released ...
Goldman actually entered the subprime MBS and financing game a bit late compared to some of its peers. At one point it even owned a small subprime lender.
A handful of large nonbank servicers have expanded aggressively over the past decade by hiring cheap, back-office workers overseas, but don’t tell that to the nation’s largest subservicer, Cenlar FSB. The Ewing, NJ-based firm has no plans whatsoever to outsource its workforce to foreign lands. “We’ve looked at it for a number of years,” said Cenlar Executive Vice President of Business Development Dave Miller. “But it’s not something we felt comfortable with.” Will Cenlar ever change its ...
While mortgage lenders have been using traditional forms of data, like credit reports, to make their lending decisions, the Federal Trade Commission is concerned that “big data” will make it easier for banks to unfairly discriminate against certain segments of the population. Anytime big data is used to categorize consumers in ways that can result in certain populations being put at a disadvantage for things like a mortgage, it becomes a tool for exclusion, the FTC warned ...
There is still roughly $9.64 billion in housing-related funding available under the federal government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program, just in case mortgage lenders/servicers are interested in making more Home Affordable Modification Program loan modifications. According to a new report from the Government Accountability Office, as of Oct. 31, 2015, the Treasury Department has obligated $37.51 billion to three TARP housing programs – Making Home Affordable ...
A significant amount of mortgage originations that were set to be completed before the end of 2015 were pushed into early 2016, according to industry analysts. The closing issues could be related to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s “TRID” integrated disclosure rule, with first quarter production expected to see a boost as lenders adjust to the new requirements. Late this week, JPMorgan Chase offered the first look at origination trends for major lenders ...
Despite receiving hundreds of comments against the proposed rule to ban captive insurance companies from membership in the Federal Home Loan Bank system, the Federal Housing Finance Agency forged ahead this week and issued a final rule banning them from the FHLBanks, upsetting many in the mortgage industry. The decision forces FHLBank members that had used their captive insurers to join the system prior to the FHFA’s proposed rule, many of which are ...
RSS