Institutional investors are beginning to have major doubts about certain mortgage stocks, reducing their positions in companies such as PHH Corp. and Ocwen Financial as they struggle to present convincing evidence that better days are ahead – especially with 2016 just months away. Ocwen, in particular, has been savaged by investors over the past 18 months, its share price falling from an all-time high of $60 to $5.66. This past summer, Ocwen’s share price stabilized somewhat before getting clobbered early this week after disclosing that it expects to post a loss for all of 2015. For many investors it has...
The Senate this week approved by unanimous consent a narrow bill to reverse hefty pay hikes for the chief executive officers of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. A similar bill cleared the House Financial Services Committee this summer with heavy bipartisan support, and the White House has signaled it has no objections to the measure. But the Senate steered clear of more controversial proposals regarding the two government-sponsored enterprises, including language sought by Sen. Bob Corker, R-TN, barring the Department of Treasury from selling its senior preferred stock in the GSEs without approval from Capitol Hill. According to reports, Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-OH, put...
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are expected to explore more front-end risk-sharing transactions while continuing to issue their popular debt offerings that pay investors based on the performance of reference pools of newly originated mortgages. Redwood Trust has done front-end risk-share deals with both Fannie and Freddie. The most recent was a transaction with Freddie in the third quarter, which covered a $1 billion pool and Redwood absorbing the first 1 percent of credit losses on the delivered loans. “Redwood expects...
The real estate finance industry is not opposed to more simplified mortgage disclosures for consumers. But the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s integrated disclosure rule as it’s now written will cost the industry billions of dollars every year, one industry official warned. The rule, intended to harmonize and integrate the disclosures required under the Truth in Lending Act and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, is slated to become effective on Oct. 3, 2015, a scant two weeks away. “If left and implemented as is, TRID will require...
The Department of Justice has announced a new, far-reaching policy regarding individual accountability for corporate misconduct – a change that could significantly affect the way mortgage lenders and securitization participants cooperate with the agency in criminal and civil investigations. A product of a DOJ working group, the new policy is the culmination of the DOJ’s gradual shift towards demanding greater individual accountability and addresses criticism, since the 2008 financial crisis, about the lack of individual accountability in corporate settlements with the DOJ and the Securities and Exchange Commission, particularly mortgage-related civil lawsuits. Under the new policy, corporations must provide...
A stable private mortgage insurance industry is expected to emerge as the residential real estate market continues its recovery but uncertainty related to new risk-based regulatory capital standards from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners could derail or hinder progress, according to a new analysis by Fitch Ratings. So far, the MI industry has returned to profitability with more stability in the market and the continued presence of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the residential market. Stronger regulatory standards bode well for the industry’s stability as well, Fitch noted. The long-term viability of the MI industry does not appear...
Lender compensation of loan originators has become a whole new world now that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has taken over enforcement for many lenders. During an Inside Mortgage Finance webinar this week, three top legal experts spelled out multiple lessons lenders should learn if they wish to avoid the fate that has befallen some of their peers at the hands of the CFPB. Kristie Kully, a partner with the K&L Gates law firm, drew a number of key take-aways from the first such enforcement action brought by the bureau, which occurred in November 2013, when the CFPB accused Castle & Cook and two of its executives of paying illegal bonuses for steering consumers into costlier mortgages. More specifically, the bureau alleged...
Paul Hindman of Grid Origination Services noted that any public company CEO who does not deliver on performance mandates “is at risk, more so than ever in today’s market.”
"For the CFPB to act on its own in such a bullish manner without concern for the confusion this will cause, along with additional costs for consumers, is unconscionable,” said NAIHP chief Marc Savitt.
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