Nomura Holdings is unlikely to suffer a hit in ratings because of the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s mortgage-backed securities lawsuit, but the litigation may yet prove costly to the Japanese financial holding company, according to a recent report from Fitch Ratings. Nomura went to trial on March 16 to defend itself against allegations that it misrepresented the underlying asset quality of MBS it sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac prior to the financial crisis ...
The Mortgage Bankers Association took issue this week with two proposals pending before the Basel Committee on Bank Supervision that could have negative repercussions on U.S. mortgage financing and on American homebuyers. Back in December, the Basel Committee put out a “consultative document” that included proposed revisions to its Standardized Approach for credit risk, including updated risk-weight calibrations. As applied to the U.S. ...
In 2014, Freddie Mac securitized $6.983 billion of re-performing mortgages, double what it did the year prior, and a sign that this niche market is heating up. As for Fannie Mae’s participation in “re-performers,” that’s a different matter entirely. The government-sponsored enterprise has yet to stick its toe in the water, though a spokesman for the company told Inside MBS & ABS that “it’s something we continue to evaluate.” But just how hot might the sector get ...
Ocwen Financial pushed back this week against claims from large investors that have worked to remove the nonbank as servicer on 119 non-agency MBS. “By all indications, the holders employed unsupportable assumptions and manipulated their analysis to advance their agenda,” Timothy Hayes, an executive vice president and general counsel at Ocwen, wrote in a letter to the trustees of the MBS in question. The letter was a response to claims made ...
Democrats on the House Financial Services Committee have introduced legislation that would provide private and government risk-share coverage to all mortgages, create a single MBS and decommission Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Introduced by Reps. Jim Himes, D-CT, John Delaney, D-MD, and John Carney, D-DE, the bill would require Ginnie Mae to run an MBS program that combines private capital with government re-insurance in lieu of the current federal ...
The refinance program for performing, underwater Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgages staggered to a five-year low during 2014, but government officials are thinking about keeping it on life support for another year. The Home Affordable Refinance Program is slated to expire at the end of 2015. Although the Federal Housing Finance Agency has barnstormed around the country trying to drum up business, activity in the program has fallen steadily since ... [Includes two data charts]
It’s not just structural issues that are keeping investors away from jumbo MBS; they are finding better value in other non-traditional mortgage securities products, including Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac risk-share transactions and deals backed by seasoned loans. During the fourth quarter of 2014, Javelin Mortgage Investment sold all of its holdings of prime, fixed, senior bonds from new-issue jumbo MBS. The real estate investment trust sold a total of ...
Home-equity lending gained modest momentum during the fourth quarter of 2014, although the outstanding supply of second-lien mortgage debt continued its seven-year decline. Mortgage lenders originated an estimated $21 billion of home-equity loans, including home-equity lines of credit and closed-end second mortgages, during the fourth quarter. That was up 5.0 percent from the third quarter and brought full-year production ... [Includes one data chart]
Nearly half of the troubled loans that were sold through the FHA’s single-family loan sale program have been resolved, and a significant portion of them are now re-performing, according to an agency report on the Distressed Asset Stabilization Program. Of the 48.6 percent of distressed loans that have been resolved, 43.5 percent have avoided foreclosure, the report said. The single-family loan sale (SFLS) has proven to be a borrower-friendly alternative to the ...
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