Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac continued to sell off their holdings of non-agency commercial MBS as the preferred strategy for meeting their regulator's demand that the two government-sponsored enterprises accelerate the reduction in their retained mortgage portfolios. The two GSEs reduced their CMBS holdings by 51.4 percent over the course of 2013, according to an Inside MBS & ABS analysis of year-end financial statements. The Federal Housing Finance Agency ordered the two GSEs to sell at least 5 percent of their "less-liquid" mortgage assets, meaning whole loans and non-agency securities. CMBS are...[Includes one data chart]

Kara Stein, a commissioner at the Securities and Exchange Commission, said the SEC needs to take action regarding the rating services. It was one of many recent MBS-related calls for action directed at the SEC, from the agency's leadership, Congress and industry analysts. "We need to finally and firmly address the conflicts of interest in asset-backed securitizations and the provision of credit ratings," Stein said in a speech late last week. She noted...

The Securities and Exchange Commission was set to vote on a final rule earlier this month that would set new disclosure requirements for non-agency MBS, but the agency is still considering how the final rule should be applied as industry participants clamor for further changes. The SEC this week re-opened the comment period regarding the pending requirements for disclosures on MBS and ABS, the so-called Reg. AB2 rule. The rule was first proposed in 2010 and re-proposed in 2011. The comment period on the second proposal closed...

The House of Representatives this week is expected to vote on the amended version of H.R. 3370, the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act, which would provide comprehensive reform and longer-term relief from skyrocketing premiums in the National Flood Insurance Program. But there is a possibility that the vote could take place next week as Republicans and Democrats continued to negotiate on proposed changes and further protection for homeowners who face hefty rate increases caused by the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012, sources said. Congress passed the act to address the NFIP's solvency problems. Authored by Reps. Michael Grimm, R-NY, and Bill Cassidy, R-LA, H.R. 3370 builds...

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac reported significant profits during the fourth quarter of 2013, capping a year in which rising guaranty fees had little impact on the market share of the two government-sponsored enterprises. Fannie reported net income for 2013 of $84.0 billion, compared to $17.2 billion in 2012, but over half of last year's earnings (roughly $45 billion) came from recaptured deferred tax assets. The company reported fourth-quarter earnings of $6.5 billion, its eighth consecutive quarterly profit. After it makes its next dividend payment to the Treasury Department in March, Fannie will have paid...

Many mortgage lenders were not 100 percent battle-ready when the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's ability-to-repay rule and its qualified mortgage lending standard kicked in on Jan. 10, 2014, according to a new industry survey and anecdotal reports. A recent survey conducted by the National Association of Realtors between Jan. 6 and Jan. 20 found that 16.7 percent of respondents indicated that they had already adapted to the ATR rule, while 44.4 percent said they would be ready within three months. "Nearly a third of respondents indicated...

Increased regulation of mortgage brokers has prompted some to switch their business models to become so-called mini-correspondents. Industry lawyers suggest that being a mini-correspondent can offer benefits to those previously working as brokers, but the switch also comes with significant changes to business practices. "If you're a broker, think about what this is going to mean: higher net-worth requirements, warehouse lending, new compliance systems, new software systems to develop and generate the disclosures, and more importantly, significantly higher liability," Jonathan Jaffe, a partner at K&L Gates, said this week during a webinar hosted by the law firm. 'So there's a trade-off there if you're a broker thinking about converting," he said. Some brokers see...

Mortgage-delinquency rates continued to improve as 2013 came to a close, ending the year at the lowest level in over five years. The overall delinquency rate was 7.73 percent as of the end of December, according to the Inside Mortgage Finance Large Servicer Delinquency Index, the lowest reading since the third quarter of 2008, when it was 7.42 percent and rocketing higher....

Investment banking firms have made a killing the past three years doing “spin-offs” for Ocwen and its peers. If Lawsky continues on what’s perceived by banking executives as a witch hunt, the spin-offs could end…

Mortgage industry investors and analysts are getting nervous about all the regulatory scrutiny being placed on servicing transfers and the rise of fast-growing nonbanks that have quickly amassed a large market share position. One analyst who tracks the market closely told Inside Mortgage Finance that some of these nonbank servicers are starting to "lawyer up" because of New York state's recent decision to block, at least temporarily, the sale of $39 billion in non-agency mortgage servicing rights by Wells Fargo to Ocwen Financial. Initially, servicing executives and their advisors believed...