The enforcement action taken last week by federal regulators against 14 servicers was the first in a series of servicing reforms and punishments. Regulators are looking into taking action against non-bank servicers, state attorneys general continue to threaten action and federal monetary penalties against servicers remain...

Bank of America and mortgage insurer Assured Guaranty last week reached the biggest settlement to date regarding the bond insurance industry and non-agency mortgage-backed securities. The settlement sets a high bar for future non-agency buyback claims, according to industry analysts. BofA estimates...

Non-agency participants – particularly mortgage-backed security investors – submitted “widely positive” comments regarding Fitch Ratings’ proposed model for rating jumbo MBS. While the Mortgage Bankers Association was critical of Fitch’s proposal to link MBS rating to home prices, Brian Bertsch, a Fitch spokesman, said...

The proposed ability-to-repay rule released this week by the Federal Reserve included special provisions regarding balloon mortgages. Small lenders operating predominantly in rural or underserved areas would be allowed to originate mortgages that would receive “qualified mortgage” protections. “This option is meant to...

Mortgage investors are beginning to pay more for seasoned non-agency mortgages and demand remains high, according to industry analysts. The sector was also helped by the Federal Reserve’s sale this month of up to $1.33 billion in non-agency mortgage-backed securities acquired from American International Group. “The opening salvo from...

Non-agency participants have expressed optimism that legislation to create a framework for covered bonds in the U.S. will be approved by Congress this year. Supporters note that the framework will bring more private capital into the mortgage market. At a panel discussion hosted this week by...

Strategic defaulters display a different type of credit behavior than distressed borrowers who miss payments, according to new research from FICO. “Strategic defaulters tend to be more savvy managers of their credit than the general population, with higher FICO scores, lower revolving balances, fewer instances of...

Some imprecise language in last year’s financial reform legislation has thrust the Federal Reserve into a quandary on how best to define “qualified mortgage” under the new law, according to some top industry lawyers and market analysts...

Last week’s ground-breaking settlements between U.S. bank regulators and many of the top mortgage servicers in the country may bring some certainty to the industry about the ultimate resolution of the foreclosure crisis still gripping parts of the nation, but it’s also likely to lead to higher costs and more labor-intensive compliance efforts, according to a consensus of industry analysts...

Two of the mortgage lending industry’s top service provides, Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems and Lender Processing Services, will not be continuing business as usual, now that federal banking regulators have announced consent orders with the two firms that call for a substantial amount of remediation of significant institutional weaknesses...