Bank of America has made a break from most of the other big banks in terms of sending conforming mortgages to the government-sponsored enterprises. Officials at the bank said BofA is retaining more of its GSE-eligible loans, though the strategy can result in short-term decreases to mortgage-banking income. “We believe retaining these mortgages will provide better economics over time, plus retention deepens our relationship with these customers,” Paul Donofrio, BofA’s chief financial officer ...
Lenders offering non-qualified mortgages that rely solely on a borrower’s assets need to carefully prove the borrower’s ability to repay, according to guidance from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. In a notice issued this week, the regulator cautioned that a large downpayment alone isn’t sufficient to prove a borrower’s ability to repay a non-QM that is based on the consumer’s assets. The spring edition of the CFPB’s supervisory highlights publication provides insights from ...
Last week, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and many state regulators took coordinated actions against Ocwen Financial, alleging a number of servicing problems. Ocwen, the largest subprime servicer, disputes the allegations. The CFPB lawsuit, along with lawsuits and cease-and-desist orders from at least 24 state regulators, could be catastrophic for Ocwen. Most of the cease-and-desist orders prevent the company from originating mortgages until it proves it can appropriately ...
Holdings of non-agency mortgage-backed securities by most banks and thrifts are declining, according to a ranking and analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets. Banks and thrifts held $63.00 billion of non-agency MBS as of the end of 2016, down 23.9 percent from the end of 2015. The holdings are concentrated among five banks, which accounted for 64.9 percent of all non-agency MBS held by the industry as of the end of 2016. JPMorgan Chase held ... [Includes one data chart]
Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-TX, introduced a revised version of the Financial CHOICE Act this week. The bill would impact many regulatory reforms included in the Dodd-Frank Act, which was signed into law in 2010. Perhaps most significant for the non-agency market, the CHOICE Act would apply qualified-mortgage protections to home loans held in portfolio. Banks offering mortgages with interest-only features, balloon payments or high debt-to-income ratios that don’t currently ...
Ventana Home Mortgage recently launched mortgage conduit operations based in part on rights that were acquired from WinWater Home Mortgage. The lender said it is focusing on acquiring non-qualified mortgages from correspondent lenders, with plans for issuing non-agency mortgage-backed securities.Ventana is a subsidiary of Window Rock Capital Partners. Neat Capital recently launched its mortgage lending platform, with a focus on ... [Includes six briefs]
Mortgage default rates for FHA and VA loans followed seasonal trends and shifted significantly lower in the first quarter of 2017, according to a new analysis and servicer ranking by Inside FHA/VA Lending. While both portfolios showed strong growth in the dollar volume of loans outstanding in Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities, there were also huge declines in the number of loans past due. Some $1.036 trillion of FHA forward mortgages were in Ginnie pools at the end of March, up 1.1 percent from the previous quarter. But delinquency rates for the less-severe categories of late payment were down sharply. The number of FHA loans 30-60 days past due, for example, declined by 28.4 percent, lowering the delinquency rate by 1.51 percentage points, leaving it just about where it was a year ago. The same thing happened in the VA sector. Total VA supply grew 3.2 percent to ... [Charts]
The VA Home Loan Guaranty Service is revisiting agency rules on allowable fees and charges veterans pay to obtain a VA loan for possible changes. VA is seeking comments on a proposed rule that would ease current restrictions to put borrowers in a better position to bargain during negotiations for a home purchase. While the current rule continues to protect veterans from incurring unreasonable closing costs as originally intended, some veterans and their representatives have complained that the restrictions weaken their ability to negotiate with sellers and lenders. Compared with a conventional purchase-loan transaction, sellers and lenders find it more difficult to deal with a borrower with a VA loan because they end up bearing many of the customary fees and charges, the VA explained. “The restrictions on fees and charges puts borrowers at a bargaining disadvantage against ...
The Department of Veterans Affairs has issued guidance regarding documentation of allowable fees and charges under the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Truth in Lending Act-Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act Integrated Disclosure Closing Disclosure, or TRID-CD form. Under the guidance, VA lenders must document all allowable fees and charges assessed against the borrower as well as any lender and seller credits on the TRID-CD. VA now requires documentation because it no longer accepts a separate, itemized list of credits and charges, as previously allowed with the HUD-1 form. In completing the closing-cost section of the TRID-CD, fees charged to the veteran must be listed in the “Borrower Paid” column. Lender credits should be listed in the “Paid by Others” column, the agency said. Closing costs that are paid for by either the seller or the lender must be placed in either the ...
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