Annaly Capital Management is buying more non-agency whole loans, including non-qualified mortgages. The large real estate investment trust is using infrastructure it acquired from Hatteras Financial last year to complete the whole-loan expansion. Annaly’s residential credit group invests in non-agency mortgage assets, including whole loans and mortgage-backed securities. The group had $2.50 billion in assets as of the end of 2016, with whole loans accounting for ...

A proposal in Congress to define all mortgages held in portfolio as qualified mortgages has some bipartisan support, but lenders are divided on the matter. “I caution the use of portfolios to add loans that are not standard,” said David Motley, president of Colonial Companies and chairman-elect of the Mortgage Bankers Association. “The rules of the qualified mortgage, I believe, should be the same for everybody.” He made the remarks this week at a hearing by the ...

An affiliate of Shelter Growth Capital Partners issued a $119.87 million mortgage-backed security backed by newly originated nonprime mortgages this week. It’s the second nonprime MBS from SG Capital Partners, following a $113.71 million deal in October. The new issuance is fairly similar to the previous MBS from the firm, including relatively large loan balances and many adjustable-rate mortgages. SG Residential Mortgage Trust 2017-1 included mortgages with an ...

Originations of adjustable-rate mortgages increased in 2016 but didn’t keep pace with the overall growth in mortgage originations during the year, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets. An estimated $212.0 billion in ARMs were originated last year, up 6.5 percent from 2015. ARMs accounted for 10.3 percent of total originations in 2016, down from an 11.5 percent share the previous year. ARM originations also declined ... [Includes one data chart]

A U.S. bankruptcy fudge slapped Bank of America with $45.0 million in punitive damages last week for its handling of a mortgage foreclosure. “Franz Kafka lives,” Judge Christopher Klein wrote in his opinion, citing the author known for writing about complex or illogical situations. “This case reveals that he works at Bank of America.” The lawsuit, Sundquist v. BofA, centers on a jumbo mortgage originated in 2008 by a broker and acquired by Countrywide Home Loans ...

Ocwen Financial announced that it signed an agreement with the New York State Department of Financial Services this week to terminate the state regulator’s third-party operations monitor at Ocwen on April 14. Ocwen said the agreement provides a path for the nonbank to receive approval from the NYDFS to resume acquiring mortgage servicing rights. The Structured Finance Industry Group is preparing the next phase of its effort to revive the non-agency ... [Includes two briefs]

FHA-insured jumbo lending fell slightly in the fourth quarter of 2016 although year-over-year results were a lot better. Production of conforming-jumbo purchase and refinance loans insured by the FHA slipped 0.9 percent in the fourth quarter, a slight bump on the way to an annual jumbo origination total of $26.9billion. Year-over-year, FHA jumbo production was up 5.6 percent from 2015. Conforming-jumbo loans represented 9.8 percent of FHA loans securitized last year, according to data compiled by affiliated newsletter Inside Mortgage Finance. Purchase mortgages comprised 64.9 percent of jumbo loans insured by FHA in 2016 and 98.7 percent were fixed-rate loans. Nonbanks comprised the top five FHA jumbo lenders. Wells Fargo, which closed the year with $423.8 million in FHA jumbo originations, was in sixth place. Quicken Loans led the field with $802.5 million of ... [ Charts ]

The Department of Veterans Affairs and mortgage industry stakeholders are working to resolve the churning problem in the VA Home Loan Guaranty program. It appears the agency is unhappy that Ginnie Mae’s recent pooling policy change was only partially effective in discouraging early solicitation of VA purchase loans for refinancing. Apparently, the practice is continuing and is adversely affecting mortgage-backed securities investors who are not getting full return on their investments. The Mortgage Bankers Association said a handful of lenders and mortgage brokers are still engaging in serial refinancing of VA purchase loans within six months of closing, causing faster prepayments in Ginnie MBS pools. Ginnie announced a policy change, which took effect on Feb. 1, 2017, clarifying that streamline refinance loans may be delivered into Ginnie MBS pools only if, at the ...

More than 11 percent of FHA servicing outstanding was delinquent in 2016, mostly in the 30-60 day categories, with banks dominating the FHA servicing market. An estimated 7.77 million FHA loans are currently being serviced, of which 6.93 percent were 30 to 60 days behind on their monthly payments at the end of last year, according to an Inside FHA/VA Lending analysis of FHA servicing data. Seriously delinquent loans (90-days plus overdue) accounted for 4.90 percent of all FHA loans outstanding. FHA delinquencies spiked in the fourth quarter of 2016, primarily in the 30-day category, which increased 55 basis points over the period. On the other hand, overall FHA delinquencies remained flat year-over-year. Banks comprised four of the top five FHA servicers. They are, in sequential order, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, Cenlar FSB, and US Bank. PennyMac, in fifth place, is the ... [Charts ]

The Mortgage Bankers Association is urging Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson to rescind current guidance and prohibit future FHA financing of properties encumbered by a Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) tax lien. The guidance, which the Department of Housing and Urban Development implemented in July last year, should be eliminated unless the PACE lien is clearly subordinated to the FHA loan and national, standardized consumer protections are in place, the MBA said. The MBA said it has significant concerns with the risk posed by PACE financing to traditional lien priority and the FHA, as well as the lack of consumer protections. “Unfortunately, [current PACE guidance] does not reduce these concerns – it amplifies them,” the letter warned. PACE loans were developed to help finance energy-efficient retrofits, such as solar panels, energy-saving appliances and ...