The six lawsuits filed in June by institutional investors against non-agency MBS trustees are just the beginning of actions against trustees, according to an attorney who has pursued representation-and-warranty claims against non-agency MBS issuers. “We are likely to see a flood of litigation against trustees alleging that the banks sat on their hands and blew the statute of limitations on valuable putback claims,” according to Isaac Gradman, an attorney at Perry Johnson Anderson Miller & Moskowitz. The June lawsuits by BlackRock, PIMCO and other institutional investors targeted...

The Home Affordable Refinance Program has nearly reached the practical limit of eligible homeowners willing and/or able to refi – whether or not the regulator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac further tweaks the program’s eligibility requirements, say industry observers. This week, Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mel Watt met with community leaders in Chicago in a town hall-style meeting to discuss the benefits of HARP. Last fall, the agency launched a nationwide public awareness campaign to reach eligible borrowers and encourage them to participate in HARP, with little apparent success. “We are...

The Federal Reserve has released action plans for Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley to correct deficiencies in the firms’ risk management procedures for third-party mortgage servicers. The plans were a requirement under enforcement actions issued by the Fed and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency between April 2011 and April 2012 against 16 mortgage servicers, including Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. The servicers came under scrutiny for deficient servicing practices and foreclosure procedures, and later settled with the government. Morgan Stanley’s regulatory action plan supplements...

Real estate investment trusts that have been gobbling up MBS the past few years – and paying hefty dividends in the process – may have some more room to run, especially if interest rates remain relatively benign. “Given the tailwinds of lower prepayment speeds and Fed purchases, we believe that payout levels should remain stable in the near term,” said one veteran analyst who works for a top five bank. This analyst, who tracks several large REITs that invest in agency securities, added...

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association has called upon federal financial institutions and consumer protection regulators to form an interagency working group to establish joint, uniform diversity standards for the financial services industry. The standards would implement a requirement of the Dodd-Frank Act for consistent, uniform rules to assess the diversity policies and practices of financial institutions. The rules would also spell out criteria and procedures for determining whether a contractor or subcontractor has made a “good-faith effort” to include minorities and women in its workforce. Several of the agencies jointly proposed...

Fitch Ratings has consolidated a number of key rating drivers into updated master rating criteria for residential MBS backed by newly originated and seasoned residential mortgages. The latest report replaces the July 2013 RMBS criteria, and while no material changes have been made to the overarching process, a few tweaks have been made. The important rating drivers that were incorporated include...

So, you doubt our 2Q origination estimate? Here’s what an executive from a top-five warehouse bank told us: “We’re experiencing a significant pick up in outstandings."

A GSE reform bill filed late this week by a trio of House Democrats is less a last ditch effort to push their measure across the finish line this year than a bid to have the first word in next year’s debate over housing finance reform, note industry observers. The Partnership to Strengthen Homeownership Act, H.R. 5055, by Reps. John Delaney (MD), John Carney (DE), and Jim Himes (CT), follows through on their January draft proposal to seek a “middle ground” between the existing, politically untenable legislative proposals.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency late this week finally unveiled new eligibility standards for the mortgage insurance industry, introducing for the first time risk-based capital rules that are tied to a measurement called “available assets.” Immediately after the rule hit the market, several MI firms said they support the idea that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac must have strong financial counterparties, while hinting they will have more to say on the topic in the near future.

Last week, new GSE repurchase requirements announced this spring took effect as a potential alternative to repurchase for certain mortgage loans for which the mortgage insurance has been rescinded. Among the requirements are an “MI stand-in,” which Fannie Mae defines as “the full mortgage insurance benefit that would have been payable under the original mortgage insurance policy if the mortgage loan liquidates.” In May, both Fannie and Freddie Mac announced that repurchase requests will no longer be an automatic response in the event that MI is rescinded.