Ginnie Mae has expressed concern about a new FHA policy accepting electronic signatures on most mortgage documents and will seek input and feedback from issuers. In a memo to participants this week, the agency said electronic documents "present unique challenges to implementation." In a Jan. 30 mortgagee letter, the FHA announced that it would begin accepting electronic signatures on most loan docs, including loan disclosures and loan servicing/loss mitigation documents. The FHA said it will accept electronic signatures only on "authorized" docs but delayed their use on notes until Dec. 31, 2014. This delay reflects considerations that are necessary in connection with electronic notes (eNote) and electronic mortgages (eMortgages), said Ginnie Mae. An electronic signature is a signature that is applied or affixed to a document by electronic means. Scanned images of paper docs that bear a physical or "wet" signature are not ...

The Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York is investigating Bank of America's compliance with the requirements of the FHA's Lender Direct Endorsement program. BofA disclosed the investigation in its recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission but withheld details. Department of Justice investigations of FHA-related fraud are based typically upon an alleged violation of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA) and/or the False Claims Act (FCA). Civil monetary penalties under FIRREA could go as high as $1.1 million per violation while treble damages are potentially available for FCA claims. Both laws have a 10-year statute of limitation. As a direct endorsement lender, BofA is authorized to originate, underwrite and certify loans for mortgage insurance without further reviews by the FHA or the Department of Housing and Urban Development. If the loan defaults, the holder of the loan may ...

Issuance of mortgage-backed securities with a Ginnie Mae guaranty fell in the fourth quarter, with most issuers showing significant decreases from the previous quarter. Ginnie Mae issuances saw a hefty 28.0 percent decline quarter over quarter, with the top five issuers -- Wells Fargo, Chase Home Finance, PennyMac, Freedom Mortgage and Quicken Loans -- recording substantial decreases during the period. There is speculation that slower FHA refinancing activity, FHA policy changes and the premium hike that took effect in June last year might have caused the decline in Ginnie Mae issuance. Ginnie Mae data showed monthly issuance peaking in June at $41.0 billion, progressively dropping over the next few months and finally settling at $22.3 billion at the end of December. Ginnie Mae MBS issuances totaled $393.2 billion in 2013, down 2.4 percent compared to 2012 business. The FHA share of issuances was ... [including one chart]

Slowing refinance activity and higher mortgage insurance premiums took a toll on FHA loan production in the fourth quarter of 2013, according to Inside FHA Lending's analysis of FHA data. Overall FHA endorsements fell 24.3 percent from the third quarter as the year ended with $210.0 billion. This was down 9.6 percent from total FHA loans originated in 2012. The year-s top five FHA lenders -- Wells Fargo, Quicken Loans, JPMorgan Chase, Freedom Mortgage and Bank of America -- combined for21.9 percent, or $46.0 billion, of total originations, down ... [includes one chart]

Titan Capital Solutions announced this week that it has 65 correspondent jumbo lending clients. The firm is a subsidiary of Titan Lenders and started accepting applications from jumbo correspondents in the first quarter of 2013. TCS said it offers mortgages with balances of up to $1.0 million and allows credit scores as low as 690 and loan-to-value ratios as high as 80 percent. Morgan Stanley has reached an agreement in principle with the Securities and Exchange Commission ... [Includes seven briefs]

An increase in the purchase-mortgage share in new jumbo mortgage-backed securities will benefit investors in the deals, according to Moody's Investors Service. However, the loans are more difficult for lenders to originate than refinance mortgages, and it remains to be seen if investor demand will be high enough to prompt issuance of jumbo MBS. The share of refis in jumbo MBS declined as interest rates rose in 2013. Moody's said the trend is expected to continue this year and noted that ...

The wait for new disclosure requirements for non-agency mortgage-backed securities was extended this week as the Securities and Exchange Commission re-opened the comment period for the so-called Reg. AB2. The requirements for disclosures on new non-agency MBS and other asset-backed securities were first proposed in 2010. The SEC was set to approve a final Reg. AB2 rule earlier this month but is now reconsidering due to privacy issues. The delay comes as ...

HomeStreet Bank, a bit player in the jumbo mortgage-backed security market, wants a bigger role and has recently sought assessments from rating services and is working to expand its jumbo originations. Moody's Investors Service announced last week that HomeStreet received an "average" rating as an originator of jumbos. The Northwest bank also has jumbo MBS servicer ratings from Fitch Ratings and Moody's. Terri Silver, a vice president of investor relations and corporate communications ...

Officials at Nationstar Mortgage, Ocwen Financial and Walter Investment Management all stressed this week that their servicing efforts align with what regulators want as well as with the interests of investors in non-agency mortgage-backed securities. The servicers also suggest that while new scrutiny on their practices could extend the amount of time it takes to complete servicing transfers, there is still plenty of business to be done. William Erbey, Ocwen's chairman, said he agreed with ...

Nonbank servicers are receiving increased attention from state regulators, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and members of Congress. Ocwen Financial is at the center of the storm as its planned acquisition of mortgage servicing rights from Wells Fargo on loans with an unpaid principal balance of $39.2 billion is on "indefinite hold" due to a request from New York's Department of Financial Services. Ben Lawsky, superintendent of the NYDFS, has focused on ...