New pool level data issued by Ginnie Mae reveal a rising share of FHA-insured loans that have refinanced with grandfathered mortgage insurance premiums (MIP) in new Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities issuances, according to analysts. Of particular interest to investors is the share of borrowers with existing FHA-insured home loans who took advantage of an opportunity to refinance on advantageous terms under the FHA Streamline Refinance program, said analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Under the revised rules of the FHA Streamline Refi program, FHA-insured mortgages endorsed before June 1, 2009, were ...

The Department of Housing and Urban Development is mulling a recommendation by its Inspector General to consider indemnifications, civil fines or remedies under the False Claims Act against an approved California lender for allowing the recording of restrictive covenants that put the FHA insurance fund at risk for losses. The IG audit report also recommended that HUD require the lender, Shea Mortgage of Aliso Viejo, CA, to reimburse the FHA for $1.47 million in claims paid on 11 FHA-insured loans that contained prohibited restrictive covenants. Under HUD rules, any recorded agreement between the ...

A weakened mortgage revenue bond market and the unreliability of its primary and pool credit enhancement structure has prompted the Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Agency to turn to FHA and Ginnie Mae to finance its affordable housing program. Launched in December last year, WHEDA’s $100 million FHA Advantage program is still in its infancy, generating less than $1 million a month. Although marketing has not been aggressive as it should be, Geoff Cooper, WHEDA director of single-family operations, said the housing finance agency will soon announce ...

Legislation that would delay foreclosures on mortgages of certain military servicemembers, retirees and surviving spouses of soldiers and sailors who died on active duty would cost taxpayers more to enact and implement rather than as a revenue raiser, according to Congressional Budget Office. The CBO estimates that enacting S. 3322, the Servicemembers’ Protection Act of 2012, would increase direct spending by $16 million over the 2013-2022 period. Implementing it would hike discretionary costs by ...

A nonsupervised Arizona FHA lender whose high default and claims rate triggered a supervisory audit earlier found itself in a deeper mess for improper underwriting on a number of FHA streamline refinanced loans that resulted in losses to the FHA insurance fund. The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Inspector General found that Allen Mortgage of Centennial Park, AZ, violated HUD’s regulations , procedures, and instructions in the underwriting of FHA-insured loans. Specifically, of the 73 streamlined refinance mortgage loans reviewed by the IG, 23 were ...

VA Home Loan Program Celebrates 20-Millionth Loan Beneficiary. The Department of Veterans Affairs this week commemorated the 20-millionth recipient of a VA loan under the agency’s Home Loan Guaranty Program. Agency officials held a ceremony at the Woodbridge, VA, home of the loan’s recipient, Mrs. Elizabeth Carpenter, whose husband, Capt. Matthew Carpenter, passed away in 2010. Since 1944 as part of the original GI Bill of Rights, the VA has been providing guarantees to 30-year mortgage loans with low interest rates and has guaranteed ...

Attendees at the ABS East conference sponsored by Information Management Network this week in Miami were more optimistic about the MBS and ABS markets than they have been in some time. So optimistic, in fact, that some industry participants are already concerned about bubbles forming in the still recovering securities markets. “If this conference is any indicator, it looks like everybody feels there’s real vitality,” said Lewis Ranieri, chairman and founding partner of Ranieri Partners. “I haven’t seen a conference like this in quite a while.” Close to 3,000 people attended the event. Jay Steiner, a managing director at Deutsche Bank, noted...

Investors are still a major hurdle for industry efforts to put Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac MBS on a more level playing field, while Ginnie Mae is beginning to weigh its options to address a major shift in the profile of its MBS business. Freddie’s share of new MBS production by the two government-sponsored enterprises has dropped significantly over the past few years. The company typically accounted for 42 percent to 45 percent of GSE issuance up until 2008, when it fell to 39.8 percent. Last year, Freddie captured just 35.4 percent of the GSE market, and in the first nine months of 2012 it’s down to 34.2 percent. Steven Abrahams, a managing director at Deutsche Bank, said...

Rep. David Schweikert, R-AZ, said this week that in the coming months he will introduce bipartisan legislation to establish a regulatory framework for prime non-agency MBS. “I’ve spent the last two years trying to figure out what the box will look like,” he said. Non-agency MBS participants continue to debate whether reform of the government-sponsored enterprises is necessary before the non-agency MBS market can return in a meaningful manner. At the ABS East conference sponsored by Information Management Network this week in Miami, Schweikert said a functioning non-agency MBS market is necessary before members of Congress can be convinced to move forward with GSE reform. “I need to have...

New issuance of non-agency MBS fell to an all-time low of $1.77 billion in the third quarter of 2012 as re-securitization activity nearly fell off the cliff, a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis reveals. The previous record low for non-agency MBS was $1.79 billion, set in the fourth quarter of last year. Issuance dropped 49.0 percent from the second to the third quarter, bringing year-to-date production to just $10.28 billion – off 60.1 percent from the first nine months of 2011. When it’s over, 2012 will likely represent...[Incluldes three data charts]