The paint is still wet on the expanded Home Affordable Refinance Program, but the Obama administration says it is firmly behind efforts by Senate Democrats to expand the program for underwater Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac borrowers even further. Sens. Robert Menendez, D-NJ, and Barbara Boxer, D-CA, are preparing to file legislation that would force Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to waive representations and warranties on new HARP loans regardless of whether the refinance lender serviced the previous mortgage. The forthcoming Responsible Homeowner Refinance Act of 2012 would also prohibit the government...

“The private market will never come back if the best deal for the private investor is the government,” Lewis Ranieri, chairman and founding partner of Ranieri Partners, said this week at the Mortgage Bankers Association’s National Secondary Market Conference in New York City. Talk at the conference focused on almost anything other than activity in the non-agency market. David Stevens, president and CEO of the MBA, said dealing with repurchase issues ...

After a tough economic environment had officials at Redwood Trust considering whole loan sales in lieu of non-agency securitization, the real estate investment trust revealed last week that it profited from the two securities it issued during the first quarter of 2012. However, the REIT is still set to complete some whole-loan sales and even intends to add conforming-balance loans to its product menu ...

Ocwen Financial has been a leader in principal-reduction loan modifications and officials at the company suggest the mods give Ocwen a competitive advantage over other servicers. The advantage could come into play as bank servicers look to complete required principal-reduction mods as part of the recent $25 billion servicing settlement. “I think we’ve done as many principal-reduction mods as the rest of the industry combined ...

EverBank completed a $192 million initial public offering of its stock last week, resulting in a deal that was 41 percent smaller than originally planned. The bank has recently expanded its retail and correspondent jumbo lending with an emphasis on cross-selling products to wealthy borrowers. “The availability of jumbo mortgages has significantly contracted,” EverBank said in an IPO-related filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. “Because we originate ...

American Home Mortgage Servicing ranked as the most active servicer in consumer-outreach efforts under the Home Affordable Modification Program, according to new data reported by the Treasury Department. Performance by other non-agency servicers varied, and even American Home lagged in some categories. As of the end of March, American Home was the only HAMP servicer among the top 10 to contact or evaluate 100 percent of its borrowers potentially eligible for HAMP. The servicer had evaluated a whopping ... [Includes one data chart]

Redwood Trust is looking to invest in mortgage servicing rights and recently adjusted its accounting for non-agency mortgage-backed security issuance, the real estate investment trust said last week. “The recent decline in the market value of servicing rights – from an historic range of roughly 5 to 6 times the annual servicing fee to approximately 2 to 3 times today – has piqued our interest in an investment in servicing rights,” Redwood said ...

While issuance of non-agency mortgage-backed securities is not particularly attractive for lenders at the moment, banks have been able to turn strong profits by holding nonconforming loans in portfolio. “We’re able to make very good returns” that exceed the profit on selling to the government-sponsored enterprises, said Greg Tallmadge, a vice president at TD Bank. Speaking at the Mortgage Bankers Association’s National Secondary Market Conference this week ...

After growing significantly via the acquisition of portfolios and subservicing, special servicer Walter Investment Management is looking to increase its servicing assets in different ways. Walter is close to establishing delinquency flow programs and will soon increase its agency originations. “The company currently expects to close one delinquency flow program in the second quarter with an additional program to come in the second half of the year,” Walter said this week ...

Two Harbors Investment started acquiring residential properties to offer for rent during the first quarter of 2012, with officials at the real estate investment trust anticipating strong profits from the venture. The final step in establishing an infrastructure for the program was a February agreement with Silver Bay Property Management. “Silver Bay creates the opportunity to bring in institutional excellence to this sector, which heretofore has largely been ...