Altavera chief Brian Simons said staffing requests suggest the industry is preparing for an increase in non-QM business.

The average daily trading volume in agency MBS fell to $189.4 billion in March, the lowest reading of the year, and a sign that liquidity may still be an issue, depending on which seat you’re in. According to figures compiled by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, the trading numbers for 2016, so far, haven’t exactly lit the world on fire. In January and February, the readings were $195.1 billion and $201.4 billion, respectively. Last year, the best reading was...

Ginnie Mae is shutting down its long-running Targeted Lending Initiative (TLI) because it has not made much of an impact on lending to underserved urban and rural areas in recent years. Launched in 1997, the TLI was designed to encourage lenders to finance housing in underserved areas through a reduced guaranty fee. In 2005, the program played a major role in offering relief and financial assistance to homeowners in areas hardest hit by Hurricane Katrina. Under the TLI, Ginnie Mae’s guaranty fee is reduced...

Pingora Asset Management, one of the largest investors in “flow” mortgage servicing rights arrangements, is about to become the property of the nation’s largest real estate investment trust focused on the MBS market, Annaly Capital Management, New York. The purchase of Pingora’s parent, Hatteras Financial, Winston-Salem, NC – a deal valued at $1.5 billion – was unveiled last week, but one important facet regarding Hatteras garnered little in the way of press attention: that it just happens to own Pingora, which at last check laid claim to roughly $76 billion in MSR assets. However, not all of the servicing rights will become...

The chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs signaled this week that Congress is unlikely to take up comprehensive legislation to reform the government-sponsored enterprises before the presidential election this fall. Committee Chairman Richard Shelby, R-AL, asked the Government Accountability Office to publish a report on a variety of issues involving the GSEs and their potential future structure by Nov. 1. Shelby’s deadline could be ambitious for such a complex issue: a report published last week by the GAO on issues with nonbank mortgage servicers was requested back in October 2014. The timeline suggests...

Two years after the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s ability-to-repay (ATR) rule went into effect, residential mortgage servicers have yet to see borrower claims being brought, according to a new report from Fitch Ratings. However, Fitch says the landscape could change as certain non-qualified mortgage loans become more common. But for now, the lack of borrower claims is not surprising, the report said. Most loans, including those eligible for purchase by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, meet...

Then again, I’ve talked to recruiters who believe that good LOs are worth every nickel as long as they bring in the business.

Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase are using somewhat different strategies for conforming mortgages eligible for sale to the government-sponsored enterprises. Both banks are originating significant amounts of conforming mortgages and retaining some of the loans in portfolio instead of delivering them to the GSEs. BofA said its mortgage-banking income has declined due to holding mortgages in portfolio while Chase sold some of the credit risk on its conforming mortgage ...

The company that claims to be the largest originator of mortgages via marketplace lending continues to work on offering nonconforming mortgage products, including non-qualified mortgages. LendingHome announced last week that it has originated more than $550 million in mortgages since 2014 via marketplace lending. Marketplace lenders connect borrowers with institutional investors and individual investors. LendingHome said its mortgage originations ...

More than a year after state regulators proposed prudential standards for nonbank servicers, there’s no specific timeframe for releasing final standards. Officials at the Conference of State Bank Supervisors note that they are hoping for a coordinated approach with federal entities to regulate nonbank servicers. In March 2015, the American Association of Residential Mortgage Regulators and CSBS proposed standards for nonbank servicers. The proposal included baseline ...