The FHA should make further adjustments to its latest loan-level certification proposal to fully achieve its aim of limiting lenders’ False Claims Act liability, according to an Urban Institute analysis. As drafted, the agency’s proposed measures to limit liability to errors that lenders can and should avoid appear to fall short of their objective, wrote UI Senior Fellow Jim Parrott. He urged the FHA to make the small changes needed to align the severity of penalties (indemnifications, huge settlements) with the gravity of the mistakes. Many FHA lenders have restricted their lending and imposed overlays partly because of uncertainty in how the agency enforces its underwriting rules. Lenders agree with the need for tougher enforcement against mortgage fraud and misrepresentations that have cost the FHA insurance fund millions of dollars in losses. However, even a minor mistake or a ...

The financial services industry is calling on the FHA to either make drastic changes to proposed timelines for filing insurance claims or kill the entire proposal. Banks, nonbanks, credit unions and industry trade groups pushed back against the controversial proposal, warning it would do more harm than good to the FHA single-family program, lenders and consumers. Concerned with worsening late-claim filing, the FHA proposed to establish a timeframe for filing insurance claims and to penalize lenders with complete termination of insurance if they fail to meet the deadlines. In addition, the agency proposed to prohibit reimbursement of certain expenses if a mortgagee fails to complete certain actions within prescribed periods. Finally, the FHA proposed to establish a new method by which interest-rate curtailments and expense curtailments are pro-rated. Mortgage lenders have ...

Ginnie Mae securitized fewer rural home loans guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the second quarter of 2015 compared to the previous quarter, according to analysis of agency data. A total of $8.4 billion of USDA loans were securitized during the first six months of 2015, down 2.1 percent from the same period last year. Securitization volume also dropped by as much quarter over quarter. Chase led all USDA securitizers with $2.6 billion in loans securitized during the first half of the year for a commanding 30.4 share of the market. Wells Fargo funneled $1.1 billion in USDA loans into Ginnie MBS, resulting in a 13.1 market share, while PennyMac delivered $609.7 million for securitization. U.S. Bank closed the first half with $260.3 million in securitized USDA mortgages despite a 31.4 percent drop in the second quarter. Pacific Union Financial rounded out the top five USDA loan securitizers with ... [ chart ]

FHA jumbo securitization continued to rise over the first six months of 2015 on the back of soaring FHA jumbo production in the second quarter. FHA jumbo originations in the second quarter more than doubled to $6.8 billion, according to the Inside Mortgage Finance database. FHA data showed that the jumbo share of originations was highest in conventional-to-FHA refinance (14.9 percent) and streamlined FHA refis (13.3 percent,) but just 9.0 percent for purchase loans. Delivery of FHA jumbos, including modified loans, into Ginnie Mae jumbo mortgage-backed securities rose 131.9 percent in the second quarter from the prior quarter and was up 115.8 percent compared to the first six months of 2014. Wells Fargo led the market in the first half with $1.4 billion in jumbos contributed to MBS, up 123 percent quarter over quarter. That was good enough for a 12.7 percent market share. PennyMac Corp. accounted for ... [ chart ]

Radian started offering two new mortgage insurance products this week, both of which include jumbo loans. The “super jumbo” product allows for loan-to-value ratios as high as 95 percent with a loan limit up to $850,000. The program requires a credit score of at least 720 and allows debt-to-income ratios as high as 43 percent. Radian’s Medical Professional Program is aimed...

Ginnie Mae securitized $14.2 billion of VA jumbo loans in the first half of 2015, more than double the volume seen during the same period a year ago. VA securitization data for the first six months reflect an upward trend in VA loan originations, which lenders attribute to better outreach to veterans and servicemembers and aggressive marketing strategies. VA jumbo securitization in the first half of the year was up 120.7 percent from the same prior-year period. Volume also was up 13.9 percent in the second quarter from the previous quarter. All top-five VA jumbo securitizers reported large gains year over year, but four showed volume decreases quarter over quarter. Third-ranked PennyMac recorded a 3.4 percent gain in the second quarter from the prior quarter. The top five, in sequential order – Wells Fargo, Freedom Mortgage Corp., PennyMac Corp., U.S. Bank and Quicken Loans – accounted for ... [ chart ]

Select Portfolio Servicing is among the firms that demonstrate the highest standards in overall servicing ability, according to Fitch Ratings. The rating service released an assessment of Credit Suisse’s servicer last week, noting that SPS is a key component of Credit Suisse’s conduit operations. SPS handled an $86.04 billion portfolio as of the end of the second quarter of 2015, according to Fitch. The vast majority of the firm’s servicing involves non-agency mortgages, both vintage loans and newer mortgages included in jumbo mortgage-backed securities. Some 13.6 percent of SPS’s servicing volume at the end of June was classified as third-party servicing. The company has been servicing...

Bank and thrift holdings of home-equity-related loans declined in the second quarter of 2015 compared with the previous quarter, according to a new ranking from the Inside Mortgage Finance Bank Mortgage Database. Among the top 10 banks and thrifts in HEL business, only two increased their holdings in that span, led by U.S. Bank. Banks and thrifts had $962.74 billion in holdings of home-equity lines of credit, HELOC commitments and closed-end second liens at the end of the second quarter of 2015, down 1.2 percent from the previous quarter. HEL lending is up sharply this year, but new originations haven’t been enough to outpace declines in home-equity portfolios at most banks. U.S. Bank had...[Includes one data table]

Originations of interest-only mortgages increased at a number of lenders in the first half of 2015, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets. The federal qualified mortgage standard does not allow interest-only terms, and IO production declined after the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau QM rule went into effect. Lately, however, many lenders seem to be getting more comfortable with the product. A group of 15 lenders had...[Includes one data table]

With a lack of consensus from industry participants, let alone members of Congress, regarding how to reform the government-sponsored enterprises, the risk-sharing transactions implemented by the GSEs in recent years are seen as one possible model for increasing private capital investment in the mortgage market. Stanford Kurland, chairman and CEO of PennyMac Financial Services, suggested that the predominant risk-sharing transactions used by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have significant limitations. In an opinion piece published last week in the American Banker, Kurland said front-end risk-sharing “should be a bridge to long-term reform.” The main risk-sharing efforts completed by the GSEs are...