The U.S. Supreme Court this week denied a petition by major banks to reject a lower court decision to allow a National Credit Union Administration MBS lawsuit to go forward. The SCOTUS chose not to hear the case, a lawsuit filed by the NCUA to recover damages suffered by five now-defunct federal credit unions as a result of investments in non-agency MBS sold by the banks. The suit is...

The Federal Housing Finance Agency will unveil nonbank capital guidelines for servicers by mid-year. Also on the docket: Changes to loan level price adjustments..

Although Ocwen Financial is in regulatory hot water with California – a dicey proposition given the state’s importance to the mortgage industry – the nation’s fourth-largest servicer will continue with a strategy of non-agency MBS clean-up calls and Ginnie Mae buyouts. At least, that’s what company Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer John Britti told Inside MBS & ABS late this week. Britti confirmed continuance of the strategy, but declined to offer any new details or color. The big question, of course, is...

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac had a stellar year for their risk-sharing transactions in 2014, selling off portions of the credit risk associated with $369.7 billion of MBS, greater than four times the $84.7 billion amount seen in the prior year, according to Fitch Ratings. Meanwhile, “performance of the transactions remains exceptionally clean,” analysts at Fitch said in a new report this week. The performance seen in 2013 was based...

Analysts are expecting Ginnie Mae prepayments to increase moderately in the wake of last week’s announcement that FHA is reducing its annual mortgage insurance premium by 50 basis points. Specifically, the annual MIP would be lowered 50 bps for 30-year fixed-rate FHA mortgages, although the new charges continue to vary depending on loan-to-value ratio and loan amount. Streamlined refinances of FHA loans endorsed before June 2009 are not covered by the new pricing, nor are 15-year FHA mortgages. The timing of the announcement reflects...

“The bureau welcomes and encourages suggestions of cases as candidates for amicus curiae participation,” said the letter, signed by Meredith Fuchs, general counsel of the CFPB.

At press time, the yield on the 10-year Treasury was at 1.80 percent, the lowest level since May 2013.

A recent report from Barclays found that Ocwen is the servicer on $500 million worth of eligible deals where the collateral value is above 107.

Securitization of nonperforming and re-performing mortgages accounted for just over half of total non-agency MBS production in 2014.

Now that the hurrahs and uproar over FHA’s reduced annual premiums have died down, analysts are having mixed views regarding its short- and long-term effects on private mortgage insurers. Some analysts predict FHA’s 50 basis-point reduction of the annual mortgage insurance premium charged on 30-year forward loans should have a modest impact on private MI business. The cut should benefit the lower FICO brackets – borrowers with credit scores of 679 and lower – a segment in which private MIs write little business, they suggest. “We believe...