It’s been almost six months since the Federal Housing Finance Agency filed articles of incorporation for the entity creating the common securitization platform, but the agency continues to maintain a wall of silence on key issues related to the project, including the size of its operating budget. According to private-sector officials who have been provided certain information about the project – legally incorporated as Common Securitization Solutions LLC – the joint venture has an annual budget of between $100 million and $300 million. One former government-sponsored enterprise executive, requesting anonymity, said...
A coalition of California municipalities is preparing to issue a $104.40 million ABS backed by proceeds from Property Assessed Clean Energy assessments. The Federal Housing Finance Agency has raised concerns about PACE loans, but industry analysts suggest that the FHFA doesn’t pose much of a risk to the planned ABS, even though a significant portion of the PACE loans in the deal are on properties with mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Kroll Bond Rating Agency said 31 states have passed legislation allowing municipalities to create PACE programs. The programs allow local governments to finance renewable energy and energy efficiency projects on privately-owned properties. The Home Energy Renovation Opportunity program is a PACE program that helps finance energy-efficient upgrades and improvements such as solar, heating, ventilation and air conditioning, windows, roofing and water-saving products. HERO Funding Class A Notes, Series 2014-1, is set...
The first two months of 2014 generated just $132.85 billion of new agency MBS, down 57.6 percent from the same period last year. A harsh winter in many parts of the country hasn’t helped.
Legislation that would block implementation of premium rate increases in the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act passed the House of Representatives this week by a bipartisan 306 to 91 vote. The passage of H.R. 3370, the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act of 2013, paves the way for both the House and the Senate to iron out the differences between their bills in conference. The Senate passed its version on Jan. 30. H.R. 3370 would reduce...
JPMorgan Chase is scaling back its mortgage origination and servicing operations to control costs and focus on retail production. “We are committed to the mortgage business in the long term,” said Kevin Watters, CEO of Chase Mortgage Banking, during a presentation for investors last week. “But it’s going to be a smaller, less volatile, higher-quality business." Chase plans...
The Department of Justice is investigating PNC Financial Services Group and Bank of America in connection with their FHA-related mortgage lending practices, the two financial institutions disclosed in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. PNC said it has received subpoenas from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York seeking information relating to National City Bank’s lending practices in connection with FHA-insured loans as well as the origination of non-FHA loans and their sale and securitization. Another subpoena was issued...
Warehouse lines of credit extended by commercial banks to non-depository lenders fell a modest 11.8 percent in the fourth quarter on a sequential basis, but executives who work in the sector are reporting usage ratios as low as 20 percent. Based on exclusive survey figures compiled by Inside Mortgage Finance, warehouse providers had an estimated $30.0 billion in commitments at Dec. 31 compared to $34.0 billion at the end of the third quarter. But a commitment is...[Includes one data chart]
The Obama administration is asking Congress for authority to charge FHA lenders an “administrative fee” to help pay for improvements to the FHA quality assurance program. FHA wants to build a new quality assurance framework that will provide lenders more clarity about the agency’s expectations regarding the loan production process, said FHA Commissioner Carol Galante during a media briefing on provisions in the administration’s fiscal 2015 budget proposal that affect the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The idea is...
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