New issuance of single-family MBS and non-mortgage ABS fell sharply in the fourth quarter of 2013 as mortgage refinance activity continued to decline and ABS production ended the year quietly, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis. Monthly production of single-family MBS went into a steady, year-long decline at the beginning of 2013. In December, total single-family MBS issuance fell to just $77.1 billion, the lowest monthly production figure since July 2011. December marked the third straight month with MBS issuance below $100 billion, and it gave the fourth quarter an anemic $254.8 billion in total issuance – a two-and-a-half-year low. Although Freddie Mac scored a minor increase in December, the agency MBS market fell...[Includes two data charts]
When it comes to the new QM rule lenders are operating from a position of fear. You can bet that mortgage attorneys in the Washington DC area have racked up the billable hours, holding their clients’ hands and supplying legal advice as the clock strikes midnight.
Some GSE watchers fear that new Federal Housing Finance Agency director Mel Watt might slow GSE risk sharing deals but those concerns may be unwarranted.
Fannie, Freddie and their regulator have been dogged in their pursuit of claims against banks that sold defective mortgages to the GSEs prior the financial crisis.
Monthly production of single-family MBS went into a steady, year-long decline at the beginning of 2013. In December, total single-family MBS issuance fell to just $77.1 billion, the lowest monthly production figure since July 2011.
With a handful of pivotal mortgage lending and servicing rules from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau going live at the end of this week, industry representatives have been readying themselves to cross the threshold while not quite certain about how complete compliance is going to be or how much access to mortgage credit might be crimped. Of the four rules that kick in on Jan. 10 – those dealing with ability-to-repay/qualified mortgages, loan originator compensation, mortgage servicing, and high-cost mortgages – clearly the ATR rule continues to consume most of the oxygen in the room. One of the biggest points of uncertainty has to do...
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac ended 2013 with several multi-million dollar settlements of buyback claims related to pre-crisis loans, completing a review of such loans mandated by their regulator. The Federal Housing Finance Agency directed Fannie and Freddie to complete their reviews of pre-conservatorship loan acquisitions and buyback demands by the end of 2013. Completing the rep-and-warrant reviews, the FHFA said was vital “to restore confidence in marketplace norms and practices and accelerate the resolution of outstanding claims.” Fannie, Freddie and their regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, have been dogged...
When the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau was working on the definition for qualified mortgages, some warned the regulator that only QMs would be available after the standards took effect. However, with the QM era set to begin Friday, a number of lenders will offer non-QMs even though such originations will come with increased liability. While interest-only mortgages don’t meet QM criteria, the loans will continue to be offered by lenders large and small. The government-sponsored enterprises won’t buy them, so the originations will be left to portfolio lenders and those with non-agency sales outlets. “We will continue making...
State attorneys general and officials at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau suggest that their settlement in December with Ocwen Financial doesn’t end their quest to reform the industry. “We are not out of the woods yet, and we will not be until all mortgage servicers understand that they must step up and toe the line,” said Richard Cordray, the director of the CFPB. The top five servicers have now agreed...
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