A common theme among housing finance reform proposals is to infuse more private capital into the system while not disrupting the market. Beyond that, the plans take significantly different approaches about what to do with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Jim Parrott, senior fellow at the Urban Institute and the co-author of one of those proposals, released a paper this week comparing his plan with the revised proposal from the Mortgage Bankers Association and a blueprint described by the Milken Institute. The MBA proposed...
Tricon Capital Group’s recent announcement that it plans to buy single-family rental operator Silver Bay Realty Trust for $1.4 billion in cash is a potential sign that this thriving sector could be in for a round of consolidation. Once the deal is completed, the combined SFR company will have 16,800 homes in its stable of rentals – 9,000 coming from Silver Bay and 7,800 coming from Tricon American Homes, the U.S. residential division of the Toronto-based TCG. Among SFR operators, TAH/SBRT will rank...
Online consumer lender Prosper Marketplace, based in San Francisco, recently finalized a deal with a consortium of institutional investors to purchase as much as $5 billion of the lending platform’s unsecured consumer loans during the next two years. The consortium comprises investment bank Jefferies Group LLC and three asset managers: affiliates of New Residential Investment Corp., Third Point LLC, and an unnamed entity of which Soros Fund Management LLC serves as principal investment manager. Under the terms of the deal, the consortium will earn...
Early on, after the lender was sued, Quicken even threatened to leave the FHA program but never did and instead has dominated the FHA “direct” lending market…
According to an Inside Mortgage Finance analysis, Fannie and Freddie have passed along some $9.6 billion of MBS fees under the provisions of the 2011 Temporary Payroll Tax Cut Continuation Act.
Earlier this year, the CFPB brought a $3.5 million enforcement action against Prospect Mortgage, accusing the firm of illegal kickbacks for referrals from two real estate brokers…
A proposal by the Maryland Commissioner of Financial Regulation regarding servicing transfers prompted strong opposition from servicers, who cautioned that it would disrupt mortgage markets. In January, the Maryland CFR proposed a number of amendments to its mortgage regulations. The proposal revised an initial plan from the state regulator back in January 2015. The new proposal included...
Secretary Ben Carson may not yet have a clear agenda and a set of priorities for the Department of Housing and Urban Development over the next four years, but the House Financial Services Committee appears to have identified changes that Republican lawmakers want to see at the agency. A HUD spokesman said Carson will embark next week on a nationwide “listening” tour of certain communities and HUD field offices to learn more about the agency he leads, FHA programs and the mortgage insurance fund he oversees. On March 2, Vice President Mike Pence swore...
After years of confusion among servicers and borrowers, the Internal Revenue Service is getting closer to issuing guidance about how servicers should report interest to the IRS on mortgages that receive significant loan modifications. The Mortgage Bankers Association and the American Bankers Association recently submitted a joint comment letter to the agency, which announced plans to issue guidance on the matter back in December 2015. The trade groups said...