CFPB analyst Megan Thibos reminds consumers that, “During the foreclosure crisis, many borrowers with subprime mortgages faced sharply increased mortgage payments and were unable to make those payments.”
As Democrats in Congress worked on reforms after the financial crisis, issuers of MBS and ABS repeatedly warned that regulatory uncertainty would hurt the market. With Republicans now looking to roll back parts of the Dodd-Frank Act, industry participants are pushing for risk-retention requirements to remain in place, again citing the potential impact of regulatory uncertainty. “It’s foolish to think that we would try to tear it all down,” said Howard Kaplan, a partner at the law firm of Deloitte & Touche, during this week’s SFIG Vegas conference. Among many other changes, the CHOICE Act from Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-TX, would repeal...
The SFIG Vegas conference this week set another attendance record for the annual event, demonstrating strong interest in the structured finance market. While investors are comfortable with most asset classes of MBS and ABS, significant concerns remain about non-agency MBS. More than 6,700 people registered for the conference, according to Jade Friedensohn, director of programming at Information Management Network, which produced the conference along with the Structured Finance Industry Group. Potential investors in non-agency MBS continued...
Earlier this week, Flagstar closed on its purchase of the correspondent lending platform of Stearns Lending – a rare transaction where a depository was buying a key mortgage asset from a nonbank.
But the numbers need to be put into perspective: Agency MBS production in the first two months of 2017 was up 36.3 percent from the same period last year…
The House Financial Services Committee, as part of the congressional budget process, this week voted on its budget views and estimates for fiscal year 2018, with an eye on changing the Dodd-Frank Act, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The committee’s report is intended as guidance for the House Budget Committee as it crafts its FY2018 budget legislation but is not binding. In reference to Dodd-Frank, the HFSC Republicans’ budget document stated...
Although sales of existing and newly constructed homes were both up in January 2017, a slump in the number of contracts signed for existing homes may be a harbinger of a rough spring market. A low supply of homes on the market, especially in the Midwest and West, caused a lull in pending home sales at the beginning of the year, according to a National Association of Realtor index based on contract signings. The Pending Home Sales Index showed that the number of homes with a contract in January was the lowest it’s been since January 2016. Existing home sale gains (up 3.3 percent in January) showed...
More defects and fraudulent information were found in mortgage applications in December and January, according to the First American Loan Application Defect Index. Analysts blame the increase on the dwindling share of less risky refinance transactions. January numbers show that the frequency of defects, fraudulence and misrepresentation in the information submitted in mortgage loan applications increased 5.8 percent in January compared with December. “This month, the Loan Application Defect Index continued...
President Trump last week signed an executive order requiring every agency to establish a regulatory reform task force to eliminate red tape. Under the EO, each task force will evaluate existing regulations and identify candidates for repeal or modification. Also, it will focus on eliminating costly and unnecessary regulations. Further, in order to hold the task forces accountable, the agencies will measure and report progress in achieving the president’s directives, according to the White House. It’s...
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