Federal regulators have yet to finalize their qualified residential mortgage rulemaking, but housing finance experts are already trying to figure out how lending is going to be affected by the interplay of the QRM rule and the qualified mortgage standard as per the CFPB’s ability-to-repay rule. As the new lending environment unfolds, the liability risks associated with non-QM and QRM loans is one of the things that is particularly troublesome to some. “The worse-case scenario that I worry about is that we see a repeat of what we saw in...
HMDA Rulemaking on Consumer Advisory Board Agenda. The CFPB has scheduled a Consumer Advisory Board meeting for Feb. 26-27, at the Constitution Center (Auditorium), 400 7th Street SW, Washington, DC. The first day of the event is closed to the public. A close look at the agenda indicates an hour has been set aside for some discussion on a possible Home Mortgage Disclosure Act rulemaking. Speakers scheduled during that session include Mortgage Data Assets Team Lead Ren Essene and Senior Counsel Joan Kayagil. A session later in the day will be...
Issuers of non-agency MBS and agency mortgage sellers have addressed most of the legacy representation and warranty issues that have bedeviled the market for the past few years, according to industry analysts. However, repurchase and buyback issues haven’t been completely resolved as investors and regulators make last grasps at recoveries. Analysts at Compass Point Analytics & Trading estimated that the total losses incurred for rep-and-warrant claims from Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, the FHA and non-agency MBS investors by publicly traded U.S. originators still in existence will total $89.0 billion. The analysts said lenders have charged off or reserved $88.0 billion for such losses. Compass Point said...
Losses incurred for rep-and-warrant claims tied to MBS could total $89 billion eventually. However, banks have already reserved $88 billion, according to some tallies.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac saw dramatic declines in the number of underwater mortgage refinances they acquired in the fourth quarter of 2013, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis. Mortgage lenders delivered an estimated 103,878 Home Affordable Refinance Program loans to the two government-sponsored enterprises in the fourth quarter, down 49.0 percent from the previous period. Our estimate, based on loan-level MBS data, supplement Federal Housing Finance Agency figures that have been updated only through November. The final three months of last year produced...[Includes one data chart]
The lawsuit seeks to recover unspecified damages and penalties from the defendants for using fraudulent mortgage assignments and FHA endorsements to submit tens of thousands of false FHA claims from 2000 through 2010.
Ocwen Financial announced late last week that its planned purchase of mortgage servicing rights on a $39.2 billion portfolio of mortgages from Wells Fargo is on “indefinite hold” due to a request and scrutiny by the New York Department of Financial Services. Industry participants suggest that delays in servicing transfers due to third parties are common and the deal with Ocwen, which largely consists of mortgages in non-agency MBS, will be completed. “Ocwen will continue to work closely with the NYDFS to resolve its concerns about Ocwen’s servicing portfolio growth,” the servicer said. The NYDFS raised concerns that Ocwen doesn’t have enough capacity to handle the significant portfolio growth experienced by the servicer in recent years. Certain nonbank servicers are getting...
Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen stuck close to the script of her predecessor on the subject of the Fed’s “quantitative easing” exit strategy during her first Humphrey-Hawkins appearance before Congress this week, reaffirming that the central bank’s pull-back from its asset-purchase program is likely to continue, barring a dramatic surprise. “Let me emphasize that I expect a great deal of continuity in the Fed Open Market Committee’s approach to monetary policy,” Yellen told the House Financial Services Committee on Tuesday. “I served on the committee as we formulated our current policy strategy and I strongly support that strategy, which is designed to fulfill the Federal Reserve’s statutory mandate of maximum employment and price stability.” The new Fed chief reminded...
Freddie Mac last week announced a $1 billion offering of its Structured Agency Credit Risk debt notes, the government-sponsored enterprise’s first risk-sharing transaction of 2014 and its third such deal since the company rolled out the STACR series last year. The deal is backed by a pool of $32.4 billion 30-year fixed-rate mortgages acquired by Freddie in the second quarter of 2013. More than 65 investors participated in Freddie’s latest STACR deal, and more than 20 of those investors were newcomers, according to Kevin Palmer, vice president of single-family strategic credit costing and structuring for Freddie. “We’ve introduced...
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