After years of claiming that regulatory uncertainty was holding back mortgage originations, lenders appeared to be on their way toward certainty as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau established a definition for qualified mortgages at the beginning of this year. However, industry participants suggest that few originations of non-QMs are likely in the next few years due to uncertainty regarding litigation. “We don’t know how the courts are going to interpret the rule,” Jon Wishnia, a partner at the law firm of Lowenstein Sandler, said last week at the ABS East conference sponsored by Information Management Network in Miami. “That will really drive where the market goes.” CFPB officials have said...
Since the summer, the regulator has been pondering reducing the current $417,000 maximum loan limit and the “high cost” limit of $625,500. At the earliest, a change could come by January.
“The exodus of a majority of the pre-crisis nonbank entities within the mortgage arena provides an opportunity for banks to re-establish their position within the mortgage market,” according to regulators in Connecticut.
On the servicing side of the balance sheet, Citigroup reported $180.3 billion in third-party servicing rights, a 2 percent decline from the same period last year.
Rumors abound about mortgage firms either closing or laying off staff. Meanwhile, Auction.com, known for selling troubled real estate for banks and other investors, is offering up a $600 million pool of performing multifamily mortgages.
Industry advisors familiar with MIC told Inside Mortgage Finance that the nonbank VA refi specialist was almost sold to a bank this past summer, but the deal fell through.
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