If federal policymakers do away with the CFPB’s mortgage rules without proper replacements, the credit quality of residential mortgage-backed securities could be compromised, analysts at Moody’s Investors Service said in a recent report. The analysts were providing a review of President Trump’s recent executive order related to the Dodd-Frank Act. “Any significant repeal of the Dodd-Frank Act’s mortgage-related provisions without effective alternatives would weaken residential RMBS credit quality because these provisions have strengthened the credit quality of mortgage originations, improved servicing practices and bolstered the credit integrity of RMBS structures,” the analysts said. The report is significant because it flies in the face of the traditional industry narrative that the bureau’s mortgage rules have been nothing but an onerous burden ...

The Department of Housing and Urban Development is apparently poised to begin an investigation of allegations of redlining on the part of CIT Group, Pasadena, CA, through its CIT Bank subsidiary, the successor to OneWest Bank, after agreeing to accept a complaint against the lender filed by the California Reinvestment Coalition. The CRC alleges the bank violated and continues to violate the Fair Housing Act by providing residential real estate-related transactions in a manner that discriminates on the basis of race, color and national origin. Specifically, the complaint alleges that since at least 2011, CIT Bank discriminated in marketing and originating housing-related products, as evidenced by the low number of mortgages it made to African-American, Asian-American and Latino borrowers in ...

For the full year, GSE seller repurchases totaled just $1.101 billion, a record annual low…

Piper analyst Kevin Barker and his team estimate that so far in 1Q17, the average refi volume is down 26 percent from fourth quarter levels.

Bradd Gold of Au Consulting LLC noted that in the year prior to their federal takeover, Fannie and Freddie sold $10 billion of GSE junior preferred.

Could this be an omen of the decision to come? Earlier this month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit granted the CFPB’s request for an en banc rehearing in its controversial legal dispute, PHH Corp. v. CFPB. “Upon consideration of respondent’s [CFPB] petition for rehearing en banc, the briefs amici curiae in support of the petition, the response of the United States to the petition, the response of the petitioners [PHH Corp.] to the petition, the supplemental response of petitioners, and the vote in favor of the petition by a majority of judges eligible to participate, it is ordered the petition be granted,” 10 of the court’s 11 justices wrote in their ruling. One of ...

Redwood CEO Marty Hughes said pricing for jumbo MBS is currently strong, with execution on issuance better than execution for whole loan sales.

Average credit scores in the FHA program drifted slightly lower, while climbing 1.9 points for VA loans.

Moody’s said many of the contributors to the MBS are small, regional entities that lack the sophistication of larger, more established originators.

“Since reaching a trough in mid-2013, the rebound in household debt has been led by student debt and auto debt, with only sluggish growth in mortgage debt,” said one New York Fed official.