A smart political move? Ocwen's board now includes former officials from the U.S. Treasury and FHA.

Late last week, Moody’s Investors Service published an analysis detailing risks from mortgage warehouse securitizations. The warning was published days after a $225.0 million deal from Jefferies Funding was issued with a Aaa rating from Moody’s. Analysts at Moody’s stressed that securitized mortgage warehouse facilities face risks that differ from traditional residential MBS. The analysts said Station Place Securitization Trust 2016-1 from Jefferies addressed the risks, prompting the Aaa rating. Station Place was backed...

The TRID error problem is not going away, at least not yet...

The FHA insured more loans that were packaged in agency mortgage-backed securities last year than any of its rivals in the primary mortgage-insurance business, but private mortgage companies came out on top in the purchase-mortgage sector. FHA loans accounted for 38.8 percent of insured mortgages securitized by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae last year, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of MBS loan-level data ... [Includes one data chart]

Competition for originations by brokers is set to intensify as PennyMac Financial Services is preparing to enter the wholesale channel. Company officials said the nonbank is aiming to have a “leadership role” in terms of volume among wholesale lenders. “The wholesale channel currently comprises approximately 10 percent of the total mortgage market, and we believe there is a significant opportunity in this channel for a company like PennyMac Financial, with the strong ...

Analysts at the Federal Reserve found a substantially large reduction in homeownership due to student-loan debt in recent years. The analysts said their research is more detailed than previous studies on the issue because the Fed analysts had access to extensive data on student-loan borrowers. “We find that a 10 percent increase in student-loan debt causes a 1 percentage point to 2 percentage point drop in the homeownership rate for student-loan borrowers ...

The bill containing the language on VA loan limits was agreed to by a voice vote on Feb. 9 and was sent to the Senate.

The CEO noted that Freddie Mac has made great inroads in doing more business with small to medium-sized lenders, but also said that when it comes to the GSE’s credit box, “it is not being fully used” by the industry.

Shrinkage? Thanks to the CSP, changes in reps and warrants, cyber security and more, Freddie Mac continues to hire new workers...

The REIT's new broker-dealer unit is now fully staffed and is in the regulatory application process...