Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are expected to launch a study of mortgage servicing in 2017 and research ways to reach underserved borrower groups, but the new “scorecard” for the government-sponsored enterprises doesn’t portend big changes in their credit-risk transfer programs or the emerging common securitization platform. The most significant new initiative in the 2017 scorecard released by the Federal Housing Finance Agency this week is a new project to assess the mortgage servicing business model. The language is somewhat vague and broad-reaching: “initiate a multiyear assessment of both the challenges facing the mortgage servicing market and potential solutions for identified issues.” The new game plan specifically mentions...
In the past few years, efforts facilitated by the Treasury Department and the Structured Finance Industry Group have helped develop standards for a deal agent in non-agency MBS. The concept took a major step forward last week when SFIG published a draft deal-agent agreement. However, the agreement didn’t delve into the specifics about how a deal agent would be compensated and industry participants have a wide range of opinions on the issue. A lawyer involved with the creation of the deal agent standards said...
Real estate investment trusts that invest in agency MBS could be in for some turbulence on their book values in the coming quarters if rates continue to rise – as they have since the November election. As Inside MBS & ABS went to press, most analysts had come to the same conclusion: that publicly traded mortgage REITs have underperformed most financial stocks, including nonbank lender-servicers such as Ocwen Financial, PHH Corp. and Walter Investment Management Corp. Then again, investing in so-called mREITs has never been...
Housing counselors participating in the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s various programs must be certified to offer counseling services to consumers, according to a final rule issued this week by the agency. In order to become certified, housing counselors must pass a standardized written examination and work for a HUD-approved housing counseling agency (HCA). Applicants must demonstrate proficiency in six areas of housing counseling: financial management, property maintenance, responsibilities of homeownership and tenancy, fair housing laws and requirements, housing affordability, and avoidance of mortgage delinquency, eviction and default. Despite its recent release, the final rule will take full effect three years following the announcement of the certification exam. HUD will offer intensive training and study resources in English and Spanish to ...
The growing popularity of private-label servicing and the way it’s offered to lenders are raising regulatory questions, underscoring the need for guidance and supervision, according to legal experts. With the most comprehensive offerings of private-label servicing, the borrower never knows the subservicer exists, and that’s the point of the arrangement, according to Craig Nazzaro, of counsel at the Atlanta-based law firm Baker Donelson. Nazzaro attributes...
Home-equity lending cooled off in the third quarter of 2016 as consumers took advantage of low interest rates to refinance rather than draw down more second-mortgage debt. Lenders originated an estimated $50.7 billion of home-equity loans during the third quarter, including home-equity lines of credit and closed-end second mortgages. Although that was down 5.2 percent from the second quarter, it still marked the second highest three-month volume since the housing market collapse in 2008. And depository institutions, the dominant lenders in the HEL market, reported...[Includes three data tables]
Roughly $20 billion in mortgage servicing rights are now available for bulk purchase in the secondary market compared to just a few billion a month ago. The reason: higher interest rates. According to servicing advisers interviewed by Inside Mortgage Finance this week, the 75 basis point jump in rates since the election has suddenly transformed a glum-looking market into one that has great potential. “There’s...
RSS