A handful of industry groups told the CFPB last week that the agency’s recent report on consumer testing of periodic statements for homeowners who have filed a bankruptcy petition is of limited usefulness without a full-fledged regulation to review at the same time. The testing itself was inadequate as well. “While we appreciate the opportunity to comment on the testing, we note that the statements have only limited meaning without their accompanying regulation,” said the Consumer Mortgage Coalition, the Credit Union National Association, and the National Association of Federal Credit Unions, in conjunction with the Mortgage Servicers Working Group. They said that, in several areas, they were unable to understand what the statements reflect because they did not have an ...

More Gripes About TRID Dribble In. After what seemed like a lull in hearing complaints from lenders regarding the integrated disclosure rule known as TRID, the gripes are picking up again. At least that’s what we detected from some originators a few days ago. One loan broker who works the southern California market said she’s been telling some clients that it will take an extra seven days to close. “It was 15 before wholesale caught up, but now they’re behind again due to heavy sales volume.” Broker Slams Bureau’s Complaint Database. While he was running for a House seat in West Virginia, mortgage trade group president Marc Savitt was mostly quiet on issues tied to the CFPB. But now that ...

One of those high-ranking officials is Jim Parrott, former White House housing finance executive...

Some potential investors in new non-agency MBS insist that a deal agent or transaction manager is necessary to revive the non-agency MBS market. Some issuers are willing to include a deal agent in their securities, though the exact functions and pricing issues still need to be worked out. “Many potential buyers of residential MBS have a strong desire for improved transaction governance mechanisms such as the use of independent deal agents,” Moody’s Investors Service said in a report published late last week. The rating service recently held a meeting with investors, issuers and others involved in the non-agency MBS market. Moody’s said...

Issuers of non-agency MBS willing to issue publicly-registered securities can look forward to thorough reviews by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Redwood Trust filed an updated shelf registration with the SEC this month and the SEC released some of the feedback that went into crafting the issuer’s new Form SF-3. Issuance of publicly-registered non-agency MBS has been minimal since the financial crisis, with issuers seeing pricing in the private 144A market as adequate. Public transactions are subject to more extensive disclosure standards than private deals. An initial letter from the SEC dated Oct. 29, 2014, noted...

The Texas portion of the receivables has been measured at 60.5 percent with Colorado a distant second at 13.6 percent.

How would you like to be the servicer of a mortgage made to Barack Obama?

Although mortgage delinquency rates are once again at pre-crash levels, servicing costs continue to rise, leading some factions of the industry to ask whether Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should increase the standard 25 basis point fee they pay to their servicers. The issue of higher servicing compensation was raised by an individual lender during the audience Q&A at a panel featuring the top single-family executives of the two government-sponsored enterprises at last week’s secondary market conference sponsored by the Mortgage Bankers Association. Both noted that servicing has changed significantly since the housing crisis, and that the Federal Housing Finance Agency has directed them to review servicing compensation. Subsequent interviews conducted by Inside Mortgage Finance revealed...

Fresh off of agreeing to buy California-based First Priority Financial, Caliber Home Loans is eyeing the purchase of other mortgage firms as well in an attempt to crack the top 10, according to industry advisors who have been tracking the firm. “Caliber is talking to a lot of people,” said Rick Roque, managing director of MiMutual Mortgage, Port Huron, MI. Roque declined to elaborate. One investment banker said...

The House this week approved legislation making it easier for loan officers working for depository institutions to go to work for nonbanks. Separately, the Senate last week approved a $39.2 billion fiscal 2017 funding bill for the Department of Housing and Urban Development. By a unanimous voice vote, House lawmakers approved H.R. 2121, the SAFE Transitional Licensing Act. The legislation provides for a 120-day temporary license for registered loan originators who change jobs and makes for an easier transition when moving from a financial institution to a state-licensed nonbank or to another state. Introduced last April by Rep. Steve Stivers, R-OH, the bill would require...