The Fannie/Freddie loans are dominated by Florida mortgages at 32 percent of the flow.

Ocwen Financial continues to sell servicing rights and pay down debt. But its stock price isn't moving very much.

The Consumer Mortgage Coalition recently told the CFPB one way to improve the bureau’s proposed regulation having to do with “successors in interest” is to eliminate the requirement to make successorship determinations when they are not necessary. The CFPB’s goal in this regard is to make loss mitigation more available to successors. However, the CMC said in a recent memo to the bureau that loss mitigation does not always require a successorship determination. “If a claimant ... cannot keep the loan reasonably free of default and the servicer will not pursue due-on-sale enforcement, there is no per se need to determine successorship,” said the trade group. “Of course, there may be a need to determine loss mitigation. Loss mitigation may ...

Despite strong earnings from the MI sector the past year, regulatory scrutiny remains, particularly in efforts by an NAIC working group to develop risk-based capital standards...

In an analysis of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loan-level loss data, Fitch Ratings concluded that while similar, there are differences between loss severities among loans with similar profiles. Fannie disclosed its loan-level loss data in late July to increase transparency to the market as it plans for an actual-loss credit offering in the fourth quarter. Fannie’s loan-level loss data was comparable to historical loss severities for its liquidated mortgages and the fixed loss-severity schedules used in its Connecticut Avenue Securities risk-transfer deals, said the Fitch report this week. All CAS risk-sharing transactions have passed...

Meanwhile, there’s a school of thought that believes if and when the Fed hikes, mortgage rates will fall because it will show investors that the central bank is acting to curb inflation.

Nearly a year has passed since the Structured Finance Industry Group released documents relating to the RMBS 3.0 project and the leader of the Treasury Department’s non-agency reform efforts left the Treasury in May. However, at the ABS East conference sponsored by Information Management Network this week in Miami, industry participants noted that progress is being made on both initiatives. Panel sessions on reforming the non-agency mortgage-backed securities markets have been a staple at industry conferences since 2008, and some observers question whether much progress has been made. “I think...

The Common Securitization Platform currently under development for use by the government-sponsored enterprises has seen some twists and turns regarding potential use for non-agency mortgage-backed securities. Various officials working on the CSP stressed this week at the ABS East conference in Miami that the focus for the platform is activity by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. “The platform is adaptable, but our focus is on the enterprises,” said David Applegate, CEO of Common Securitization Solutions, the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac joint venture that is developing the CSP. At the conference produced by Information Management Network, he noted...

Bank and thrift holdings of home-equity-related loans declined in the second quarter of 2015 compared with the previous quarter, according to a new ranking from the Inside Mortgage Finance Bank Mortgage Database. Among the top 10 banks and thrifts in HEL business, only two increased their holdings in that span, led by U.S. Bank. Banks and thrifts had $962.74 billion in holdings of home-equity lines of credit, HELOC commitments and closed-end second liens at the end of the second quarter of 2015, down 1.2 percent from the previous quarter. HEL lending is up sharply this year, but new originations haven’t been enough to outpace declines in home-equity portfolios at most banks. U.S. Bank had...[Includes one data table]

Select Portfolio Servicing is among the firms that demonstrate the highest standards in overall servicing ability, according to Fitch Ratings. The rating service released an assessment of Credit Suisse’s servicer last week, noting that SPS is a key component of Credit Suisse’s conduit operations. SPS handled an $86.04 billion portfolio as of the end of the second quarter of 2015, according to Fitch. The vast majority of the firm’s servicing involves non-agency mortgages, both vintage loans and newer mortgages included in jumbo mortgage-backed securities. Some 13.6 percent of SPS’s servicing volume at the end of June was classified as third-party servicing. The company has been servicing...