A long-awaited proposal from the Federal Housing Finance Agency that would codify minimum net worth and liquidity requirements for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac seller/servicers received mostly good reviews from the industry, but there are concerns about some of the details. For the Mortgage Bankers Association, the chief worry centers around the agency’s liquidity requirements. Released late last week, the FHFA is asking...[Includes one data chart]

Although depository institutions continued to account for the lion’s share of the mortgage servicing market, nonbank servicers continued to gain ground in late 2014, according to a new market analysis and ranking by Inside Mortgage Finance. Banks, thrifts and credit unions accounted for 71.8 percent of the $7.351 trillion of home mortgages serviced by the 50 largest players in the market as of the end of last year. Nonbank servicers accounted for 28.2 percent of the group total, up from 25.9 percent at the end of 2013. That’s...[Includes two data charts]

Pingora Asset Management is trying to raise $500 million of additional capital to buy mortgage servicing rights from eager sellers. If successful, it will bring the young company’s investment in residential receivables up to $1 billion. According to new figures compiled by Inside Mortgage Finance, Pingora owned $25.38 billion of Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac residential servicing rights at yearend, ranking 24th among all servicers. Three years ago, it didn’t even exist. Company founder and Chief Executive Michael Lau was said...

Seven of the 10 largest servicers participating in the Home Affordable Modification Program were unable to process the number of HAMP modification applications they received in November, according to the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program. SIGTARP first raised concerns about servicers’ slow processing of HAMP mods in September. In a report released last week, the SIGTARP took the Treasury Department to task for not doing enough to address the issue. “Treasury must ensure...

FHFA chief Mel Watt noted: “In Treasury’s view, it’s a legislative decision” to change the terms of the bailout agreement.

Ruth Lee, executive vice president of TCS, expects a big year in the scratch-and-dent market, thanks to the GSEs.

Prospect Mortgage is the top contributor with a 9.1 percent share, followed by Ditech Mortgage (8.6 percent) and Skyline Financial (7.1 percent). All three are nonbanks.

Roughly $164.77 billion of securities backed by commercial mortgages were issued last year, down just 0.6 percent from 2013, which was a banner year.

The repo is contingent upon PennyMac – a publicly traded REIT – maintaining minimum tangible net worth of $860 million and minimum unrestricted cash of $40 million.

Any monkeying with the GSE charters must get past two of the most powerful lobbying groups in all of housing finance...