Standard & Poor’s is evaluating comments on a proposal to incorporate new criteria for rating residential MBS backed by mortgage servicer-advance receivables. Issuance of servicer-advance MBS has been scarce in 2014 due to the heightened regulatory scrutiny on nonbank servicers and potential ratings volatility, leading to fewer purchases of mortgage servicing rights. So far, only one deal – a $400 million unrated servicer-advance securitization in early April – has been seen this year. But with additional clarity being provided in S&P’s proposed ratings criteria and the revised methodology getting finalized over the near term, “issuers may start feeling...
Although Freddie Mac’s official watchdog found the GSE’s review process of servicer reimbursement claims to be “generally effective,” some tens of millions of dollars could be saved by scrutinizing servicer payments for costs incurred on loan defaults. According to an audit issued last week by the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s Inspector General, Freddie reimbursed 460 of its servicers $1.4 billion in 2013 but identified and denied $126 million in what the IG calls “erroneous” claims. The IG noted that Freddie’s top 10 servicers, relative to total reimbursements, accounted for 87 percent of all reimbursements made by Freddie in 2013.
Commercial banks and thrifts continued to reduce the amount of mortgage servicing they do on behalf of other investors during the second quarter of 2014, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of bank call-report data. With declining interest rates during the period and the prospect of faster prepayments, most banks also wrote down the fair market value they placed on their mortgage servicing rights, the data show. Banks and thrifts serviced a total of ... [Includes one data chart]
Prices paid for nonperforming residential loans have continued to rise this year, which is great news for sellers of distressed product, but not so good for buyers. In fact, there are signs that certain buyers are dropping out of the market because returns are getting too low for their tastes. One Midwest-based buyer of NPLs told Inside Mortgage Trends that he recently closed a fund that was banking his acquisitions because investment returns are now in the 9 percent range ...
Freddie Mac could save millions of dollars a year in faulty reimbursement payouts to its servicers by investing additional resources in a wider selection of reviews, according to an audit issued last week by the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s Office of Inspector General. In 2013, Freddie reimbursed 460 of its servicers $1.4 billion but identified and denied $126 million in what the IG calls “erroneous” claims. The IG noted that Freddie’s top 10 servicers, relative to total reimbursements, accounted for 87 percent of all reimbursements made by Freddie in 2013. Servicers of Freddie and Fannie Mae loans often maintain...
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau provided fresh guidance on mortgage servicing transfers last month, but lenders say there are still plenty of unresolved issues. In August, the CFPB put out an updated compliance bulletin on mortgage servicing transfers that augments existing guidance from last year to reflect the agency’s complex mortgage servicing regulation, as well as its supervisory and enforcement activities during the last year and a half. Bob Davis, head of mortgage markets, financial management and public policy at the American Bankers Association, said...
The sale of Shelter is one of the largest mortgage M&A deals of the past few months and could mark the beginning of an active second half of industry consolidation.
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