After a couple of slow weeks, there appears to be renewed interest among investors looking to buy mortgage servicing rights, but in certain markets caution is being expressed regarding properties where hurricane damage might be an issue. In mid-September, Fannie Mae issued a bulletin temporarily suspending servicing transfers involving properties located within designated disaster areas. A week after the Sept. 13 bulletin was issued, Fannie clarified to market participants that the bulletin was meant as guidance and not a firm directive or prohibition on MSR transfers. According to Incenter Mortgage Advisors, Denver, some sellers of Fannie receivables “elected...
The mortgage servicing market maintained its steady growth pattern during the second quarter of 2017, inching up 0.7 percent to $10.430 trillion, according to new Federal Reserve data. That was the biggest number for mortgage debt outstanding since the first quarter of 2011, when the market stood at $10.439 trillion. Most of the growth has been in Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae servicing but portfolio holdings of whole loans are also on the upswing. There was...[Includes two data tables]
The Department of Housing and Urban Development has asked its internal watchdog to make some “minor adjustments” to its recommendations following recent audit findings of inadequate HUD monitoring of servicers’ loss mitigation activities. Commenting on the HUD Inspector General’s report, HUD asked for some minor tweaks so that it can best implement the IG’s recommended changes, which include revisions in the department’s monitoring policies and procedures, development of new policies and procedures for sharing new information, and indemnification and administrative actions. The IG undertook...
Federal banking regulators this week formally proposed changes to capital rules that would give smaller institutions more leeway to hold mortgage-servicing rights. Current rules require banks to take capital deductions for any MSR holdings that exceed 10 percent of tier 1 capital. Some say this requirement has contributed to the banking industry’s retreat from the mortgage servicing business. The proposal would raise...
In the past, some in the mainstream media have referred to nonbank mortgage lenders as “shadow” lenders, a phrase that residential finance professionals find pejorative…
The Mortgage Bankers Association is projecting that more than 4,600 residential finance professionals will attend its annual convention in Denver next month.