The average FHA credit score in the second quarter of 2014 continued to decline from the record highs of 2011, but remains well above the levels preceding the mortgage and credit crisis, according to FHA’s latest report to Congress on the state of the agency’s Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund. The FHA’s second-quarter average credit score of 680 was 3 points below the previous quarter’s score and 13 points below the score during the same period last year. The report’s data suggest that FHA has accomplished its goal of shifting its market share to the 620-679 credit score bucket consistent with its target market while ceding its share of loans with scores exceeding 720 to the private MI sector. The last time borrowers’ average credit score hit 680 was in the second quarter of 2009. FHA officials said they are working to have 75 percent of the FHA lending in the ...

The Department of Housing and Urban Development is now qualifying investors for its sixth auction of non-performing loans (NPLs) amid nationwide protests calling for reform of HUD’s distressed note sale program. Single-Family Loan Sale SFLS 2014-2 includes 15,232 single-family, non-performing mortgages with a total unpaid principal of $2.3 billion. The sale consists of 10 loan pools ranging from $97 million to $825 million with collateral dispersed across the country, according to loan sale advisor DebtX. It is scheduled to bid on Sept. 30. On June 11, HUD sold a $4.8 billion portfolio of NPLs, the first of a two-part sale. The national offering consisted of approximately 23,200 loans divided into 16 pools ranging from $93 million to $1 billion. The loans are backed by properties across the ...

$835 Million Ginnie Mae Servicing Portfolio Hits Market. Mountain Servicing Group (MSG), a residential mortgage servicing rights transaction and valuation advisor, has announced an $835 million Ginnie Mae bulk-servicing offering. The company is the exclusive advisor to the seller, described only as “one of the premier mortgage bankers in the country.” The portfolio includes 99.7 percent fixed-rate and 100 percent first-lien, government-backed loans, with a weighted average original FICO of 691. Its weighted origination loan-to-value ratio is 94 percent, and its weighted average interest rate is 4.0 percent. The average loan size is $205,309. Top states for the portfolio are California (23.9 percent), New York (9.6 percent), Florida (4.7 percent), and Pennsylvania (4.5 percent). “It’s an exceptionally clean GNMA portfolio, with very low coupon and low delinquencies,” said Robert Wellerstein, managing director at MSG. “We expect this package to ...

The volume of mortgages subserviced for others declined slightly in the second quarter, but still face bright prospects as many firms contemplate outsourcing the processing chore to specialists that can effectively handle an increasing array of compliance regulations. The nation’s three largest subservicers – Dovenmuehle, Cenlar and PHH Mortgage – had a combined subservicing market share of 55.8 percent at June 30, dominating the sector, according to exclusive survey figures compiled by Inside Mortgage Finance. On a sequential basis, Dovenmuehle grew...[Includes one data chart]

Capital standards for nonbank mortgage firms is inevitable. But what should the requirement be?

“Our intention is to be a top tier lender,” said Newman.

it appears the halcyon days of legacy MSR sales are over. Or so Ocwen is telling Wall Street.

"Wellington's going to do what Wellington's going to do," said one observer of the stock sale.

We understand that when stock analysts meet with Ocwen management, executives at the nonbank usually tell them to not even ask about the deal.

Since the housing bust, very few mortgage firms have securitized MSRs, though they have used securitization vehicles for advances.