The strategic default problem is not going away, keeping pressure on servicers and MBS investors to find ways to dis-incentivize these actions. House prices continue to fall, and more underwater homeowners are willing to batter their credit rating and default on their mortgage to get out of an uneconomic deal. In a recent report, analysts at Deutsche Bank said the threat of legal action and risks to assets other than the mortgaged property play a large role in a homeowner’s decision to strategically default. Eleven states are considered non-recourse states, either because they explicitly forbid deficiency judgments or...

Moody’s Investors Service continued to rank as the top credit rating agency in the non-mortgage ABS market, putting its stamp on 66.9 percent of dollar volume of deals issued in the first half of the year, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis. Moody’s was particularly strong in the vehicle finance and business loan sectors, with market shares approaching 75.0 percent in both categories. The company showed relatively little interest in the student ABS market, but ranked second in rating credit card deals. Standard & Poor’s ranked second overall with a 58.3 percent share of ABS ratings. That included a near...(Includes two data charts)

The credit rating industry is generally making progress in implementing a landslide of new regulatory requirements – both in the U.S. and from overseas regulators – but several firms continue to wrestle with conflict-of-interest standards and other issues, according to an annual report released this week by the Securities and Exchange Commission. Problems were found at all 10 ratings firms. The three larger nationally recognized statistical rating organizations – Standard and Poor’s, Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings – all have more than 1,000 credit analysts and credit analyst supervisors, while...

The improvements that the Federal Housing Finance Agency is expected to make to the government’s Home Affordable Refinance Program will likely come at the expense of MBS investors, say experts. The outlines of an expanded HARP are far from clear, but the FHFA is said to be giving serious consideration to lifting the 125 percent loan-to-value limit, in addition to waiving loan-level pricing adjustments, representation and warranties imposed on lenders, valuation requirements and the portability of mortgage insurance. The agency, which oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, is expected to make an...

New issuance of mortgage- and asset-backed securities faltered in the third quarter, although production levels were gaining strength in September. A new Inside MBS & ABS analysis reveals that $330.12 billion of ABS and residential MBS were issued during the third quarter, a decline of 6.3 percent from the previous three-month period. The surprisingly tepid increase in residential MBS issuance was not nearly enough to offset a substantial drop in non-mortgage ABS activity. Non-mortgage ABS issuance fell 43.4 percent from the second to the third quarter, sinking to $24.84 billion and reversing the very...(Includes one data chart)

Debt-for-equity, a strategy commonly used in buyout deals among companies in Europe, is being floated as an idea to help underwater U.S. homeowners and the lenders avoid taking bigger losses if the mortgage ends up going to foreclosure. In a debt-for-equity arrangement, the borrower would refinance an underwater mortgage for a new loan that reflects the house’s current market value as an alternative to going to foreclosure. In return for reducing the loan amount, the lender takes an equity position that allows it to share in any future house price appreciation.Proponents say...

State attorneys general trying to negotiate a big-ticket settlement with top mortgage servicers saw their coalition fracture further over the past week, including a decision by Massachusetts to move independently toward litigation. A major stumbling block continues to be divergent views among the states on whether lenders should get immunity from non-servicing issues such as potential litigation over securitization as part of the deal. The widely held view is that top banks were willing to put up a combined $20 billion to be used to help struggling borrowers to settle legal challenges that were spawned by...

Mortgage lenders need to get a better understanding of their business in today’s economic and regulatory environment and be able to make important decisions quickly in order to stay competitive, according to industry experts. Having more thoughtful insight into the mortgage business lies in the ability of a lender to go deep into its mortgage portfolio and see the risks and opportunities. The key to improving portfolio performance, experts say, is better analytics and using solutions to maximize the value of the portfolio. Today, banks are forced to redefine their loan accounting reporting in light of new regulatory requirements and expectations of...

Its decision to dump its wholesale correspondent channel is the latest in a series of moves by Bank of America to distance itself from “legacy” mortgage issues, but analysts remain doubtful. Moody’s Investors Service last week downgraded the bank’s rating. “The downgrades result from a decrease in the probability that the U.S. government would support the bank, if needed,” thanks to the passage of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, the ratings firm said. Moody’s said that the government is likely to continue to provide some level of support to systemically important financial institutions. “However, it is also...

Redwood Trust issued its second non-agency MBS of the year this week with just one rating, a sign of dramatic change in the role of credit ratings in the market. During the heyday of the non-agency MBS market, very few public deals went to market without at least two ratings and some transactions were rated by all three of the top credit rating services. Standard & Poor’s was the market leader for years, but Fitch has had a virtual monopoly on the jumbo MBS sector, which totals just two deals so far this year. S&P has effectively taken to the sidelines in rating non-agency MBS backed by new mortgages, according to...