Nearly all of the securitized loans which failed to meet qualified-mortgage standards that took effect in 2014 are holding up well, and the MBS credit enhancement should be enough to handle any problems that emerge in an economic downtown, according to a new report from DBRS. The credit rating service did an analysis of the collateral and performance trends associated with the 20 securitizations backed by substantial numbers of non-QM loans that have been ... [Includes one data chart]

Maintaining the government MBS guarantee and the agency to-be-announced market is vital to a reformed housing-finance system, according to industry trade groups testifying during a House Financial Services Subcommittee hearing this week. Kevin Chavers, a managing director at BlackRock speaking for the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, said the cost of credit would go up without a government MBS guarantee, and banks would not be able to ...

With the non-agency securitization market showing signs of life this year, firms that specialize in due diligence reviews on such products should be rubbing their hands with glee. But not so with some operators, including The Clayton Group, considered one of the largest players in the market. Late this week, Radian Group, the parent company of Clayton, revealed a $12 million charge against third-quarter earnings because of restructuring charges to the unit. Last week, in a filing with ...

The residential mortgage securitization industry could do better with a new due diligence working group that would help establish consensus and standards for third-party reviews (TPR), according to participants in a recent TPR roundtable hosted by Fitch Ratings. Fitch’s Residential MBS Group and TPR firms generally agreed on the need to set uniform standards for testing, grading and reporting compliance with federal and state regulatory requirements. There was consensus that the ...

A handful of shareholder lawsuits challenging the government’s net worth sweep of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac earnings have landed at the Supreme Court of the United States, asking the top court to review the constitutionality of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Back in September, the FHFA filed a motion to dismiss in Atif Bhatti, et al., vs. The Federal Housing Finance Agency, stating that the plaintiffs lack standing to bring claims of their alleged injuries being related to ...

During 3Q, New Residential agreed to buy $3 billion of “flow” servicing rights from an unnamed seller.

CRT deals may be popular with legislators since they “de-risk” Fannie and Freddie, but over the long haul the transactions reduce profits for the GSEs, or so critics have charged…

A flurry of prime non-agency mortgage-backed securities priced in October with issuance from JPMorgan Chase, Flagstar Bank and American International Group totalling $2.13 billion. Chase brought a $911.1 million deal backed by a higher than usual share of mortgages eligible for sale to the government-sponsored enterprises. Some 46.7 percent of the dollar volume of loans backing JPMorgan Mortgage Trust 2017-4 was loans eligible for sale to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac ...

But what about Watt? His term as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency ends in early 2019...

Citadel Servicing Corp. continues to ready its first nonprime mortgage-backed security and received risk assessments from Morningstar Credit Ratings last week. The rating service evaluated Citadel as a lender and servicer, assigning it level-three rankings on a scale of one to four, with four being the worst. The assessment, along with a similar assessment by Fitch Ratings earlier this year, show that Citadel is taking steps toward issuing rated nonprime MBS. Sources close to ...