Issuers may now choose between two methods of compensating servicers of securities backed by Home Equity Conversion Mortgages under a new policy change announced recently by Ginnie Mae. The choices are either a monthly flat servicing fee of 6-to-75 basis points or ...

Ginnie Mae servicing continued to show strong growth as it posted a 4.0 percent jump in the first quarter of 2011 from the previous quarter and an overall 19.3 percent increase from the same period last year. The top 50 Ginnie servicers reported $1.11 trillion of single-family mortgage debt outstanding at the end of the... [Includes one data chart]

With the flow of new jumbo mortgage securitizations still running at a trickle, the non-agency MBS market remains dominated by resecuritization deals that face new regulatory hurdles ahead. New issuance of non-agency MBS dropped...[Includes four data charts]

Ginnie Mae tightened several regulations relating to its mortgage-backed securities program over the last month as its MBS issuance hit a two-year low in early 2011. Ginnie All Participants Memo 11-04 changed rules that had allowed servicers to include delinquent loans into Ginnie pools. The memo told...[Includes one data chart]

The current method of paying servicers could stand to be improved, but regulators and secondary market investors need to bear in mind that change would have ripple effects throughout the industry, according to a new analysis by Mortgage Industry Advisory Corp., a consulting firm based in New York. “Changing the servicing fee from its current form may...

New issuance of single-family MBS slowed significantly during the first quarter of 2011 as the refinance boom that fueled a strong finish in 2010 lost momentum. A total of $359.78 billion of single-family MBS were issued during the first three months of this year, according to... [Includes two data charts]

Risk-retention requirements proposed by federal regulators last week strongly favor the government-sponsored enterprises over non-agency securitization, according to industry analysts. The pristine mortgages in Redwood Trust’s recent jumbo securitization would not completely meet the standards and the vast majority of... [Includes one graph]

Non-agency mortgage-backed securities investors do not have enough confidence to allow for accelerated reform of the government-sponsored enterprises, according to Michael Berman, chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association. “The key is the private markets have spoken that they don’t have confidence,” Berman said last week in...

The Home Affordable Modification Program continues to be criticized for the pace of activity, but one segment of the market has embraced HAMP: servicers with loans in portfolio. While HAMP accounted for 27.0 percent of all mods completed by major banks and thrifts in the fourth quarter of 2010, HAMP accounted for 50.2 percent of...

Fitch Ratings’ proposed major revision of the ratings process for jumbo mortgage-backed securities “could pose obstacles” to the resumption of non-agency MBS issuance, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Under Fitch’s proposal, jumbo MBS ratings would be tied to home prices and potentially require...