Issuance of new securities backed by commercial mortgages fell 4.9 percent from the second to the third quarter of 2018, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS market analysis. [Includes one data chart.]
Bright’s Confirmation Delayed. With the Senate adjourning last week for the midterm elections, Michael Bright’s confirmation as president of Ginnie Mae will have to wait. President Trump nominated Bright, executive vice president and chief operating officer, last May and he was confirmed by the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs in August. Ginnie Mae has been without a permanent head since January 2017 when former president Ted Tozer stepped down. Bright has since been acting president of the agency. Both the House and the Senate will be back on Nov. 13 for a lame-duck session. President Trump Wants 5 Percent Budget Cuts from Cabinet Agencies. President Trump has directed his Cabinet secretaries to trim 5 percent from their respective agencies’ FY2019 budget request. Some agencies can do more than 5 percent, he suggested. It is unclear which of the ...
Community mortgage lenders are asking the U.S. Senate to consider with caution before voting on legislative language passed recently by the House of Representatives to address “orphan” VA streamline refinance loans. Specifically, the Community Mortgage Lenders of America asked the Senate to step back and allow some time for substitute language to be presented with input from the industry and the Department of Veterans Affairs. At issue is the wording in H.R. 6737, the Protect Affordable Mortgages for Veterans Act of 2018. The bill fixes a technical issue that prevented VA lenders from pooling certain VA Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loans in Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities pools. Approximately 2,500 VA refi loans were affected by an inconsistency between the loan seasoning guidelines issued by Ginnie in late 2016 and provisions in the ...