August is turning out to be an unfortunate month for WMC Mortgage and Deutsche Bank in terms of continuing legacy MBS litigation, but an auspicious one for Bank of New York Mellon, which won a favorable verdict in a residential MBS case. On Aug. 8, Judge Charles Haight of the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut denied defendant WMC Mortgage’s motion for partial summary judgment in Law Debenture Trust Co. of New York v. WMC Mortgage. The case involves a pool of 5,162 residential loans originated by WMC which were securitized in 2006 and sold to the trust for $1 billion, according to the law firm Orrick. The lender was...
Attorneys for Fairholme Funds filed another motion this week requesting to view about 1,500 government documents in a lawsuit challenging the government’s net-worth sweep of profits at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. And late last week, the government produced three more documents that were originally classified as “privileged.” In the new motion, the Fairholme attorneys asked the Federal Claims Court to use the “quick peek” procedure for more than 1,000 documents dating back to May 2012. These are among the many documents the plaintiffs say the government is still withholding under the deliberative process and bank examination privileges. It’s...
The Federal Reserve this week released the minutes of the July meeting of its Open Market Committee, providing more detail and color regarding the central bank’s deliberations on shrinking its enormous holdings of agency MBS and the future path and timing of interest rate adjustments. FOMC members started their portfolio deliberations by discussing the appropriate time to start reducing the Fed’s securities holdings, a plan that had been formally announced in June. “Participants generally agreed that, in light of their current assessment of economic conditions and the outlook, it was appropriate to signal that implementation of the program likely would begin relatively soon, absent significant adverse developments in the economy or in financial markets,” according to the minutes. Many members of the committee noted...
According to our calculation, Fannie common now trades at $2.80, a 20.17 percent improvement since the close of 2Q17, while Freddie’s value rose 21.08 percent to $2.70.
Officials at Starwood Property Trust announced last week that the company will acquire non-qualified mortgages with funding provided by new membership in the Federal Home Loan Bank system. Starwood is a real estate investment trust that has traditionally focused on commercial mortgages. Starwood said it gained membership in the FHLBank of Chicago shortly after the end of the second quarter of 2017. Jeffrey DiModica, president of Starwood, said the REIT will ...
JPMorgan Chase and Redwood Trust are set to continue their regular issuance of non-agency mortgage-backed securities, with deals scheduled to close on Aug. 30. The planned JPMorgan Mortgage Trust 2017-3 is a $1.02 billion deal, while Sequoia Mortgage Trust 2017-6 is sized at $355.4 million. Both of the MBS are predominantly backed by non-agency jumbo mortgages along with some loans eligible for sale to the government-sponsored enterprises. Rating services ...
Two nonbanks involved in originating and acquiring non-qualified mortgages aren’t satisfied with the amount of volume they have taken in thus far. “We like our portfolio, but we wish it would ramp faster,” Mark Tecotzky, co-chief investment officer at Ellington Financial, said during the company’s earnings call for the second quarter. Ellington has made an equity investment in an unidentified lender and as of the end of the second quarter was holding non-QMs with an unpaid principal balance of ...
Simplifying and aligning the default servicing policies of the conventional conforming and the government-backed mortgage markets would better serve the mortgage industry and homeowners, according to industry experts. In a recent discussion on how regulatory burden and high servicing costs might impede lending, members of the Mortgage Servicing Collaborative agreed on the need for streamlined and harmonized federal, state and agency policies and rules on servicing. Increased regulatory requirements have caused mortgage-servicing costs to skyrocket in recent years, experts said. Even though the quality of servicing has improved, the new regulations are complex and costly, they noted. Multiple pressures placed upon servicers have suppressed mortgage lending, making it harder for borrowers with tainted credit to obtain a mortgage, according to the ...
Ginnie Mae will not have an annual summit this year but has rescheduled it for January 2018, according to Ginnie Mae’s new spokesperson. Michael Huff, senior advisor, congressional and stakeholder relations, said a new administration and staff departures have caused organizers to reconsider having the annual Ginnie Mae Summit this year, usually held in October. The Trump administration has yet to announce a nominee for the top job at Ginnie Mae since former president Ted Tozer left in January. David Kittle is reportedly a leading contender, but there has been no official announcement or confirmation. So far, Kittle has declined to comment. Kittle is a mortgage industry veteran who began as a loan officer and now heads his own company. He also was a top executive with the Mortgage Bankers Association and managed, among other things, the group’s political action committee. In addition, Kittle co-founded the ...
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