New production of non-agency MBS fell sharply in the first quarter of 2016 despite an anomalous rebound in the prime mortgage sector. A mere $8.38 billion of non-agency MBS was issued in the first three months of this year, down 40.8 percent from the fourth quarter and off 64.5 percent from a year ago, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis and ranking. It was the slowest quarter for new issuance since the end of 2013, when just $6.11 billion of new non-agency MBS came to market. The non-agency MBS market remains...[Includes three data tables]
Two rating services published reports in recent days stressing that non-agency MBS with loans subject to TRID mortgage disclosures can be rated, even when the loans have TRID violations. The reports are part of an industry effort to deal with the rule that combines disclosure requirements of the Truth in Lending Act and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act that was promulgated by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and took effect in October. Kroll Bond Rating Agency and Morningstar Credit Ratings published separate reports in the past week stating expectations that TRID will have a “limited” impact on non-agency MBS investors. A number of other rating services have made similar statements since TRID took effect, though that has done little to spur issuance. Only one non-agency MBS with TRID loans has been issued...
The Department of Justice helped lead other federal and state entities in a $5.06 billion settlement with Goldman Sachs. The settlement announced this week involves non-agency MBS underwritten by Goldman between 2005 and 2007. The charges were centered on representations made by Goldman to investors in about 530 non-agency MBS. The offering documents for the MBS stated that mortgages in the deals were originated “generally in accordance with the loan originator’s underwriting guidelines,” other than possible situations where “when the originator identified ‘compensating factors’ at the time of origination.” Findings by third-party due diligence firms helped...
The nation’s largest MBS-investing real estate investment trust, Annaly Capital Management, this week agreed to buy the third largest player in the market, setting off speculation among analysts and investors that the “mREIT” sector could be in for a healthy dose of consolidation. The New York-based Annaly said it would buy Hatteras Financial Corp., Winston-Salem, NC, for roughly $1.5 billion in cash and stock. At year end, Annaly ranked...
The Federal Housing Finance Agency this week announced a limited principal reduction option for certain nonperforming, underwater borrowers with Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac home mortgages. The agency characterized the program as the “final crisis-era modification program [and] a last chance for seriously delinquent underwater borrowers to avoid foreclosure.” The program is limited...
With Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac doing only surface checks for TRID regulatory compliance and not complete reviews, future credit-risk transfer deals from the two government-sponsored enterprises could be at risk from lender compliance violations, according to Moody’s Investors Service. Numerous challenges have arisen in the non-agency secondary market because of concerns about liability for errors in the new mortgage disclosures. But since TRID became effective on Oct. 3, 2015, Fannie and Freddie are only checking to make sure that the correct forms are being used. This lack of diligence for TRID violations may amount...
Overall net losses in subprime auto ABS are on the rise due to an increasing number of deals from smaller lenders that cater to borrowers with weak credit. Amid this trend, however, subprime auto ABS performance varies by lender, according to a new report from Moody’s Investors Service. Moody’s analysts said competition among auto lenders has tightened as new, mostly smaller, lenders – driven by low losses on post-crisis auto loans and low interest rates – enter the market and compete for borrowers. The crowded market has driven...
Republican and Democrat members of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee were at odds during a hearing this week over whether there is much of a liquidity problem in the fixed-income markets today, and if so, to what extent the Dodd-Frank Act or Federal Reserve monetary policy may be responsible. Federal regulators, on the other hand, told the lawmakers that markets are functioning well enough and still evolving in a new, post-crisis environment. They suggested the thing to worry about is how much liquidity there will be in five or 10 years and how it will function. Sen. Dean Heller, R-NV, asked...
Over the past two years, PHH Corp. has lost $64 million on its mortgage business and now that Merrill Lynch has given notice that it wants to end some of its private-label contracts with PHH Mortgage, the nonbank’s future is beginning to look cloudier. Moreover, analysts and investors who follow the company wonder whether PHH’s private-label model – the bread and butter of its origination business – is fixable in the modern era of mortgage banking. Meanwhile, all of this is happening at a time when management hopes to sell the company, or at least field offers for some of its key assets, including a $226 billion servicing portfolio. The bad news for PHH started...
RSS