Nearly a year has passed since the Structured Finance Industry Group released documents relating to the RMBS 3.0 project and the leader of the Treasury Department’s non-agency reform efforts left the Treasury in May. However, at the ABS East conference sponsored by Information Management Network this week in Miami, industry participants noted that progress is being made on both initiatives. Panel sessions on reforming the non-agency mortgage-backed securities markets have been a staple at industry conferences since 2008, and some observers question whether much progress has been made. “I think...

With a lack of consensus from industry participants, let alone members of Congress, regarding how to reform the government-sponsored enterprises, the risk-sharing transactions implemented by the GSEs in recent years are seen as one possible model for increasing private capital investment in the mortgage market. Stanford Kurland, chairman and CEO of PennyMac Financial Services, suggested that the predominant risk-sharing transactions used by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have significant limitations. In an opinion piece published last week in the American Banker, Kurland said front-end risk-sharing “should be a bridge to long-term reform.” The main risk-sharing efforts completed by the GSEs are...

The Common Securitization Platform currently under development for use by the government-sponsored enterprises has seen some twists and turns regarding potential use for non-agency mortgage-backed securities. Various officials working on the CSP stressed this week at the ABS East conference in Miami that the focus for the platform is activity by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. “The platform is adaptable, but our focus is on the enterprises,” said David Applegate, CEO of Common Securitization Solutions, the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac joint venture that is developing the CSP. At the conference produced by Information Management Network, he noted...

Select Portfolio Servicing is among the firms that demonstrate the highest standards in overall servicing ability, according to Fitch Ratings. The rating service released an assessment of Credit Suisse’s servicer last week, noting that SPS is a key component of Credit Suisse’s conduit operations. SPS handled an $86.04 billion portfolio as of the end of the second quarter of 2015, according to Fitch. The vast majority of the firm’s servicing involves non-agency mortgages, both vintage loans and newer mortgages included in jumbo mortgage-backed securities. Some 13.6 percent of SPS’s servicing volume at the end of June was classified as third-party servicing. The company has been servicing...

The recent dismissal of class-action shareholder lawsuits against Ocwen Financial suggests that it takes more than a sharp decline in a company’s stock for investors to prevail in court. In early September, a federal judge dismissed class-action lawsuits that were filed against Ocwen Financial, Altisource Portfolio Solutions and certain officials at the firms. United Union of Roofers v. Ocwen and West Palm Beach Firefighters Pension Fund v. Altisource were filed on behalf of investors that purchased stock in the companies between early 2013 and December 2014. In that span, the companies’ stock prices declined...

Ginnie Mae securitized $14.2 billion of VA jumbo loans in the first half of 2015, more than double the volume seen during the same period a year ago. VA securitization data for the first six months reflect an upward trend in VA loan originations, which lenders attribute to better outreach to veterans and servicemembers and aggressive marketing strategies. VA jumbo securitization in the first half of the year was up 120.7 percent from the same prior-year period. Volume also was up 13.9 percent in the second quarter from the previous quarter. All top-five VA jumbo securitizers reported large gains year over year, but four showed volume decreases quarter over quarter. Third-ranked PennyMac recorded a 3.4 percent gain in the second quarter from the prior quarter. The top five, in sequential order – Wells Fargo, Freedom Mortgage Corp., PennyMac Corp., U.S. Bank and Quicken Loans – accounted for ... [ chart ]

FHA jumbo securitization continued to rise over the first six months of 2015 on the back of soaring FHA jumbo production in the second quarter. FHA jumbo originations in the second quarter more than doubled to $6.8 billion, according to the Inside Mortgage Finance database. FHA data showed that the jumbo share of originations was highest in conventional-to-FHA refinance (14.9 percent) and streamlined FHA refis (13.3 percent,) but just 9.0 percent for purchase loans. Delivery of FHA jumbos, including modified loans, into Ginnie Mae jumbo mortgage-backed securities rose 131.9 percent in the second quarter from the prior quarter and was up 115.8 percent compared to the first six months of 2014. Wells Fargo led the market in the first half with $1.4 billion in jumbos contributed to MBS, up 123 percent quarter over quarter. That was good enough for a 12.7 percent market share. PennyMac Corp. accounted for ... [ chart ]

Ginnie Mae securitized fewer rural home loans guaranteed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the second quarter of 2015 compared to the previous quarter, according to analysis of agency data. A total of $8.4 billion of USDA loans were securitized during the first six months of 2015, down 2.1 percent from the same period last year. Securitization volume also dropped by as much quarter over quarter. Chase led all USDA securitizers with $2.6 billion in loans securitized during the first half of the year for a commanding 30.4 share of the market. Wells Fargo funneled $1.1 billion in USDA loans into Ginnie MBS, resulting in a 13.1 market share, while PennyMac delivered $609.7 million for securitization. U.S. Bank closed the first half with $260.3 million in securitized USDA mortgages despite a 31.4 percent drop in the second quarter. Pacific Union Financial rounded out the top five USDA loan securitizers with ... [ chart ]

FHA lenders funded $7.8 billion in new Home Equity Conversion Mortgage loans during the first half of 2015, up 8.2 percent from the same period a year ago. HECM loan production was slower in the second quarter with originations down 1.1 percent from the prior quarter. Purchase loans accounted for 86.1 percent of all HECM transactions during the first six months. Interestingly, borrower bias against adjustable-rate loans appeared to have eased. Fixed-rate HECMs accounted for only 15.4 percent of originations during the first half of the year. Initial principal amount at loan origination totaled $4.6 billion over the same period. On a fiscal year-to-date basis, the FHA reported a total of 53,372 HECM endorsements, up from 47,662 HECM endorsements in fiscal YTD 2014. Meanwhile, HECM endorsed cases increased to 5,750 in August compared to ... [ chart ]

Officials from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Wells Fargo and other industry players are set to provide an update on qualified mortgages and other CFPB initiatives...