President Trump this week signed a short-term spending bill that would keep the government operating until Feb. 8, 2018. The bill ended a three-day shutdown after the previous spending authority for most of the government expired at midnight on Jan. 19. However, the threat of another shutdown looms. FHA and Ginnie Mae both had contingency plans in place in case the short-lived shutdown dragged on, as it had in 2013. That event lasted for 16 days, at a loss of $1.6 billion a day to the federal government. Under FHA’s emergency plan, the agency would continue to endorse new single-family forward mortgages, but not Home Equity Conversion Mortgages and Title I loans. Ginnie would reduce staffing to essential personnel but continue its secondary market operations. It would continue to remit timely payment of principal and interest to investors, grant commitment authority and support issuance of ...

The daily trading volume in agency MBS averaged $209.1 billion in 2017, the best showing in four years, according to the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association.

Statistical sampling, which gained widespread acceptance in MBS repurchase cases after the housing crisis, is being rejected in many courts today, legal experts say.

Nonbanks will likely account for over half of outstanding agency single-family servicing by the end of 2018 if market trends continue as they have in recent years.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been charged with exploring options to update their current FICO credit scoring model and make a decision this year as to whether to make the switch in 2019.

Ginnie Mae is redefining the term “defective mortgage” to remind issuers of their obligations when confronted by a home loan that does not have federal insurance or a guarantee. The action also clarifies options issuers may consider in dealing with defective mortgages.

A planned MBS from affiliates of New Residential Investment received much higher ratings than a similar deal issued by the firm in 2016. The deals are backed by the excess spread tied to servic-ing rights on non-agency mortgages.

Critical components of loan structural quality in the commercial MBS space seem to be deteriorating, particularly when it comes to single-borrower deals, according to a new report from Moody’s Investors Service.

DoubleLine Capital, an investor in non-agency mortgage-backed securities, established an entity in recent months with plans to issue non-agency MBS. The issuance and related activities will be conducted via the new Mortgage Opportunities Capital, according to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The filings were completed in October but didn’t gain prominence until a recent story published by Bloomberg. Jeffrey Gundlach, DoubleLine’s CEO, initially pushed back ...

Institutional investors are getting more comfortable with non-qualified mortgages, according to Angel Oak Capital Advisors. The firm announced last week that it raised $291 million in capital commitments for a private credit fund that will focus on non-QMs. The initial fundraising goal for Angel Oak Real Estate Investment Fund I was $250 million, according to AOCA. Officials weren’t willing to disclose how the fund will invest in non-QMs, but it has been involved in non-agency ...