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 ...

Ginnie Mae set records for new issuance of single-family mortgage-backed securities in 2015 and 2016, but production sagged last year, according to a new analysis and ranking by Inside FHA/VA Lending. The agency issued $443.20 billion of MBS backed by forward single-family mortgages in 2017, a 10.8 percent decline from the previous year. Including FHA reverse mortgages and that are not truncated, 2017 issuance fell 10.3 percent to $455.00 billion. Meanwhile, the private mortgage insurance business – based on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac MBS data – saw a smaller decline of 5.0 percent from 2016 to last year. The VA program generally held up better than the FHA program during the fourth quarter, when refinance lending was climbing. But the FHA had a better year overall despite some loss of market share in purchase-mortgage activity. Deliveries of FHA loans into ... [ Charts ]

Ginnie Mae and the Department of Veterans Affairs have announced additional measures to curb serial refinancing of VA loans. Testifying before a House Veterans Affairs subcommittee this week, officials from both agencies said the latest measures will complement guidelines Ginnie issued last year to deal with the loan-churning problem. Lenders urged Congress and the two agencies to be cautious in prescribing fixes that could potentially cut off VA funding. Jeffrey London, director of the VA Loan Guaranty Service, said a proposed rule that includes a net tangible benefits test for veterans as well as seasoning and recoupment requirements will be issued soon. The VA is also planning to require upfront lender disclosure of the terms and benefits of a streamline or cash-out refi, including the recoupment period of the new transaction. Even though serial refinancing is not systemic to the VA portfolio, it has grown in ...

Investors might be seeing better performance from the credit rating agencies these days. In two new reports, the Securities and Exchange Commission says ratings firms are more compliant and are utilizing information technology to a greater extent, all while remaining competitive, especially some of the smaller ones.

Trading MBS will be slightly less expensive this year as the Fixed Income Clearing Corp. is preparing to eliminate a fee it imposed to help pay for technology upgrades. The fee applied to FICC members and generally ranged from $1,000 per month to $20,000 per month based on trading activity.