Tesla Energy is preparing to issue a $344.0 million ABS backed by proceeds from solar-power generating systems on residential properties. The planned TES 2017-1, LLC, Series 2017-1 received an A- rating from Kroll Bond Rating Agency last week. The transaction is secured by proceeds on a portfolio of 33,499 leases and power-purchase agreements associated with solar photovoltaic systems. The leases and PPAs were originated by SolarCity, which does business under ...

Underwriting standards for the mortgages included in prime non-agency mortgage-backed securities in the third quarter were largely unchanged from the types of loans seen in the market the past year, according to a new analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets. The average credit score on prime non-agency MBS issued in the third quarter was 770.3, down from 772.3 the previous quarter but up from 766.4 in the third quarter of 2016. Average debt-to-income ... [Includes one data chart]

The Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Veterans Affairs have taken additional steps to provide relief to homeowners in disaster areas hit by hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria. This week, the FHA issued policy waivers in storm-ravaged Puerto Rico and fire-stricken counties in California, allowing damage inspections to be completed beginning Oct. 24. FHA currently requires servicers to perform a damage inspection following the close of an “incident period” as determined by the Federal Emergency Management Agency. An incident period is the period For mortgages in disaster areas that have not closed or are pending endorsement, lenders must follow FHA’s guidelines on inspection and repair escrow requirements for loans in such areas. FHA believes that situations in certain jurisdictions in Puerto Rico and California have stabilized and further damage to ...

Default rates could increase for certain types of MBS and ABS as some borrowers experience higher debt-to-income ratios, according to Moody’s Investors Service. The rating service pointed to new results from the Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances conducted every three years. The survey showed a modest increase between 2013 and 2016 in the median ratio of debt payments to family incomes among debtors in the 20.0 percent to 39.9 percent income percentile ...

Ginnie Mae issuers rode a wave of purchase-mortgage lending to deliver $120.46 billion of forward mortgages during the third quarter of 2017, the highest three-month volume for the year, according to a new analysis and ranking by Inside FHA/VA Lending. Third-quarter volume was up 9.6 percent from the April-June cycle. The data excluded FHA reverse mortgages and loan amounts are truncated in Ginnie’s mortgage-backed securities disclosures. Without those limitations, total Ginnie MBS issuance rose 9.5 percent to $123.37 billion in the third quarter. Purchase mortgages were the engine behind the growth. Ginnie issuers securitized $85.35 billion of purchase loans in the third quarter, falling just short of the record $85.41 billion set in the third quarter of last year. Although most Ginnie purchase loans (58.7 percent) were FHA loans, the biggest increase was in such loans guaranteed by the ... [Charts]

An estimated 9.8 percent of Ginnie Mae’s business may be potentially at risk due to hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, according to data released recently by the agency. The data represent the number of Ginnie loans and their unpaid principal balance amounts in presidentially declared disaster areas in Texas, Florida, Georgia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. A total of 1.07 million mortgage loans with an unpaid principal balance of $184.5 billion have been affected. Ginnie Mae’s current mortgage-backed securities portfolio totals $1.9 trillion. The data only refer to the geographic locations of all affected properties underlying loans in Ginnie MBS pools and do not indicate the percentage of those that may have sustained damage during a storm. Hurricane Irma had the highest share of affected loans, 6 percent, while Harvey and Maria accounted for 3 percent and 1 percent, respectively. Irma caused the ...

A slowdown in new scratch-and-dent deals proved to be a drag on non-agency MBS issuance during the third quarter, according to a new analysis and ranking by Inside MBS & ABS. Total non-agency MBS production fell to $10.99 billion in the third quarter of 2017, a 29.9 percent decline from the previous period. It was the slowest quarter of 2017, although year-to-date production was still up 14.1 percent from the first nine months of 2016. The major factor was ... [Includes two data charts]

Requirements for asset-level disclosures for certain ABS fell off of the Securities and Exchange Commission’s most recent regulatory agenda but the issue remains on the regulator’s radar, according to industry participants. Asset-level disclosure requirements for MBS and ABS have been a concern since 2010 when the SEC proposed revisions to Regulation AB. Some of the so-called Reg AB2 revisions were ultimately finalized in 2014, establishing disclosure requirements for ...

Vacancy rates are up in the single-family rental space, mostly due to seasonal factors, according to a new report from Morningstar Credit Ratings. Meanwhile, the toll from Hurricane Irma is still being calculated. “The average vacancy rate among single-family rental securitizations climbed to 5.7 percent in August, as property managers dealt with increased lease expirations, typical of the summer months,” analysts from Morningstar said. This was the fifth consecutive monthly increase. They cited two ...

Wells Fargo recaptured its crown as the leading VA jumbo securitizer, pushing Penny Mac back to second place even as the market dropped further in the second quarter. The volume of VA jumbo loans securitized during the second quarter declined by 5.2 percent from the prior quarter and by 11.8 percent during the first half of 2017 compared to the same period last year. VA jumbo mortgage originations were off by 4.3 percent from the first quarter, according to an analysis by Inside FHA/VA Lending affiliate Inside Mortgage Finance. Agency-jumbo production sagged in the second quarter but the results were not uniform. Fannie Mae production was up 6.5 percent from the prior quarter, while FHA jumbo securitization gained 7.2 percent during the period. At the same time, VA jumbo securitization was down 5.2 percent to $7.4 billion from $7.8 billion, while Freddie Mac saw a hefty 27.8 percent drop in ... [Charts]