Rating services appear to be taking differing approaches to rating nonprime MBS backed by new originations. The first nonprime MBS from an affiliate of Invictus Capital Partners received preliminary AAA ratings from Kroll Bond Rating Agency, Morningstar Credit Ratings and S&P Global Ratings. Those three firms did not rate...

The first nonprime mortgage-backed security from an affiliate of Invictus Capital Partners will be stocked with loans that have some unique features. Kroll Bond Rating Agency, Morningstar Credit Ratings and S&P Global Ratings placed preliminary AAA ratings on the deal last week. The planned $145.02 million Verus Securitization Trust 2017-1 differs in a number of ways from the $225.75 million COLT 2016-3 Mortgage Loan Trust, the nonprime MBS from an affiliate of Lone Star Funds ...

Fitch Ratings recently assigned “average” assessments to three originators and aggregators involved in the nonprime mortgage market, the same grades the firm assigned to Caliber Home Loans. Fitch evaluated Angel Oak Home Loans, Angel Oak Mortgage Solutions and Citadel Servicing as originators of nonprime mortgages. And the rating service reviewed Deephaven Mortgage as an aggregator of nonprime mortgages. The assessments by Fitch will help pave the way for ...

There will likely be a notable increase in the issuance of mortgage-backed securities backed by newly originated nonprime mortgages, according to Fitch Ratings. As many as eight firms are looking to join Lone Star Funds in issuing rated deals, though issuance isn’t expected to get anywhere near the levels seen in the run up to the financial crisis. Some $999.5 million in nonprime MBS was issued in 2016, according to the rating service. “Fitch estimates those figures could double in 2017, and ...

Final Civil Action: Primary Residential Mortgage. The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of the Inspector General has recommended that the department’s Office of Legal Counsel acknowledged $3.13 million of a $5 million settlement agreed to by Primary Residential Mortgage is due HUD. Primary agreed last September to a $5 million settlement with the Department of Justice to resolve allegations of failing to comply with FHA requirements in connection with its origination, underwriting and endorsement of 100 FHA-insured loans. Primary’s settlement is neither an admission of guilt nor assumption of any liability that may arise from the flawed transactions, the IG said. As of Oct. 4, 2016, the settlement amount due HUD had been paid in full. Moody’s Downgrades $243 Million of FHA/VA Residential MBS. Moody’s Investors Service has downgraded the ...

Moody’s Investors Service agreed to a $863.79 million settlement with the Department of Justice, 21 states and Washington, DC, late last week. The settlement focused on rating activities between 2004 and 2010 involving residential MBS and collateralized debt obligations. According to the settlement, Moody’s used an internal ratings model for most tranches of certain residential MBS that was more lenient than its published guidelines, allowing for lower credit enhancement levels than what the published guidelines required. The internal model was based...

The residential MBS market is expected to be healthy this year, according to some ratings service analysts. But the new president is the big unknown, market participants say. According to analysts at Fitch Ratings, the rating outlook for U.S. RMBS they rate is auspicious, as they expect asset performance trends to stay positive thanks to support from solid, if somewhat uneven, gains in home prices. “Although a number of legacy transactions continue to face negative rating pressure due to declining loan counts and tail risk, rating upgrades outnumbered...

Credit quality for the loans backing unique warehouse-funding securitizations from Jefferies Funding remains strong, according to Moody’s Investors Service. One of the risks was that weaker collateral could be included in the transactions as time passed. The $225.0 million Station Place Securitization Trust 2016-1 received Aaa ratings from Moody’s last February and a $210.0 million 2016-3 transaction issued in May garnered an with Aaa rating. The rating service evaluated the deals recently as the 2016-1 securitization is set to pay down next month. “To date, there has been...

The Department of Justice this week finalized previously announced settlements with Deutsche Bank and Credit Suisse regarding non-agency mortgage-backed security activities in the run-up to the financial crisis. The DOJ said the $7.20 billion settlement with Deutsche Bank was the single largest residential MBS resolution for the conduct of a single entity. The settlement with Credit Suisse was for $5.28 billion. Both of the settlements included civil penalties and ... [Includes two briefs]

Monex Deposit Company issued a $100.0 million ABS backed by loans on silver and other coins in late December, according to Morningstar Credit Ratings. The deal received a AA rating, with the rating service noting concerns about the volatility of silver prices and regulatory issues. MDC is a precious-metals dealer established in 1987 whose predecessor dates back to 1967. Scala Funding Company 2016-1 consists of 1,854 accounts with an average balance of $51,760. The loans backing the ABS are offered...