Securitization of USDA loans by Ginnie Mae fell in the fourth quarter of 2017. Approximately $19.9 billion of USDA loans were delivered into Ginnie MBS pools in 2017, notwithstanding a 9.2 percent drop from the previous quarter, agency data show. On the other hand, year-over-year securitization of rural housing loans with a government guarantee rose 5.8 percent from 2016. Top-ranked Freedom Mortgage saw its USDA loan deliveries to Ginnie drop 16.2 percent during the fourth quarter, while its USDA securitization volume rose a whopping 78.9 percent from the previous year. Overall, Freedom accounted for $3.6 billion of USDA loans pooled in Ginnie MBS last year. Second-place PennyMac closed the year with $3.1 billion of securitized USDA loans, while Wells Fargo reported a 13.1 percent drop in the final quarter to end 2017 with $1.4 billion of rural housing loans in Ginnie MBS. Chase Home Finance sprang out ... [ Chart ]

DBRS took over as the top rating service in the non-agency MBS market last year, as more deals carried multiple ratings in 2017, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS ranking.

Fitch Ratings recently proposed changes to its loss model criteria for non-agency MBS involving servicer quality and the performance of re-performing loans.

The regulatory relief bill recently passed by the Senate would reduce uncertainty for future ABS tied to Property Assessed Clean Energy financing programs, rating services said.

As the Federal Housing Finance Agency continues to evaluate alternative credit scoring mechanisms, some experts argue that the agency isn’t doing enough to promote an updated scoring system while others say the current system works just fine.

The volume of FHA and VA loans securitized in Ginnie Mae pools in 2017 declined from the previous year, according to an analysis of agency data. FHA loans delivered into Ginnie mortgage-backed securities last year totaled $250.5 billion, down 8.7 percent from 2016. Purchase loans comprised 69.6 percent of Ginnie MBS issuances backed by FHA loans over the 12- month period, while refinances accounted for 24.8 percent. FHA borrowers had an average FICO score of 675.3, suggesting a more traditional borrower base of first-time homebuyers and borrowers with credit issues. The FHA loans that were securitized had an average loan-to-value ratio of 92.8 percent and a debt-to-income ratio of 41.3 percent. California led all states in FHA mortgage securitization, with $39.0 billion for all of last year. FHA originations, however, dropped 16.6 percent year-over-year. The other top states in terms of ... [ charts ]

Removing civil public records has little effect on consumers’ credit scores, the CFPB found in the latest quarterly consumer credit trends report issued last week. The National Consumer Assistance Plan required the three nationwide credit reporting companies – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion – to create minimum standards for personal information and reporting frequency for civil public records, including bankruptcies, civil judgement, and tax liens. The new standards were a product between the credit ...

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.

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.