New production of non-agency MBS fell sharply in the first quarter of 2016 despite an anomalous rebound in the prime mortgage sector. A mere $8.38 billion of non-agency MBS was issued in the first three months of this year, down 40.8 percent from the fourth quarter and off 64.5 percent from a year ago, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis and ranking. It was the slowest quarter for new issuance since the end of 2013, when just $6.11 billion of new non-agency MBS came to market. The non-agency MBS market remains...[Includes three data tables]

Two rating services published reports in recent days stressing that non-agency MBS with loans subject to TRID mortgage disclosures can be rated, even when the loans have TRID violations. The reports are part of an industry effort to deal with the rule that combines disclosure requirements of the Truth in Lending Act and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act that was promulgated by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and took effect in October. Kroll Bond Rating Agency and Morningstar Credit Ratings published separate reports in the past week stating expectations that TRID will have a “limited” impact on non-agency MBS investors. A number of other rating services have made similar statements since TRID took effect, though that has done little to spur issuance. Only one non-agency MBS with TRID loans has been issued...

The Department of Justice helped lead other federal and state entities in a $5.06 billion settlement with Goldman Sachs. The settlement announced this week involves non-agency MBS underwritten by Goldman between 2005 and 2007. The charges were centered on representations made by Goldman to investors in about 530 non-agency MBS. The offering documents for the MBS stated that mortgages in the deals were originated “generally in accordance with the loan originator’s underwriting guidelines,” other than possible situations where “when the originator identified ‘compensating factors’ at the time of origination.” Findings by third-party due diligence firms helped...

Falling mortgage rates helped spur a modest increase in refinance activity during the first quarter of 2016, but not enough to offset a slowdown in other parts of the securitization market, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis and ranking. A total of $318.34 billion of residential MBS and non-mortgage ABS were issued during the first three months of the year, a 3.6 percent decline from the fourth quarter of 2015. It was the lowest amount of new issuance since the second quarter of 2014 and put the market 8.1 percent behind the level reached in the first quarter of last year. Non-mortgage ABS issuance was...[Includes three data tables]

The volume of prime non-agency mortgage-backed securities issued in the first quarter of 2016 reveals little about how the market is functioning, according to a new analysis and ranking by Inside Nonconforming Markets. Some $2.92 billion in prime non-agency MBS was issued in the first quarter of 2016, a 61.3 percent increase from the previous quarter but a 36.4 percent decline compared with the first quarter of 2015. Only four prime ... [Includes one data chart]

A single mortgage must meet nearly 150 requirements to achieve compliance with the TRID disclosure rule, according to a framework proposed by members of the Structured Finance Industry Group. Third-party due diligence firms will test loans for most of the TRID requirements, according to a draft of the TRID compliance review scope obtained by Inside Nonconforming Markets. Since the TRID rule took effect in October, due diligence firms have found widespread violations ...

Fitch Ratings revised its criteria for rating non-agency mortgage-backed securities backed by non-qualified mortgages last week. The new standards set the stage for Fitch to rate nonprime non-QM MBS. The new non-QM criteria from Fitch include expanded product assumptions for rating nonprime mortgages and loans to self-employed or non-wage-earning borrowers. When determining litigation liability, Fitch said it will make a distinction between non-QMs for “very high ...

Due diligence firms led an effort to issue a draft proposal late last week that would establish a standardized approach for reviewing compliance with the TRID mortgage-disclosure rule. The effort organized by the Structured Finance Industry Group was met with praise by industry participants. “The draft proposal represents a significant step forward for developing an industry standard treatment of errors related to the new residential mortgage disclosure requirements,” Fitch Ratings said. TRID is industry shorthand for a new integrated disclosure rule that covers requirements under the Truth in Lending Act and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act. Third-party due diligence providers have identified...

Payments were improperly allocated among tranches of a $644.12 million non-agency MBS issued in November 2014 for about a year before being addressed, according to the firms that placed ratings on the deal. RPMLT 2014-1 Trust was issued by Credit Suisse’s DLJ Mortgage Capital and backed by re-performing mortgages. The payment problems appear to be tied to improper reporting by Rushmore Loan Management Services, the servicer of the MBS, and Wells Fargo Bank, the securities administrator for the deal. Fitch Ratings said...

Mortgage securitization made a small comeback in 2015, but softness in the non-agency MBS sector and higher guaranty fees required by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac still played a huge influence in the market, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis. An estimated $1.210 trillion of newly-originated home loans were pooled in mortgage securities last year, representing 69.7 percent of the $1.735 trillion in new first-lien originations. That was up slightly from the 67.8 percent back in 2014, which ranked as the lowest securitization rate since 2004, when just 62.6 percent of new originations were securitized. One issue is...[Includes one data table]