While the characteristics of loans included in jumbo mortgage-backed securities continue to be strong overall, industry analysts note that there are significant differences in “soft” underwriting guidelines used by lenders. “Not all underwriting guidelines, and exceptions to guidelines, are created equal,” analysts at Morningstar Credit Ratings cautioned in a recent report. “Some originators recently have introduced programs that make qualifying for financing easier and require less income documentation.” The company, which is making a new push to rate jumbo MBS, reviewed the guidelines of a number of the most active jumbo originators and aggregators ...

A recent ruling by the New York Court of Appeals regarding the statute of limitations for representation-and-warranty claims on non-agency mortgage-backed securities has caused concerns for some participants in the new-issue jumbo MBS market. In ACE Securities v. DB Structured Products, the court ruled that the statute of limitations for claims of breaches of reps and warrants starts when a deal is closed, not when a potential breach is discovered. Lawyers involved in non-agency MBS were divided on how the ruling would impact issuance going forward ...

Downgrades by Standard & Poor’s to numerous servicer ratings for Ocwen Financial could have a significant impact on the nonbank’s servicing operations. The rating service downgraded servicer ratings for Ocwen to “below average” last week, citing continued scrutiny by investors and regulators along with concerns about internal audits at Ocwen. As of the end of the first quarter of 2015, approximately 700 of the 4,100 non-agency servicing agreements handled by Ocwen had criteria regarding minimum servicer ratings ...

The amount of home-equity loans held by banks and thrifts as of the end of the first quarter of 2015 declined slightly compared with the end of 2014, according to the Inside Mortgage Finance Bank Mortgage Database. Banks and thrifts held a combined $974.0 billion in home-equity lines of credit, unused HELOC commitments and closed-end second liens at the end of the first quarter, down 0.9 percent from the previous quarter. Closed-end seconds accounted for 7.5 percent of the holdings, with the remaining balance divided fairly evenly between HELOCs and unused HELOC commitments ... [Includes one data table.]

A new feature Redwood Trust has included in its two most recent jumbo mortgage-backed securities has prompted support from AAA investors along with mixed reactions from rating services. The $356.45 million Sequoia Mortgage Trust 2015-2 issued in April and the $343.21 million Sequoia Mortgage Trust 2015-3 that was issued this week included a unique stop-advance feature. Servicers of the loans won’t be allowed to provide advances of principal and interest on loans that are 120+ days delinquent. The jumbo MBS were rated by Kroll Bond Rating Agency and Moody’s Investors Service ...

With issuance of non-agency mortgage-backed securities unable to keep pace with disappearing volume from vintage deals, bank and thrift holdings of non-agency MBS continue to decline. The holdings were down somewhat more than usual in the first quarter of 2015, suggesting sales by some banks. Banks and thrifts held $111.48 billion in non-agency MBS as of the end of the first quarter of 2015, according to the Inside Mortgage Finance Bank Mortgage Database. The holdings declined by 16.1 percent compared with the first quarter of 2014, including an 11.0 percent decline compared with the fourth quarter of 2014 ... [Includes one data table.]

FHA jumbo loan production rose nearly 36.9 percent in the first quarter, ending the period with $3.8 billion in new volume, according to an Inside FHA/VA Lending analysis of agency data. Volume includes all FHA loans exceeding $417,000. It was also up significantly, 59.6 percent, from the same period a year ago. Purchase loans accounted for 52.8 percent of FHA jumbos originated during the first three months of 2015, and 93 percent were fixed-rate purchase and refinance loans. The top five FHA jumbo lenders – Quicken Loans, Wells Fargo Bank, Prospect Mortgage, Pinnacle Capital Mortgage Corp., and LoanDepot – reported increases on a quarter-to-quarter basis. Together, the elite group accounted for 13.0 percent of the FHA jumbo market. The largest quarter-to-quarter increases were mostly mid-level FHA jumbo lenders. For example, 12th-ranked Freedom Mortgage, a top player in the ... [ 1 chart ]

The frequently-asked-questions guidance to using the FHA’s consolidated Single Family Policy Handbook is good to have though it shows just how complicated the FHA’s mortgage origination process is, according to lenders. In fact, the updated FHA handbook could still be confusing to borrowers simply because a lot more information is concentrated in one source, lenders said. According to the FHA, the more than 290 FAQs will enable lenders to make operation adjustments before the handbook goes into effect on Sept. 14, 2015. The FAQs are for information purposes only and do not apply to current FHA policies. They do not establish or modify policy contained in the handbook. The FAQs reiterate information in the handbook under headings such as Credit Underwriting, Closing and Insuring, FHA System Support and Consumer Information. Industry observers noted that the FAQs did not ...

Nonbank mortgage lenders accounted for 43.3 percent of the total originations produced by the top 100 lenders during the first quarter of 2015, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance ranking and analysis. That was up from a 42.7 percent share of production by the top 100 in the fourth quarter of 2014 and a 38.0 percent share a year ago. The 48 nonbanks that ranked in the top 100 originators had a combined $133.35 billion in first-quarter production, up 13.0 percent from the fourth quarter. Banks and thrifts still play...[Includes one data table]

A number of recent headline-generating fair lending settlements may have focused largely on issues of pricing disparities, but there has been a sea change among policymakers these days moving in the direction of greater access to mortgage credit, some industry experts say. During an Inside Mortgage Finance webinar this week, Jeffrey Naimon, a partner in the Washington, DC, office of the BuckleySandler law firm, said the industry is seeing a pendulum swing from the focal point of concern being loan pricing to loan access. “Especially during the time when subprime loans were available, there was a lot of concern that minority borrowers were being steered into higher-cost subprime loans,” he told attendees. “The adoption of the loan originator compensation rule by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau affected...