The government-sponsored enterprises’ holdings of vintage nonprime mortgage-backed securities declined in the second quarter of 2013 due to sales as well as runoff. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are working toward the goal set by the Federal Housing Finance Agency to sell 5.0 percent of the non-agency and less liquid mortgage-related assets they held in their retained portfolios at the end of 2012. Combined, the government-sponsored enterprises held $96.48 billion in nonprime MBS as of ... [Includes one data chart]
Ocwen Financial is preparing to enter a settlement with state regulators similar to the $25 billion national servicing settlement. A person with knowledge of the negotiations said regulators are working on settlements with individual servicers as opposed to the multi-servicer agreement with five banks announced last year. “We look forward to finalizing this process, which we expect will occur very soon,” Ronald Faris, Ocwen’s president and CEO, said last week during an earnings call. The servicer said ...
A unique lawsuit against Morgan Stanley was recently allowed to move forward though legal analysts questioned the ruling. The lawsuit charges Morgan Stanley with racial discrimination, claiming that the investment bank violated the Fair Housing Act by encouraging New Century Financial to offer high-risk mortgages to African-American borrowers. Disparate impact cases typically target originators, but New Century is long out of business. Morgan Stanley was hit with the lawsuit because it was ...
Three non-agency mortgage-backed security trustees filed lawsuits this week against Richmond, CA, which plans to use eminent domain to purchase mortgages with negative equity. The city recently sent letters to servicers and trustees of non-agency MBS offering to purchase 624 mortgages. If the MBS trustees do not sell the loans for the offered price of 80 percent of the current value of the properties, Richmond Mayor Gayle McLaughlin, a member of the Green Party, said the city intends to ...
Carrington Mortgage Services recently reversed its response to a survey regarding accounting for principal forbearance. The servicer initially told Fitch Ratings that it reported all forbearance amounts as losses on modifications and will continue to report forbearance mods as losses at the time of modification. However, near the end of July, Carrington said it has approximately $300 million in principal forbearance amounts that haven’t been reported as losses ... [Includes four briefs]
The question of whether the FHA should allow the refinancing of underwater mortgages seized through eminent domain has reemerged as a key issue following a recent decision by the city of Richmond, CA, to use its authority to take over distressed mortgages for restructuring. There is a new twist to the question, however. Could FHA’s refusal to refinance such mortgages be deemed discriminatory against cities and homeowners if eminent domain programs meet the requirements of the FHA Short Refinance program? Is that tantamount to redlining? A top executive of Mortgage Resolution Partners, which developed the eminent domain strategy to help underwater homeowners at risk of foreclosure, said ...
Continued abuses has caused single-family loan originations to remain a top priority for reviews and targeted audits, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of the Inspector General. A specialized audit program has been developed to target lenders, considering a number of high-risk indicators, the OIG said. Although the agency did not elaborate, it did note Congress’ keen interest in FHA solvency and in eradicating policies and practices that contribute to the agency’s current financial woes. The OIG said it plans to ...
The SEC said the deal has taken nearly $70 million in losses – the greatest loss rate of any comparable securitization from Bank of America. An additional $50 million in losses are expected.
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