The line of companies rolling out new loan menus for non-qualified mortgages is growing longer each week, but it remains to be seen which firm will be the first to issue a non-agency MBS. Citadel Servicing Corp., Irvine, CA, is working on a bond, but has been noncommittal about when it might come to market – and whether its first deal will be public or private. The privately-held nonbank is now funding more than $15 million a month in non-QM/nonprime products. Meanwhile, Impac Mortgage Holdings – an Alt A lender of yesteryear – has just entered...

The characteristics of mortgages included in jumbo mortgage-backed securities remained strong in the second quarter of 2014, according to a new analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets. However, the high quality of jumbo MBS has not attracted enough investors to make issuance more appealing for banks than retaining the loans in portfolio. Debt-to-income ratios on loans included in the $1.03 billion in jumbo MBS issued in the second quarter averaged ... [Includes one data chart]

Impac Mortgage recently launched a suite of products that don’t meet the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s standards for qualified mortgages. The non-QMs are available via the correspondent channel and are aimed at prime borrowers. The lender refers to its offerings as “Alt QMs,” including a jumbo option, a program for loans slightly outside of agency guidelines and a program that purposefully excludes analysis of a borrower’s tax returns ...

Redwood Trust revved up its latest jumbo mortgage-backed security in a hurry with plans to issue a new deal that includes some loans that don’t meet standards for qualified mortgages. The deal also includes less than 100 percent due diligence. The weighted-average loan age on the $306.05 million Sequoia Mortgage Trust 2014-2 is 1.4 months, according to Kroll Bond Rating Agency. The latest issuance from JPMorgan Chase included mortgages that were ...

Credit Suisse plans to issue a $367.84 million jumbo mortgage-backed security, according to a preliminary term sheet obtained by Inside Nonconforming Markets. The deal is scheduled to close around July 30. While presale reports on CSMC Trust 2014-IVR3 have not been issued, Credit Suisse expects that the deal will have credit enhancement of 7.25 percent on the AAA-rated tranches, according to the term sheet. Some 56 percent of the mortgages ...

Jumbo borrowers in the market for mortgage financing often decide to work with the bank they already have a relationship with, according to new qualitative survey results from the Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey. Real estate agents participating in the survey were asked what factors drive an affluent homebuyer’s lender selection when opting for mortgage financing instead of an all-cash home purchase. “I’ve found they like to ...

Mortgages with 620-679 credit scores accounted for more than half of FHA’s mortgage insurance business in the first quarter of 2014, up from 42.0 percent a year ago, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s latest quarterly report to Congress on the state of the FHA Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund. Data showed FHA-insured mortgages in the 620-679 credit score range, a band typically identified with borrowers with slightly tainted credit, comprised 51.1 percent of new endorsements in the first quarter. This was up from 50.1 percent in the fourth quarter of 2013. FHA endorsements in the 620-plus category started trending upward in the first quarter of 2011, while endorsements in the 720-850 credit score range began a slow decline during the same period. The distribution of borrower credit scores continued the migration seen in previous quarters, though at a ...

One deficiency commonly noted in cases heard by the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Mortgagee Review Board is failure by FHA lenders and servicers to implement and maintain a quality control (QC) plan. FHA’s focus on quality control has increased over the last couple of years as the agency strives to correct underwriting flaws that have contributed to the massive losses and severe depletion of the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund. After years of guiding and helping clients comply and cope with FHA regulations, requirements and enforcement actions, the Collingwood Group reports that a common QC-related mistake among FHA lenders is failure to document steps taken to correct deficiencies – or to take any corrective action at all. Tied to this issue is ...

Redwood Trust took three months off from issuing jumbo MBS but came back with something of a doozy this week: a $306.05 million deal that will include some loans that don’t meet standards for qualified mortgages and some loans that weren’t subject to third-party due diligence reviews. Sequoia Mortgage Trust 2014-2 is set to receive AAA ratings with credit enhancement of 7.75 percent on the top-rated tranche. While the credit enhancement requirements are somewhat high, a jumbo MBS from Redwood in November had even higher credit enhancement levels, suggesting that the non-QMs and lack of full due diligence aren’t a major concern. Only three of the 438 mortgages to be included in the deal are...

A spike in issuance of jumbo mortgage-backed securities in the last days of the second quarter of 2014 wasn’t enough to boost issuance to the meager levels seen in the previous quarter, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets. Some $1.25 billion in jumbo MBS were issued in the second quarter, a 24.9 percent decline from the previous quarter. Four issuers brought deals to the market during the quarter ... [Includes one data chart]