Rules proposed by federal regulators to establish “qualified mortgage” and ability-to-repay standards would severely limit the originations of alternative mortgages, including certain ARMs, according to lenders. Consumer advocates, meanwhile, are calling for even more restrictive underwriting standards than those proposed by the Federal Reserve. In April, the Fed proposed strong ability-to-repay requirements that expand upon existing rules for higher-priced mortgages, include stringent penalties for violations, and would apply to ...

Wells Fargo Bank and Bank of America dominated the FHA jumbo market during the first six months of 2011, accounting for a third of total jumbo loan originations during the period, according to Inside FHA Lending’s latest analysis of the sector. The two financial institutions outdistanced their competitors by producing a total of $3.04 billion in FHA-insured mortgage loans, nearly a third of the $10.2 billion of government-insured jumbo loans originated during the first half of the year. Top-ranked Wells Fargo generated $1.90 billion in FHA loans exceeding $417,000 for an 18.7 percent market share, while BofA claimed... [Includes two data charts]

The Department of Housing and Urban Development said it expects to issue guidance by the end of the month clarifying which mortgage loans would qualify for the higher loan limits. A department spokesman said the guidance is in its last phase of departmental clearance and contains detailed information on which loans are eligible for the higher loan limits as well as additional requirements for using the higher loan limits. Unless Congress intervenes, the current high-cost area loan limit, which is set temporarily at 125 percent of the median house price in each area up to a maximum of $729,750, will be replaced on Oct. 1 by a...

Two Harbors Investment Corp. said this week it is “impressed with the investment opportunities” in the non-agency MBS sector, particularly over the next year and beyond and is pushing forward with its plans to begin a securitization program. Thomas Siering, president and CEO of the New York-based real estate investment trust, said during a conference call to discuss the firm’s second quarter earnings that despite the “challenging” non-agency environment in June, there is tremendous opportunity to profit from non-agency MBS issuance throughout the rest of this year into 2012. “The recent pullback in the non-agency market has created...

Serious delinquency rates on home-equity loans held by banks and thrifts continued to decline in the first quarter of 2011, according to the Inside Mortgage Finance Bank Mortgage Database. However, the improved performance was led by home-equity lines of credit as the non-accrual rate on closed-end seconds increased compared with the previous quarter. The HEL serious delinquency rate (90+ days late plus non-accrual) and net charge off rates for combined HELOC and closed-end second portfolios was 2.09 percent at the end of the first quarter of 2011. That was down ... [includes one data chart]

The Federal Housing Finance Agency this week filed suit against UBS Securities and various related entities as well as former top officials of the firm over alleged misrepresentations on subprime and Alt A MBS sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The two government-sponsored enterprises bought some $4.5 billion of non-agency MBS issued on two UBS shelf registrations between September 2005 and August 2007. The deals included single-seller and conduit transactions with mortgages originated by ...

The government program that came out of the Troubled Asset Relief Plan to provide liquidity for the non-agency MBS market by partnering with private investors was less profitable during the second quarter, according to a Treasury Department report released last week. The Public-Private Investment Program was created to invest in non-agency MBS that other banks couldn’t hold after the economic collapse. Non-agency MBS account for 79 percent of the assets acquired by the eight public-private investment funds, with commercial MBS making up the rest. Almost half of the MBS are ...

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued an interim final rule last week that the new federal regulator said prevented significant disruption of the origination and modification of alternative mortgages – including ARMs. However, the interim final rule also narrowed the definition of “alternative mortgage transactions” that are eligible for preemption from state laws. The interim final rule temporarily updated the Alternative Mortgage Transaction Parity Act as required by the Dodd-Frank Act. “Without this interim rule implementing the AMTPA amendments, state lenders would lose ...

The Federal Reserve last week fined Wells Fargo & Co. $85.0 million, alleging that a non-bank subsidiary of Wells steered prime borrowers to subprime mortgages. The consent order is the first formal enforcement action taken by a federal bank regulatory agency to address alleged steering of borrowers into high-cost subprime mortgages. The civil money penalty is also the largest the Fed has assessed in a consumer-protection enforcement action. In addition to the civil money penalty, the order requires that Wells compensate more than ...

The Federal Reserve fined Wells Fargo $85 million last week over high-pressure compensation policies in the firm’s finance company that allegedly led to steering of prime borrowers to more lucrative non-prime mortgages. The $85 million fine is the largest ever levied by the Federal Reserve in a consumer enforcement case. Wells has since shut down Wells Fargo Financial, its subprime subsidiary that was the focus of the Fed’s charges. CEO John Stump said in a statement the “alleged actions” were “committed by a relatively small group of team members.” The Fed said Wells Fargo Financial’s incentive compensation and sales quota programs fostered ... [includes one data chart]