Participants in Ginnie Mae’s single-family mortgage-backed securities program may expect new policy changes, including servicer and credit ratings for the largest issuers, clarification of “appropriate sources of liquidity” and other financial requirements. The changes come as issuer liquidity continues to be a primary concern for Ginnie Mae, particularly with nonbanks now the dominant segment in the single-family MBS program. “We’re working on those policies right now,” said Leslie Meaux Pordzik, Ginnie’s acting senior vice president, Office of Issuer and Portfolio Management, at the Mortgage Bankers Association’s annual convention in Washington, DC, this week. Nonbanks account for nearly two-thirds of Ginnie MBS issuance and approximately 75 percent of FHA and VA lending. Nonbanks serviced a record 61.1 percent of outstanding Ginnie single-family MBS at the end of the ...

Information technology improvement is the top priority of government lending programs in the coming months and into 2019. Agency representatives at the Mortgage Bankers Association’s annual convention in Washington, DC, said policy changes are in the works to enhance and improve operations, compliance and customer service. FHA Commissioner Brian Montgomery, who joined the agency four months ago, said IT modernization is his primary concern. A state-of-the-art IT system and advanced data analytics are needed to manage FHA exposures effectively, he said. Montgomery made clear FHA has no plans to build a proprietary system but is considering the idea of shared technology, possibly with VA and USDA; something based on Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s systems; or some off-the-shelf software. In his view, a modern IT system would have automated underwriting that provides ...

Issuance trends for non-agency mortgage-backed securities stocked with newly-originated mortgages were mixed in the third quarter, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets. Issuance of prime non-agency MBS declined significantly on a sequential basis in the third quarter. And for the first time, expanded-credit MBS issuance volume topped prime non-agency MBS activity. Some $3.58 billion of expanded-credit MBS was ... [Includes one data chart]

Deephaven Mortgage’s recent adoption of an automated system to pre-qualify expanded-credit borrowers has prompted some speculation about whether fully automated underwriting systems could be used for originations of non-qualified mortgages. A number of expanded-credit lenders at the ABS East conference suggested that some automated underwriting is possible, but some aspects of the non-QM underwriting process will likely need human intervention. The conference was ...

American International Group is increasing the speed of its jumbo mortgage-backed security issuance and receiving better treatment in terms of credit enhancement requirements. An affiliate of AIG is preparing to issue a $395.7 million deal, according to presale reports released this week by Fitch Ratings and Kroll Bond Rating Agency. The issuance follows deals in March, May and September. The average loan age in AIG securities is also declining. Mortgages in the pending MBS have seasoned for ...

Quicken Loans recently made a number of adjustments to its underwriting standards for jumbo mortgages, including allowing for lower downpayment requirements and increasing amounts available for cash-out refinances. For certain jumbos, Quicken will now allow downpayments as low as 10.0 percent with no mortgage insurance required. To qualify, the loan amount must be less than $1.0 million and a borrower must generally have a credit score of at least 760 and a debt-to-income ratio ...

Ocwen Financial completed its acquisition of PHH Corp. this week. Glen Messina was appointed as president and CEO of Ocwen as the $360 million cash transaction closed. He said the merger provides “a foundation to enable Ocwen to resume new business and growth activities to offset portfolio runoff.” New Penn Financial launched a non-qualified mortgage product last week that allows borrowers to qualify for a loan based on their assets. To qualify ... [Includes three briefs]

Ginnie Mae issuance of single-family mortgage-backed securities rode a homebuying wave during the third quarter of 2018, according to a new Inside FHA/VA Lending ranking and analysis. Ginnie issuers produced $105.63 billion of new MBS backed by forward mortgages during the July-September cycle, a 7.1 percent increase from the second quarter. That brought year-to-date production to $296.88 billion – down 11.3 percent from the first nine months of 2017. Purchase mortgages provided the boost for the Ginnie market. Some $75.69 billion of FHA and VA purchase mortgages were pooled in Ginnie MBS in the third quarter, a sturdy 13.1 percent increase from the previous period. Purchase loans accounted for 75.1 percent of FHA and VA loans securitized in the third quarter, compared to 64.7 percent for all of last year. Although production of these loans has gone up since the first quarter, year-to-date volume ... [Charts]

The reverse mortgage industry is supporting an FHA move to require a second appraisal for certain Home Equity Conversion Mortgage loans. FHA did not seek public comment on the interim policy change, which subjects all HECM loans, effective Oct. 1, to a collateral risk assessment to ensure the appraisal of the property is not inflated. The new policy has wide support in the reverse mortgage industry. A study conducted by the Department of Housing and Urban Development last year found that 37 percent of appraisals on approximately 134,000 HECMs tested positive for over-valuation. The inflated HECM appraisals were at least 3 percent higher than estimates by FHA’s proprietary automated valuation model, according to FHA Commissioner Brian Montgomery. The same study also found that higher-than-expected losses in the HECM program could be attributed in part to ...

The Department of Housing and Urban Development’s failure to record indemnifications under a 2015 settlement agreement exposed the FHA insurance fund to potential losses of more than $47.4 million, according to an internal audit report. HUD’s Office of the Inspector General performed the audit to resolve issues related to two settlement agreements entered into by Fifth Third Bank and the Department of Justice. Fifth Third, a direct endorsement lender, had voluntarily disclosed to HUD 1,439 materially defective FHA loans that were originated between 2003 and 2013. HUD paid claims on 519 of those flawed loans, which generated more than $84.9 million in ineligible claims. In addition, FTB agreed to indemnify HUD for all losses for the remaining 920 FHA-insured mortgage loans. In January 2017, the bank voluntarily disclosed an additional 381 materially defective FHA loans. A HUD review of the ...