The issuance of prime non-agency mortgage-backed securities in 2016 is well below the relatively meager levels seen in recent years, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets. Some industry participants have blamed the lack of activity on the Truth in Lending Act/Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act disclosure rule that took effect in October. Although there are signs the market has adjusted to TRID, only two ... [Includes one data chart]

The “Brexit” vote in the United Kingdom last week helped significantly reduce interest rates on new jumbo mortgages. Looking forward, it’s not clear if rates will remain low, which would boost refinance volume, or if banks will make further adjustments. The Brexit vote prompted investors to increase their holdings of 10-year Treasury notes, pushing down yields. Interest rates on mortgages tend to follow trends in the 10-year Treasury, though rates on jumbo mortgages can be ...

The nonprime mortgage-backed security issued last week by Lone Star Funds could spur an increase in MBS backed by non-qualified mortgages, industry analysts say. The $161.71 million COLT 2016-1 Mortgage Loan Trust was the first MBS backed by non-QMs to receive a rating. Some 51.8 percent of the mortgages in the deal were non-QMs. All of the mortgages were originated by Lone Star’s Caliber Home Loans. The A-1 tranche of the MBS priced at spread of ...

New criteria from Fitch Ratings for rating non-agency mortgage-backed securities include provisions regarding due diligence grades and the deal agent position planned by some issuers. The criteria published this week include a “realignment” of items that result in C grades and D grades on mortgages reviewed by third-party due diligence firms. The changes include reviews for compliance with the Truth in Lending Act/Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act ...

HSBC Finance announced in June that it reached a $1.58 billion settlement on a subprime mortgage-related lawsuit filed back in 2002. The shareholder class-action lawsuit centered on activities by Household International, which was acquired by HSBC for $14.6 billion in 2003. The lawsuit claimed Household International and officials at the company made false or misleading statements about predatory lending practices, the quality of its loan portfolio, and the company’s ...

Investors in FHA’s distressed note sales program would be required to do more for homeowners to help them avoid foreclosure and keep their homes, thanks to improvements to FHA’s Distressed Asset Stabilization Program (DASP) announced this week by the agency. The changes appear aimed at consumer groups’ criticism of the Department of Housing and Urban Development for allowing profit-oriented investors to purchase the troubled HUD assets at a discount and flip the homes for a profit without ever helping the distressed homeowner. Although the transactions make good economic sense for investors and the government, struggling homeowners end up losing their homes without having tried any loan modification option that could have helped them avoid foreclosure. HUD launched the DASP in 2010 under pressure from Congress to help stabilize the FHA’s Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund, which ...

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. this week revised its securitization safe-harbor rule to clarify loss mitigation standards for mortgage servicers to synchronize it with the similar requirements issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. The FDIC safe-harbor rule sets standards under which the agency will not attempt to capture assets of a failed bank that are transferred to qualifying securitizations. Under the previous rule, servicers of residential mortgages backing MBS that enjoy safe-harbor status were required to take loss mitigation action within 90 days after the loan becomes delinquent. In January 2013, the CFPB adopted...

A federal appeals court in New York this week will hear arguments from African-American subprime borrowers in Detroit in connection with a proposed class action challenging Morgan Stanley’s mortgage securitization practices during the subprime mortgage boom. The American Civil Liberties Union and its partners are seeking class-action status for the borrowers’ Fair Housing Act claims, which were initially rejected by a lower court. The court previously ruled that each borrower would have to sue on his or her own. The issue on appeal at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit is...

Jumbo mortgage originations declined by 2.0 percent during the first quarter of 2016, mirroring the modest downturn in overall mortgage lending from the previous quarter. Jumbo originations – including loans that were within the high-cost loan limits for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA and VA – totaled $100.61 billion in the first quarter, according to a new analysis and ranking by Inside Mortgage Finance. The sector accounted for 26.5 percent of total originations during the first three months of the year, down slightly from a 26.7 percent share in the fourth quarter. The jumbo share of total originations has generally been...[Includes three data tables]

The outstanding supply of single-family MBS in the market fell slightly in the first quarter, but you have to go two paces to the right of the decimal point to see it. A new Inside MBS & ABS analysis indicates that outstanding MBS totaled $6.407 trillion as of the end of March. That was down 0.01 percent from the previous quarter, stalling a steady expansion of the market that took place in 2015. And with a modest 0.2 percent increase in total single-family mortgage debt outstanding, the modest contraction in MBS nudged...[Includes two data tables]