New production of non-agency MBS fell sharply in the first quarter of 2016 despite an anomalous rebound in the prime mortgage sector. A mere $8.38 billion of non-agency MBS was issued in the first three months of this year, down 40.8 percent from the fourth quarter and off 64.5 percent from a year ago, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis and ranking. It was the slowest quarter for new issuance since the end of 2013, when just $6.11 billion of new non-agency MBS came to market. The non-agency MBS market remains...[Includes three data tables]

Overall net losses in subprime auto ABS are on the rise due to an increasing number of deals from smaller lenders that cater to borrowers with weak credit. Amid this trend, however, subprime auto ABS performance varies by lender, according to a new report from Moody’s Investors Service. Moody’s analysts said competition among auto lenders has tightened as new, mostly smaller, lenders – driven by low losses on post-crisis auto loans and low interest rates – enter the market and compete for borrowers. The crowded market has driven...

Over the past year, The Blackstone Group has been aggressively expanding into many facets of the mortgage business and is now ready to make what might be considered a bold move: investing and originating in residential loans that don’t meet the qualified-mortgage test. But just how big might Blackstone get? That’s hard to say at this point. A source inside the company, who spoke under the condition his name not be used, confirmed...

As the non-conforming secondary market continues to grapple with headaches surrounding TRID errors and scotched jumbo deals, another storm may be brewing: whether Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are buying loans that – if tested properly for violations – would reveal flaws. The good news for the lending industry is that the government-sponsored enterprises are not now conducting routine post-purchase file reviews for technical compliance for TRID errors. The GSEs now are just checking to make sure the new consumer disclosures, which merge the requirements of the Truth in Lending Act and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, are being used. Still, that has not prevented...

Litigation over legacy residential MBS deals that went sour in the run-up to the financial crisis continued last week, as California Attorney General Kamala Harris sued investment bank Morgan Stanley for alleged misrepresentations about RMBS investments, which she said contributed to huge losses by investors such as the state’s public pension funds. In what is just the second such use of the False Claims Act by a state, Harris’ complaint, filed in San Francisco Superior Court, alleges that Morgan Stanley violated the FCA, as well as California securities law and other state laws, by allegedly hiding or downplaying the risks of complex investments involving large numbers of underlying loans or other assets. Harris used...

The volume of prime non-agency mortgage-backed securities issued in the first quarter of 2016 reveals little about how the market is functioning, according to a new analysis and ranking by Inside Nonconforming Markets. Some $2.92 billion in prime non-agency MBS was issued in the first quarter of 2016, a 61.3 percent increase from the previous quarter but a 36.4 percent decline compared with the first quarter of 2015. Only four prime ... [Includes one data chart]

The Association of Mortgage Investors recently detailed a number of issues involving the TRID disclosure rule that have been uncovered in pre-purchase due diligence reviews on non-agency mortgages. The example errors were included in a letter from the AMI to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which designed and mandated the new disclosure based on requirements of the Truth in Lending Act and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act. “In the near term ...

Fitch Ratings revised its criteria for rating non-agency mortgage-backed securities backed by non-qualified mortgages last week. The new standards set the stage for Fitch to rate nonprime non-QM MBS. The new non-QM criteria from Fitch include expanded product assumptions for rating nonprime mortgages and loans to self-employed or non-wage-earning borrowers. When determining litigation liability, Fitch said it will make a distinction between non-QMs for “very high ...

Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-MA, used a hearing by the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee this week to highlight the Federal Reserve’s lack of action on subprime mortgages prior to the financial crisis of 2008. Leonard Chanin, currently of counsel at the law firm of Morrison & Foerster, took the brunt of Warren’s criticism. He was deputy director of the division of consumer and community affairs at the Federal Reserve and helped lead the division from ...

A district court of appeals in Florida ruled in favor of a borrower this week in a case involving a foreclosure on a mortgage in a non-agency mortgage-backed security. The District Court of Appeal of the State of Florida, Fourth District, found that the trustee on a non-agency MBS issued by Bear Stearns in 2006 didn’t have the proper documentation to complete a foreclosure initiated in 2009. “An exhibit filed during the trial contained no indication that ... [Includes three briefs]