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]

The Treasury Department issued a wide-ranging request for comments last week as part of an effort to increase issuance of non-agency mortgage-backed securities. Treasury officials said they are working toward developing standards and practices for the non-agency MBS market. “The private-label securities market has been dormant since the financial crisis,” said Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew. “The fact is, we need to attract more private capital to the housing market ...

JPMorgan Chase issued a $303.75 million jumbo mortgage-backed security last week backed by 15-year fixed-rate mortgages. The deal suggests that there is some viability in securitization as the loans included in the deal were suitable to be held in bank portfolios and in fact were mostly originated by banks. First Republic Bank accounted for 55.1 percent of the contributions to J.P. Morgan Mortgage Trust 2014-2 followed by Chase itself with a ...

The new lenders contributing to jumbo mortgage-backed securities could pose risks to investors in the deals, according to Standard & Poor’s. The rating service said that due diligence and strong underwriting standards currently mitigate the risks, but there are concerns that the lenders with limited track records won’t be able to fulfill representation-and-warranty repurchase obligations. Jumbo MBS have seen contributions from a mix of lenders. The main contributors ...

Bank and thrift holdings of home-equity loans continued to decline in the first quarter of 2014, according to a new ranking from the Inside Mortgage Finance Bank Mortgage Database. However, HEL lending appears poised to increase, according to industry participants. Banks and thrifts held a total of $1.01 trillion in home-equity lines of credit, HELOC commitments and closed-end second liens at the end of the first quarter of 2014, a 1.1 percent decline ... [Includes one data chart]

Look for the Republican-controlled House this month to push additional “tax extender” legislation, including a measure to make permanent a tax break for private mortgage insurance, although the Senate will likely defer any action on tax bills stalled until after the November elections. More than six months after a series of tax incentives, including some mortgage-related measures, expired due to Congressional inaction, partisan sniping and a distinct difference in the legislative approaches of House and Senate tax-writing chairmen has contributed to uncertainty within the industry. House, Ways and Means Committee Chairman Dave Camp, R-MI, has taken...

FHA lenders reported a significant increase in the number of FHA-insured loans originated in April, breaking a downward production spiral that began in the third quarter of last year. Whether this marks a turnaround for the market, however, is uncertain. April closed with $10.3 billion in total FHA originations, up 18.5 percent from March but down 51.7 percent from the same period a year ago. This surge in FHA financing occurred despite the rising costs of obtaining an FHA loans and access-to-credit issues, which have narrowed the gap between FHA and conventional loans with private mortgage insurance. Spring and Fall are the busiest times of year for home sales which might explain the spike, according to real estate agents. FHA fixed-rate mortgages comprised 95 percent of April’s production, with purchase loans accounting for 78 percent of loans originated during the month. FHA lending trends, however, show ... [2 charts]

The FHA has announced new principal limit factors (PLF) for Home Equity Conversion Mortgages along with instructions to lenders to ensure that borrowers and their non-borrowing spouses understand the benefits and disadvantages of a reverse mortgage. The new PLF tables have been wholly revised and now include PLFs for use where the borrower has a non-borrowing spouse younger than age 62. In recent guidance, the FHA urged lenders to ensure that borrowers are provided with an analysis of the cost of a HECM loan and its benefits so that they can decide whether a reverse mortgage would meet their financial needs. Lenders also must advise prospective borrowers and their non-borrowing spouses to consult with a housing counselor whether PLFs below 20 percent may or may not actually improve their financial situation or meet their special needs. “Significant consideration should be given to the ...

The FHA has extended indefinitely the timeframe during which servicers may begin to foreclose on properties with reverse mortgages while it considers possible steps to protect non-borrowing spouses of deceased reverse-mortgage borrowers from outright eviction from their homes. The latest action stemmed from a June 10 court order, which found that current statutory protection for reverse mortgage borrowers against forced eviction and foreclosure extended to their spouses even if the latter is not a co-signer on the note. Non-borrowing spouses of deceased Home Equity Conversion Mortgage borrowers sued in federal district court in Washington, DC, last year to stop foreclosure on their homes and to challenge the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s interpretation of the regulation. Since launching the HECM program, HUD has required that a HECM be ...