Investors interested in buying new non-agency mortgage-backed securities suggest that the wide variety seen in the pooling and servicing agreements and reporting of vintage non-agency MBS is insufficient. Many investors at the recent ABS East conference in Miami sponsored by Information Management Network called for standardization. “Investors clearly welcome standardization,” said Dapeng Hu, a managing director at BlackRock, which manages more than $150.0 billion in MBS investments ...

If implemented as proposed, Basel III capital requirements would force major changes for bank lenders and servicers, according to industry participants. Originations of non-agency mortgages would remain limited, mortgage holdings would be sold and borrowers would face additional costs. Rules to implement Basel III were proposed in June by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Comments were due in October and some industry ...

Wells Fargo was the top jumbo lender in 2011, according to a ranking by affiliated publication Inside Mortgage Finance based on Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data compiled by ComplianceTech/Lending Patterns. Among the states, California dominated jumbo volume again. Wells originated $25.13 billion in mortgages with balances greater $625,000. The high-cost conforming loan limit for the government-sponsored enterprises fell from $729,750 to $625,500 in October 2011, while the FHA’s ... [Includes two data charts]

Underwriting standards for subprime mortgages and borrower demand for such loans remained unchanged in the third quarter of 2012 compared with the previous quarter, according to the Federal Reserve’s senior loan-officer opinion survey on bank lending practices. While 64 banks surveyed reported offering prime mortgages, only four reported offering subprime mortgages and 23 reported offering nontraditional mortgages. Underwriting and demand for nontraditional mortgages ... [Includes two briefs]

Participants in the non-agency mortgage-backed security market expect the amount of MBS backed by newly originated non-agency mortgages to increase significantly in 2013 and beyond – even without reform of the government-sponsored enterprises. A number of factors have combined to make the market ripe for new non-agency MBS, according to attendees at the ABS East conference sponsored by Information Management Network this week in Miami. “Borrowers want loans, lenders want to lend and investors want yield,” ... [Includes one data chart]

Redwood Trust issued a $320.34 million non-agency jumbo mortgage-backed security last week, its fifth of the year. With the latest transaction, the company has produced $1.67 billion in non-agency jumbo MBS in 2012. Grant Bailey, a managing director at Fitch Ratings, said Redwood’s post-bust securities are “the best transactions ever done in non-agency MBS history.” Sequoia Mortgage Trust 2012-5 received AAA ratings from Fitch, Kroll Bond Rating Agency and Moody’s Investors Service, with 7.30 percent ...

Shellpoint Partners filed a shelf registration statement with the Securities and Exchange Commission last week with plans to issue new non-agency mortgage-backed securities. Officials at the company have stressed that the MBS will be even more investor-friendly than the high-quality jumbo MBS issued by Redwood Trust. “Investors should know that what they are buying is a clean loan,” Eric Kaplan, a managing director at Shellpoint, said this week at the ABS East conference sponsored by Information Management ...

Competing special servicers Ocwen Financial and Walter Investment Management worked together this week to outbid Nationstar Mortgage to acquire Residential Capital’s mortgage servicing rights and origination platform at a bankruptcy auction. And Berkshire Hathaway won a separate auction for ResCap’s whole-loan portfolio. After approval by the bankruptcy court, Ocwen would handle 86.5 percent of the $374.0 billion ResCap MSRs with Walter acquiring $50.4 billion in Fannie Mae MSRs along with ResCap’s ...

Republicans in the House will approve a package of legislation to reform the government-sponsored enterprises next year, according to the chief of staff for Rep. David Schweikert, R-AZ. The Arizona lawmaker is also working on a bipartisan bill to establish a framework for the non-agency mortgage-backed security market. Speaking at the ABS East conference sponsored by Information Management Network this week in Miami, Matthew Tully, chief of staff for Schweikert, said GSE reform is a top agenda item for House ...

With the help of consumer advocates, five borrowers filed a class-action lawsuit last week against Morgan Stanley alleging racial discrimination tied to the issuance of subprime mortgage-backed securities. The case appears to be the first to connect securitization and racial discrimination and the first class-action by borrowers against an investment bank. “It literally is the first case of Main Street holding Wall Street accountable for the abuses that happened and the aftermath in the Great Recession,” ...