The non-agency MBS market is set to receive a jolt as Wells Fargo plans to return to the space. “This year, one of our aspirations is to come back to the market with a couple of deals,” said Franklin Codel, a senior executive vice president of consumer lending at Wells. “We’re taking a look to make sure we can structure those properly … to try to test the market and see what we can do to bring some confidence back to the private-label market.” The official mentioned the plans late last week during an investor event hosted by Wells. Back in 2007, Wells ranked...

Industry attorneys are warning about a “third wave” of Lehman Brothers Holdings (LBHI) MBS trust claims against mortgage lenders and brokers based on the firm’s latest bankruptcy filing. Attorneys with the firm American Mortgage Law Group said Lehman Brothers for several years has been threatening to file residential MBS trust claims against the mortgage industry to counter trustee claims filed against LBHI in bankruptcy in 2009. The wait is...

Originations of non-agency jumbo mortgages in the first quarter of 2017 were down by 29.0 percent from the previous quarter, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets. A decline in refinance activity contributed to the sharp drop in jumbo funding. An estimated $71.00 billion of non-agency jumbos were originated during the quarter. Not only did volume fall significantly from the fourth quarter of 2016, production was ... [Includes one data chart]

Redwood Trust posted $37.0 million of net income in the first quarter of 2017, up 45.8 percent from the previous quarter and more than double the net income the real estate investment trust reported for the first quarter of 2016. Income from Redwood’s mortgage-banking activities was boosted by higher loan purchase volume and strong demand in the secondary market for jumbo mortgages. Redwood purchased jumbo mortgages with a total unpaid principal balance of ...

Impac Mortgage Holdings has significantly increased its originations of non-qualified mortgages and plans to package the loans into non-agency mortgage-backed securities. The nonbank originated $184.3 million of non-QMs in the first quarter of 2017, up from $86.3 million in the previous period. In all of 2016, Impac originated $289.6 million in non-QMs. The product accounted for 11.6 percent of Impac’s originations in the first quarter, up from a 2.8 percent share the previous period ...

Investors showed strong appetite for the largest non-agency mortgage-backed security backed by post-crisis nonprime originations. The $402.65 million COLT 2017-1 priced at tighter yields than any other post-crisis rated nonprime MBS amid stronger demand for mortgage credit, according to analysts at Deutsche Bank Securities. The deal from an affiliate of Lone Star Funds priced near the end of April and closed last week. “The transaction was priced at the tightest level ...

More buyers and sellers are getting into the whole-loan market for non-jumbo loans, especially nonprime mortgages, industry experts said. That’s especially true for loans that don’t meet the qualified-mortgage standard, said Matthew Nichols, CEO and founder, Deephaven Mortgage, during a panel session at last week’s secondary market conference sponsored by the Mortgage Bankers Association. Three keys spurred the market last year, he explained. First, performance of ...

Ocwen Financial announced last week that it’s negotiating an agreement with New Residential Investment involving mortgage servicing rights for non-agency mortgages. The agreement would reduce the servicing fee Ocwen receives but provide the company some stability and an equity investment. Before the agreement, New Residential owned rights to MSR on mortgages serviced by Ocwen with an unpaid principal balance of $117.0 billion. The loans are in non-agency ...

The Republican effort to reform many aspects of the Dodd-Frank Act was approved by the House Financial Services Committee last week on a party-line vote. The Financial CHOICE Act will likely be approved by the full House at some point, but DFA reform doesn’t appear to be a priority in the Senate. The House panel approved H.R. 10, the Financial Creating Hope and Opportunity for Investors, Consumers and Entrepreneurs Act, on a 34-26 vote after a three-day markup ...

Wells Fargo is planning to issue non-agency mortgage-backed securities this year, Franklin Codel, a senior executive vice president of consumer lending at the bank, said during an investor presentation this week. It will be the first post-crisis non-agency MBS from Wells. He said the deals will help test whether Wells can improve investor confidence in non-agency MBS. Ellington Financial plans to issue a non-agency mortgage-backed security backed by ... [Includes four briefs]