Ocwen Financial posted record revenues in the third quarter of 2013 that could have been even higher if not for unexpected delays in boarding $42.0 billion in unpaid principal balance on non-agency mortgages from OneWest Bank. Officials at Ocwen wouldn’t reveal the exact cause of the delay. The loans were in non-agency mortgage-backed securities issued by IndyMac, which was taken over by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. in 2008 and sold by the FDIC to OneWest in 2009. Ocwen officials said delays ...

Citigroup Global Markets Realty is preparing to issue a non-agency jumbo mortgage-backed security next week, according to a preliminary term sheet provided to Inside Nonconforming Markets. The issuance would come just two weeks after Shellpoint Partners scrapped a planned jumbo MBS because of tepid investor demand. Blackstone is also offering the first securitization backed by rental proceeds from real estate owned properties and Freddie Mac is preparing its second non-agency risk-sharing transaction ...

The Federal Housing Finance Agency will announce 2014 loan limits for the government-sponsored enterprises near the end of November and provide lenders at least six months before the expected reductions take effect. “FHFA will follow its practice of announcing the 2014 conforming loan limits in late November, at which time further information will be provided on potential reductions in the size of loans the GSEs will guaranty going forward,” said Edward DeMarco, acting director of the FHFA ...

JPMorgan Chase’s settlement with the Federal Housing Finance Agency regarding representation and warranty claims on non-agency mortgage-backed securities could prompt large settlements by other banks, according to industry analysts. Chase agreed last week to pay $4.0 billion to settle claims on $33.8 billion of non-agency MBS purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The securities were issued between 2004 and 2007 by Chase, Bear Stearns and Washington Mutual. The settlement sets a “relatively high bar” for ...

Wells Fargo originated nearly one out of every five jumbo mortgages completed in 2012, according to a new analysis and ranking by Inside Nonconforming Markets of Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data. Wells had a 17.8 percent share of the $220.51 billion in non-agency jumbo mortgages originated last year, more than double its nearest rival. The origination volumes are based on one-unit conventional loan limits for specific metropolitan statistical areas and the $417,000 conforming loan limit [Includes one data chart] ...

A number of small subprime lenders report that they see strong demand from borrowers as well as investors looking for the strong, if risky, returns offered by subprime lending. At least two life insurance companies have approached Citadel Servicing about buying some of its new subprime loan production, according to company CEO Dan Perl. In an interview with Inside Nonconforming Markets, Perl declined to identify the insurance companies, but said he believes a market will soon develop for subprime mortgages ...

Lenders are urging federal regulators to conform the definition for qualified residential mortgages with the qualified mortgage standards established by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. While regulators suggested that stricter standards for QRMs would prompt securitizations of non-QRMs, lenders warn that such standards would be onerous and likely significantly reduce non-agency mortgage originations and securitization. The Dodd-Frank Act requires federal regulators to establish risk-retention ...

Originations of nonconforming mortgages will likely be constrained by the weight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as Congress takes three years or longer to enact reform legislation that will likely be implemented over a long-term transition plan, according to industry experts. The baby steps that have been taken this year – a GOP reform bill approved by the House Financial Services Committee and a bipartisan approach in the Senate – provide some momentum for resolving the five-year conservatorship of the two ...

FHA jumbo loan originations continued their quarterly fluctuations as production in the second quarter of 2013 slipped after a good run in the previous quarter, according to Inside FHA Lending’s analysis of FHA data. Volume fell 1.5 percent from the first quarter, during which the FHA posted $5.36 billion in jumbo mortgage originations. The first quarter number broke a declining production trend that began in the second quarter of last year when FHA reported $6.27 billion in jumbo lending. FHA lenders produced a total of $10.8 billion in new jumbo loans in the first half of 2013, down 2.7 percent from ... [2 charts]

Lenders continue to originate non-agency jumbo mortgages, but few are likely to be securitized in the coming months due to more favorable economics for banks retaining the loans in portfolio. Longer term, many investors suggest they won’t return to the non-agency mortgage-backed security market until issuers standardize their offerings. The ABS East conference sponsored by Information Management Network last week in Miami presented a tale of two markets: jumbo MBS and everything else ...