Eave, a direct-mortgage lender, launched recently with a focus on jumbo mortgages, technology and low fees. The originator, only operating in Colorado at the moment, claims to be able to close loans about twice as fast as “brand name” lenders. “We took the entire mortgage universe apart and put it back together, better,” the firm said, touting its underwriting process. The lender claims that more than 60 percent of the information collected by other lenders from ...

Ron Faris, the current president and CEO of Ocwen Financial, will retire on June 30. After Ocwen’s pending acquisition of PHH Corp. closes, Glen Messina will be president and CEO of Ocwen, the nation’s largest subprime servicer. Messina was previously president and CEO of PHH. During the first quarter of 2018, Wells Fargo sold $1.60 billion of its holdings of vintage pick-a-pay mortgages. The sale generated a gain of $643.0 million for the bank. The buyer ... [Includes four briefs]

Issuance of non-agency mortgage-backed securities with prime jumbo loans and expanded-credit mortgages flourished in the first quarter of 2018, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets. Combined, $6.28 billion of such securities was issued, more than double the activity in the first quarter of 2017 and up 24.6 percent from the fourth quarter of last year. Some $4.23 billion of prime jumbo MBS was issued during ... [Includes one data chart]

Angel Oak Capital Advisors issued a $328.76 million nonprime mortgage-backed security this week, its biggest so far. Its previous high was a $210.45 million offering in July. DBRS and Fitch Ratings assigned AAA ratings to Angel Oak Mortgage Trust I, LLC 2018-1. The deal included credit enhancement of 35.6 percent on the senior tranche, somewhat lower than previous issuance from Angel Oak. Fitch said Angel Oak has strong underwriting and risk management practices, which ...

The first jumbo mortgage-backed security from loanDepot is set to close April 6. After a span where the nonbank contributed to jumbo MBS issued by other firms, loanDepot set up its own securitization shelf. The $299.83 million Mello Mortgage Capital Acceptance 2018-MTG1 was stocked with non-agency jumbos along with conforming jumbos eligible for sale to the government-sponsored enterprises. The deal received AAA ratings from DBRS and Moody’s Investors Service with ...

JPMorgan Chase is preparing to issue a non-agency mortgage-backed security stocked entirely with loans eligible for sale to the government-sponsored enterprises. While Chase has long included GSE-eligible loans in its non-agency MBS, the deals generally also include non-agency jumbo mortgages. The mortgages in the $313.56 million deal largely look to be conforming jumbos. The loans have an average balance of $527,877. Fitch Ratings noted that the collateral attributes of the pool are ...

Lenders would be more willing to offer non-qualified mortgages if federal regulators established a “regulatory sandbox,” according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. David Stevens, president and CEO of the MBA, made the suggestion in a letter to the Treasury Department last week. He described the concept as a space where businesses can test innovative products and processes without risk of regulatory consequences from noncompliance. Stevens said a sandbox would be ...

Nonbank wholesale lenders rolled out a variety of non-agency products in recent weeks, including prime jumbo mortgages, non-qualified mortgages and nonprime offerings. Newfi Lending launched Sequoia Porfolio Plus, a program where all underwriting and exceptions are handled in-house. Steve Abreu, Newfi’s CEO, said the new offering combines “the best of jumbo and non-traditional borrowing options.” The program allows for loan amounts of up to $2.0 million, credit scores ...

Bill Ashmore, the former president of Impac Mortgage Holdings, is trying to raise money for a new venture that will focus on non-qualified mortgages. Ocwen Financial forgave approximately $857 million in mortgage debt in 2017, according to the firm. Since the beginning of 2008, the servicer has completed more than $18.5 billion of principal forgiveness via loan modifications, largely on non-agency mortgages. Velocity Commercial Capital is set to ... [Includes three briefs]

A subsidiary of Annaly Capital Management plans to issue a non-agency mortgage-backed security with a mix of seasoned mortgages. The $327.16 million OBX 2018-1 Trust will include loans that have seasoned for an average of four years and mortgages that were called from non-agency MBS issued in 2005. The newer loans have a total unpaid principal balance of $121.86 million. Some 11.4 percent of them include interest-only features. Non-qualified mortgages account for ...