The unpaid principal balance on VA loans securitized in 3Q15 Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities totaled $426.9 billion, up 5.1 percent from the previous quarter and 17.3 percent more year-over-year. Wells Fargo serviced $114.4 billion of VA collateral at Sept. 30, 2.0 percent up from the prior quarter. It was good enough for a commanding 26.8 percent of the market. The only other megabank among the top five servicers in this segment was fifth-place Chase Home Finance, which closed the quarter with $16.8 billion and a 3.9 percent market share. It saw portfolio declines on both quarterly and year-over-year bases. USAA Federal Savings Bank, in third place, accounted for $24.1 billion, or 5.6 percent of the VA-backed MBS servicing market. Nonbanks PennyMac, in second place, and fourth-ranked Freedom Mortgage combined for 11.0 percent of the ... [ 1 chart ]

Servicing of FHA loans pooled into Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities rose 2.1 percent in the third quarter of 2015. Three megabanks in the top five-servicer tier accounted for a significant share of the market. Ginnie Mae servicers of FHA collateral reported $969.0 billion outstanding at Sept. 30, with Wells Fargo accounting for 27.9 percent of total servicing volume. Wells Fargo, Chase Home Finance (#2) and Bank of America (#5) combined to service 39.3 percent of FHA outstanding as of the end of the quarter. PennyMac Corp. closed the quarter with a $57.7 billion FHA servicing portfolio, good enough for third place and 6.0 percent of the market. Fourth-ranked NationStar Mortgage reported a $53.6 billion servicing portfolio at the end of the ... [ 1 chart ]

Community lenders renewed their call for a further cut in FHA mortgage insurance premiums amid speculation that a healthier FHA insurance fund could lead to another reduction. But analysts are less optimistic about another premium reduction for different reasons. In a letter to FHA Acting Commissioner Edward Golding, the Community Home Lenders Association asked that the annual MIP be reduced to the pre-crisis level of 0.55 percent when FHA’s capital reserve ratio returns to the statutory 2.0 percent level. The call comes less than a month before FHA issues its highly anticipated annual actuarial report on the state of the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund. There is speculation within the mortgage industry that the FY 2015 report will show improved FHA fundamentals, bringing the fund closer or over its statutory 2.0 percent capital reserve ratio. The report is expected to highlight the positive results of a ...

The California Housing Finance Agency is planning to add VA loans to its list of mortgage programs, with an offer of downpayment assistance. Kenneth Giebel, CHFA director of homeownership, said the agency plans to have a VA loan program in place in early 2016 to complement other first-mortgage programs. In addition, the agency is considering adding the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s guaranteed single family home loan program to its current product menu. Currently, the CHFA is working with the California Department of Veterans Affairs (CalVet) in providing home loans to qualified veterans and servicemembers. There are 31 military installations located throughout California, home to nearly 2 million veterans. A CalVet VA loan utilizes a veterans’ or service member’s VA eligibility and provides 100 percent financing. The department also has a Fannie Mae 97 loan-to-value ratio product, which ...

The Department of Veterans Affairs and the FHA have issued guidelines concerning the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) rule as it relates to VA- and FHA-backed mortgages. The new TRID rule covers loan applications received on or after Oct. 3, 2015. It replaced Truth-in-Lending-Act disclosures and the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s closing (HUD-1) settlement statement. The rule requires that all covered loans be closed using the new closing disclosure. The VA has announced new closing-disclosure guidelines and a new mandatory method for the stacking order of loan files selected for full-loan review. According to the VA, all files selected for full review on or after Oct. 3 may include the HUD-1 statement. The agency is aware that loans will be requested that have the HUD-1 closing document, and that it will perform the full file review with the ...

A trade association representing large financial institutions has asked the FHA to clarify its policy regarding the use of downpayment assistance programs on home purchases financed with FHA mortgage loans. The differences in the interpretation of the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s inspector general and the FHA of downpayment assistance programs (DAP), especially by state housing finance agencies, has created uncertainty among lenders, according to the Consumer Mortgage Coalition. In a letter to HUD Secretary Julian Castro, the CMC expressed concern that lenders may become unwilling to continue offering loans with assisted financing because of legal uncertainty. “This would be unfortunate for moderate-income borrowers nationwide, and it would unnecessarily limit the ability of [state housing finance agencies] to function,” the group said. SHFAs do not rely on taxpayer funding for ...

Over the next few weeks, publicly traded real estate investment trusts that specialize in residential mortgages will begin reporting third quarter earnings and the outlook is hardly rosy. “Another difficult quarter for mREITs is behind us,” wrote Keefe, Bruyette & Woods analyst Michael Widner and his team of researchers. “Rate uncertainty has been and remains the sector’s biggest challenge.” In other words, the slow march downward in rates has been...

The good news is that mortgage industry forecasters now see a much stronger originations market in 2016 than they did just a few months ago. But loan production is still expected to drop from 2015 levels. The consensus projection from economists at Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Mortgage Bankers Association is that single-family mortgage originations will total $1.376 trillion next year. Back in May, the average forecast was $1.208 trillion. Estimates have ... [Includes one data chart]

Walter Investment Management recently reorganized its servicing operation, formerly known as Green Tree, and its production unit as Ditech Mortgage, and other nonbanks may be looking for a new identity as well. Nationstar recently trademarked the name “Mr. Cooper,” but the company isn’t giving out much information on the topic. According to a spokesman, Nationstar has trademarked “a couple of names” for “non-specific possible future uses.” However, one source close to ...

New research from FICO suggests that broader economic conditions have helped limit losses on home-equity lines of credit originated before the financial crisis. For years, analysts have warned about the risks posed by HELOCs after the loans hit 10-year reset periods, prompting payment shock for some borrowers as principal and interest is due as opposed to the interest-only payments that were initially allowed. The risk to banks is seen as particularly harsh because ...