FHA Issues Waiver of Property Inspections in Disaster-Stricken California Counties. FHA has issued a waiver of its timing policy for completing property inspections prior to closing or endorsing a loan for FHA insurance. The waiver is in effect in presidentially declared major disaster areas in Lake and Shasta Counties, CA, that were ravaged by wildfires and high winds. FHA believes that the wildfires and high winds have stabilized so as not to cause any further damage to properties, even though FEMA has not declared “all clear” in the affected areas. The waiver allows damage inspections to be completed after Oct. 2, for properties located in the PDMDA. NC Commissioner of Banks Amends State Reverse Mortgage Rules. The North Carolina Commissioner of Banks recently amended its ...

When the going gets tough in the mortgage industry and profit margins begin to wither, thinly capitalized lenders start heading for the exits. But of late, the selling has been light, with a few large blockbuster deals – Ditech and loanDepot – remaining in the “maybe” column. “There’s a lot of chatter out there, but not much in the way of done-deals,” said Chuck Klein, managing partner of Mortgage Banking Solutions, Austin, TX. “But companies are concerned – they’re looking at the next 24 months and ...

Thanks to strong MBS issuance and a favorable interest-rate picture, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are likely to post robust results for the third quarter, topping their earnings from the previous period, according to a new analysis from Inside MBS & ABS. Based on single-family MBS issued in July and August, Freddie likely will end the third quarter with issuance north of $83.1 billion, compared to $82.3 billion in 2Q18. Fannie is on track to issue $135.0 billion in securities, compared to $111.6 billion in ...

Commercial banks and savings institutions valued their mortgage-servicing rights at historically high levels at the end of the second quarter, even as industry leaders continued to pull back from the sector. A new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of call-report data reveals that the industry serviced $3.563 trillion of single-family mortgages for other investors, usually loans held in mortgage-backed securities trusts. The industry total servicing for others was down ... [Includes one data chart]

Commercial banks and savings institutions repurchased only $422.7 million of single-family mortgages during the second quarter of 2018, according to an analysis of call-report data by Inside Mortgage Trends. It was the lowest three-month repurchase total for the industry since regulators began collecting this data back in 2008. Repurchases, including other indemnification for investor losses, were down 42.3 percent from the first quarter. The call-report figures ... [Includes one data chart]

Although servicing brokers posted brisk sales figures for the first half of the year, the third quarter has been tepid, with buyers catching their breath while trying to figure out their next move.

Wells Fargo is getting closer to returning to the jumbo mortgage-backed security market, according to John Shrewsberry, a senior executive vice president and chief financial officer at the bank. “We will be securitizing some of our jumbo loans, which has been a dormant market for a long time, but just as a method of demonstrating liquidity and getting market pricing,” he said last week at a conference hosted by Barclays. Wells has been plotting a return to the non-agency MBS market for ...

A wide majority of banks and thrifts continued to increase their first-lien residential mortgage holdings in the second quarter, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets. Some $2.04 trillion of residential first liens were held in bank and thrift portfolios as of the end of June, up 0.9 percent from March and up 5.2 percent compared with June 2017. Among the top 50 banks and thrifts, only six reduced their holdings on an annual basis ... [Includes one data chart]

Originations of adjustable-rate mortgages increased by 25.0 percent on a quarterly basis in the second quarter of 2018, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets. An estimated $55.0 billion of ARMs were originated in the second quarter. The increase looks to be tied to seasonal factors and trends in interest rates. Through the first half of 2018, an estimated $99.0 billion of ARMs were originated, down 2.0 percent from ... [Includes one data chart]

Ginnie Mae assured the mortgage industry that it would accept so-called VA orphan loans as long as they satisfy the terms of corrective legislation passed by the House Financial Services Committee recently. “As long as the mortgage loan complies with the law, we will accept it and put our guarantee on it,” said an agency spokesperson in response to an Inside FHA/VA Lending inquiry. Ginnie’s assurance provides certainty to a subset of VA loans that have been in limbo since June because they could not be delivered into Ginnie mortgage-backed securities. Lawmakers responded to industry calls for a legislative fix last week by voting overwhelmingly to approve H.R. 6737, the “Protect Affordable Mortgages for Veterans Act of 2018.” Introduced by Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-NY, the bill would eliminate the seasoning requirements in the recently enacted Dodd-Frank Act reform legislation, which conflicted with ...