Non-agency mortgage-backed security issuers and investors were getting more comfortable in recent years with third-party due diligence reviews of less than 100 percent of the mortgages in an MBS due to the exceptionally strong performance of new originations. However, analysts at Morningstar Credit Ratings suggest that most non-agency MBS backed by new mortgages will be subject to full reviews due to uncertainty regarding the CFPB’s integrated-disclosure rule under the Truth in Lending Act and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, otherwise known as TRID. The reviews help identify and cure compliance issues and protect MBS investors from TRID-related losses. “Most post-crisis transactions carry out due diligence on every loan, and we...

Last week, at their national convention in Cleveland, the Republicans issued their 2016 campaign platform, which featured some particularly sharp rhetoric towards the CFPB. The GOP called for either getting rid of the agency in the broader context of repealing and replacing the Dodd-Frank Act, or at least altering the bureau’s leadership structure and its funding mechanism. If they can’t abolish the CFPB outright, the Republicans want to replace the current single directorship with a bipartisan commission and subject the bureau to the congressional appropriations process in lieu of its funding from the Federal Reserve. “The worst of Dodd-Frank is the CFPB, deliberately designed to be a rogue agency,” the platform stated.

Wells Fargo handled 20.2 percent of the $841.42 million in agency mortgages outstanding at the end of the second quarter of 2016 that had interest rates between 4.510 percent and 5.000 percent.

“Most real estate agents say high loan-to-value ratio mortgages are readily available, especially for homebuyers with good credit,” said Tom Popik, research director for Campbell Surveys.

JPMorgan Chase is preparing to issue a $2.65 billion prime non-agency MBS, including a large share of mortgages eligible for sale to the government-sponsored enterprises. While company officials see promise in the new type of securities, industry participants offer mixed projections on whether other big banks will follow its lead. The planned Chase Mortgage Trust 2016-2 received AAA ratings from Fitch Ratings and Moody’s Investors Service. Mortgages eligible for sale to the GSEs account for 55.0 percent of the dollar volume backing the deal. As with the $1.89 billion Chase Mortgage Trust 2016-1 that priced in March, the bank will retain...

The Federal Home Loan Banks’ Mortgage Partnership Finance program and Redwood Trust announced a number of changes this week to the MPF Direct product. Beginning Aug. 31, the loan limit will increase to $2.5 million and hybrid adjustable-rate mortgages will be eligible for delivery. The MPF Direct program was launched in 2014, with a loan limit of $729,750, the high-cost loan limit for the government-sponsored enterprises at the time. In the third quarter of 2015, the loan limit for the product was increased to $1.5 million. The loan limit for cash-out refinances is $750,000. “We continue...

The Republican platform, released this week during the Republican National Convention, would scale back the government’s role in housing and make borrowers and lenders more responsible. But it offered a somewhat vague prescription for what to do with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. “Our goal is to advance responsible homeownership while guarding against the abuses that led to the housing collapse,” the platform states. The GOP said housing reform should include clear underwriting standards and guidelines on predatory and acceptable lending practices – standards that are arguably at the core of the Dodd-Frank Act that’s roundly criticized by the party. Republicans blamed...

Mortgages that allow buyers to make low downpayments are making a quiet comeback, according to a recent analysis from Deutsche Bank. But do they have the staying power? So far, seven lenders have partnered with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in special programs to offer loans requiring anywhere from no money down to 3 percent down. Although the government-sponsored enterprises cap their high loan-to-value product at 97 percent, some lenders step in and subsidize the extra funds needed to make up the difference. The GSEs began...

The secondary market in mortgage servicing rights rebounded during the second quarter of 2016 after starting the year with a thud, according to an exclusive Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of mortgage-securities disclosures by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae. The three agencies saw a combined $42.95 billion of MSR change hands in bulk transactions during the second quarter. That was up 20.6 percent from the first quarter, when ... [Includes two data charts]

Small banks have increased their holdings of mortgage servicing rights in recent years as more of these institutions switched to delivering mortgages directly to the government-sponsored enterprises, according to an analysis by federal banking regulators. Small banks, those with total assets less than $10.0 billion, held 8.0 percent of the banking industry’s total mortgage servicing assets in 2015, up from a share of less than 2.0 percent as recently as 2009. Small banks have increased ...