The agency single-family MBS market continued cranking along during the third quarter of 2017, but other sectors in structured finance saw weakening issuance, according to an exclusive new analysis and ranking by Inside MBS & ABS. Some $407.55 billion of MBS and ABS – excluding collateralized debt obligations and agency credit-risk transfer deals – were issued during the third quarter. That was off 4.9 percent from the previous three-month period and it ... [Includes three data charts]

Roughly 9.8 percent of Ginnie Mae’s outstanding MBS portfolio may be potentially at risk due to hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria, according to data released recently by the agency. The tally represents the number of Ginnie loans and their unpaid principal balance amounts in the presidentially declared disaster areas in Texas, Florida, Georgia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. A total of 1.066 million mortgages with a UPB of $184.5 billion have been affected. Ginnie’s current MBS portfolio totals $1.9 trillion

The GSEs and Ginnie Mae remain the dominant forces in the MBS/ABS market. Their combined single-family issuance hit $346.98 billion in 3Q17…

Still, the deal world grinds forward. “Ten days ago, sales were dead, but interest is picking up again,” said Mark Garland, president of MountainView Servicing Group…

In the interim, mortgage servicers must continue to pass on the principal and interest payments to the end bondholders.

The Mortgage Bankers Association called on the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Inspector General to help Ginnie Mae strengthen its oversight of nonbanks instead of focusing on “business models and market share.” In a statement following the IG’s release of a report criticizing Ginnie’s supervision of nonbank issuers, the MBA criticized the report for mischaracterizing the role of, and the risks posed by, these companies. Independent mortgage bankers have been...[Includes one data table]

CBO suggests seven options to reduce risk in FHA coverage, including insuring less of the loan amount...

For several months now we’ve been hearing reports that the Trump administration has grave concerns about the FHA program...

Ginnie Mae’s inadequate response to the rapid increase of nonbank issuers may make it difficult for the agency to identify issuer problems in time to prevent default, warned the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s inspector general in a recent audit report. Specifically, the IG report said the agency failed to implement policies and procedures for managing issuers in a timely manner and tried to supervise them without a written default strategy. Furthermore, the report claimed Ginnie did not promptly assess and address the risks posed by nonbanks. Ginnie Mae questioned the findings, contending it “has done a more than credible job adapting to the new environment” despite the pressure on its resources. Ginnie’s issuer base had changed dramatically over the last couple of years as many banks either left or reduced their exposure in the FHA market for fear of being slapped with a ...

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has asked its inspector general for some leeway in making much needed changes to ensure servicers are employing loss mitigation. Responding to an audit, HUD asked the IG to modify some of the recommendations to enable the agency to make policy changes where needed and in a suitable format. HUD also requested that recommendations regarding indemnification and servicing be tweaked so that remedies will be required only when a deficiency is found. The IG audit was based on the result of an analysis, which showed that servicers may not be always evaluating delinquent FHA borrowers for loss mitigation as required and that HUD’s oversight in this area is weak. According to the findings, HUD did not have adequate controls to ensure that servicers of FHA-insured single-family loans properly engaged in ...