The Department of Veterans Affairs is considering possible solutions, including new regulation or policy changes, to address the ongoing problem of aggressive refinancing of VA purchase loans. Certain lenders and mortgage brokers apparently are still soliciting VA purchase loans for streamline refinancing despite Ginnie Mae’s effort to stop the practice and help mortgage-securities investors get full return on their investments. Ginnie Mae issued...

With the enforcement of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act at stake, and a hostile occupant in the Oval Office, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is certainly not being bashful about continuing its regulation-by-enforcement modus operandi. The recent enforcement action against Prospect Mortgage is just the latest example. According to Colgate Selden, a partner in the Washington, DC, office of the law firm of Alston & Bird, the case is important because “it indicates the CFPB is moving full-speed ahead regardless” of the recent court rulings in PHH v. CFPB. This case is...

Among the top 10 originators in 2016, Reverse Mortgage Solutions posted the largest annual decline at 64.5 percent. RMS is owned by Walter Investment…

Although JPMorgan/Chase was the market leader, it is now mostly out of the sector…

Mortgage brokers earned their biggest market share in the Ginnie Mae sector…

MBA’s Pete Mills noted there are a handful of lenders and brokers that specialize in quick-turn refis…

Correspondent mortgage originators account for an unusually large share of FHA and VA lending, but the channel lost some market share in 2016, according to a new analysis by Inside FHA/VA Lending. Correspondent production accounted for 53.2 percent of the $275.14 billion of government-insured mortgages originated by a diverse group of lenders that included the top players in the market. That was a significantly bigger correspondent share than was seen in the conventional-conforming market (42.6 percent) or the jumbo space (16.2 percent). However, the 2016 figure was down from a 57.8 percent correspondent share of FHA/VA lending back in 2015, the first year for which data are available. Correspondent originations of government-insured lending by the group were up 31.1 percent from 2015, but their total FHA/VA lending jumped 42.3 percent. The retail share rose ... [ 1 chart ]

Approximately $18.8 billion in rural housing loans with a U.S. Department of Agriculture guarantee were delivered into Ginnie Mae pools in 2016, according to an analysis of Ginnie data. Securitization of USDA loans was up 3.9 percent from the previous year. Fourth quarter production, however, was off 10.3 percent from the prior quarter, slowing down production of USDA loans during the period. Ditech Financial, which ranked 15th among the top Ginnie Mae issuers of mortgage-backed securities backed by USDA loans, ended 2016 with $284.9 million. That was up a staggering 4712.9 percent from 2015. Chase Home Finance led the market with $3.6 billion in 2016, despite hefty declines quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year. Second-ranked PennyMac closed the year with a total volume of $2.1 billion, while Freedom Mortgage, in third place, reported $2.0 billion, a whopping ... [ 1 chart ]

Production of Home Equity Conversion Mortgage loans was down in 2016 with an estimated $14.9 billion originated last year, compared to $16.0 billion the previous year. Year-over-year, total HECM volume fell 6.4 percent. Purchase loans accounted for 85.9 percent of FHA-insured reverse mortgages produced over the 12-month period. Originations, however, rose by 8.0 percent in the fourth quarter from the previous quarter due to a spike in HECM lending in December. Purchase HECMs with an adjustable rate appeared to be the product of choice among HECM borrowers in 2016. American Advisors Group continued to dominate the market, closing 2016 with $2.1 billion in HECM originations for a 14.0 percent market share. One Reverse Mortgage was the second top HECM producer of the year with $855 million, while Reverse Mortgage Funding was in third place with $649.8 million. Liberty Home Equity Solutions hung on ... [ 1 chart ]

Ginnie Mae’s outdated organizational structure and staff levels have made it difficult for the agency to properly monitor and mitigate the risk posed by the increasing number of nonbanks participating in its MBS programs, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s inspector general. In a recent briefing paper, HUD Inspector General David Montoya highlighted challenges Ginnie faces in monitoring nonbanks, adding that HUD is currently being audited by the IG to gauge its capacity to track and supervise nonbanks, said Montoya. Ginnie acknowledged...