The potential shutdown of the federal government at the end of this week could have sudden and detrimental effects on FHA borrowers and lenders, although the situation was still very much in flux as Friday’s midnight deadline rapidly approached. “This is the worst time to introduce this uncertainty into...

Congress explicitly exempted FHA and Department of Veterans Affairs loans from the definition of “qualified residential mortgage” in the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. While those government loans will not be subject to the risk-retention requirements for mortgage securitizations, the proposed QRM safe harbor for... [Includes one graph]

The package of government-sponsored enterprise reform legislation introduced into the House Financial Services Committee last week dominated headlines, but sources on Capitol Hill said forthcoming legislation will also aim to tighten FHA underwriting in some manner, continuing to protect the program’s...

Risk-retention requirements proposed by federal regulators last week strongly favor the government-sponsored enterprises over non-agency securitization, according to industry analysts. The pristine mortgages in Redwood Trust’s recent jumbo securitization would not completely meet the standards and the vast majority of... [Includes one graph]

Real-estate investment trusts that focus on the nonconforming market are positioned to capitalize on risk-retention requirements proposed last week by federal regulators. But banks with large balance sheets may be less able to access non-agency securitization, according to industry analysts. The qualified residential mortgage proposal is likely to...

A number of firms are actively testing their jumbo securitization operations, according to Clayton Holdings. Notably, jumbo conduits are anticipating new mortgage-backed security issuance. “We have recently participated in several meetings centered around newly-developed jumbo conduit platforms and have performed...

The Mortgage Bankers Association has announced David Stevens, currently the assistant secretary for housing at the Department of Housing and Urban Development and commissioner of the FHA, will take over as MBA president and chief executive officer after John Courson leaves the association June 1. The AARP filed...

Many stakeholders are still in the dark with unanswered questions despite efforts by senior staff attorneys of the Federal Reserve to explain the complex provisions and issues arising from a final rule on loan originator compensation. Paul Mondor and Nikita Pastor, attorneys with the Fed’s Consumer and Community Affairs Division, which wrote...

Dissent threatens to split a coalition of federal agencies and 50 state attorneys general over a proposed settlement with major mortgage servicers over improper and abusive servicing practices. As federal agencies and state regulators prepare to meet with mortgage servicers for the first time next week, their unity appeared to fray ...

Mortgage lenders that are still using captive reinsurance should give this business tool a second look in the wake of a tentative $34 million class-action settlement between Bank of America’s Countrywide unit and Pennsylvania borrowers. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit gave...