JPMorgan Chase was set to issue its latest jumbo mortgage-backed security as Inside Nonconforming Markets went to press. The bank’s sixth jumbo MBS of the year was slated to be a $344.87 million deal, according to presale reports. Chase continued to stock its jumbo MBS with loans that have seasoned a while longer than other issuers. Loans in JPMorgan Mortgage Trust 2015-6 had seasoned for an average of nine months, according to DBRS. Nearly 20 percent of the mortgages appear to have application dates from before Jan. 10, 2014. All of the loans subject to standards for qualified mortgages were deemed...

Questions from Inside Nonconforming Markets prompted the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to acknowledge last week that its director misspoke during a speech at the Mortgage Bankers Association’s annual convention. In arguing that the CFPB’s ability-to-repay rule hasn’t caused a significant reduction in mortgage originations, Richard Cordray said last week that “most” jumbo loans are non-qualified mortgages. While comprehensive data on the non-QM share of jumbo mortgages is not available, a number of data sources suggest that most jumbos are in fact QMs, not non-QMs. Three of the five largest jumbo lenders told...

Citadel Loan Servicing, Irvine, CA, one of the most active nonprime residential lenders in the market, is on track to fund a company-record $400 million worth of mortgages this year, more than double what it produced last year. In a brief interview with Inside Nonconforming Markets this week, company founder and CEO Dan Perl said his goal for next year is $1 billion – all in loans that do not meet the qualified-mortgage standard. If the privately held Citadel – Perl is the chief shareholder – can hit...

The market is there – in nonprime and non-QM lending – the question is figuring out how to do it successfully, according to experts on a panel at the recent annual convention of the Mortgage Bankers Association. Most of the lending that’s fallen outside the qualified-mortgage standard has been to high net-worth individuals, said Matthew Nichols, CEO at Deephaven Mortgage. Most of them have millions in the bank and they’re being served by their bankers, he said, but there are a lot more potential non-QM borrowers who don’t have millions in the bank. Nichols said...

A bipartisan group of lawmakers is clamoring for reform of existing FHA condo rules, saying that temporary guidance issued by the Department of Housing and Urban Development in 2012 has failed to boost the condominium market. In a letter to HUD Secretary Julian Castro, 69 House members called for policy changes that would relax FHA restrictions to facilitate the purchase and sale of condominiums. Condos are the most affordable homeownership option for first-time homebuyers, small urban families and elderly Americans, the letter pointed out. “The FHA certification process can be daunting, especially for smaller properties and those without professional management,” it stated. “It takes significant time and resources to collect the required information and provide the necessary paperwork to become certified, and this must be done every two years.” Lapsed condo certifications are also a problem because ...

Community lenders renewed their call for a further cut in FHA mortgage insurance premiums amid speculation that a healthier FHA insurance fund could lead to another reduction. But analysts are less optimistic about another premium reduction for different reasons. In a letter to FHA Acting Commissioner Edward Golding, the Community Home Lenders Association asked that the annual MIP be reduced to the pre-crisis level of 0.55 percent when FHA’s capital reserve ratio returns to the statutory 2.0 percent level. The call comes less than a month before FHA issues its highly anticipated annual actuarial report on the state of the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund. There is speculation within the mortgage industry that the FY 2015 report will show improved FHA fundamentals, bringing the fund closer or over its statutory 2.0 percent capital reserve ratio. The report is expected to highlight the positive results of a ...

Servicers of FHA mortgage loans dodged a regulatory bullet after the Department of Housing and Urban Development withdrew part of a recently proposed rule, which would terminate insurance coverage if an FHA claim were not filed within a certain period. HUD withdrew the provision under heavy pressure from mortgage lenders, servicers and other industry participants, who expressed concern over the punitive penalty for missing prescribed filing deadlines. Published on July 6, 2015, the proposed rule, among other things, would have established a deadline for filing FHA insurance claims to address the problem of delayed claims filing, which put a strain on FHA resources. Late filings were tolerated previously but the problem worsened after the financial crisis when servicers began submitting FHA claims in bunches, causing processing bottlenecks and longer turnaround time for ...

The California Housing Finance Agency is planning to add VA loans to its list of mortgage programs, with an offer of downpayment assistance. Kenneth Giebel, CHFA director of homeownership, said the agency plans to have a VA loan program in place in early 2016 to complement other first-mortgage programs. In addition, the agency is considering adding the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s guaranteed single family home loan program to its current product menu. Currently, the CHFA is working with the California Department of Veterans Affairs (CalVet) in providing home loans to qualified veterans and servicemembers. There are 31 military installations located throughout California, home to nearly 2 million veterans. A CalVet VA loan utilizes a veterans’ or service member’s VA eligibility and provides 100 percent financing. The department also has a Fannie Mae 97 loan-to-value ratio product, which ...

The Department of Veterans Affairs and the FHA have issued guidelines concerning the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosure (TRID) rule as it relates to VA- and FHA-backed mortgages. The new TRID rule covers loan applications received on or after Oct. 3, 2015. It replaced Truth-in-Lending-Act disclosures and the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s closing (HUD-1) settlement statement. The rule requires that all covered loans be closed using the new closing disclosure. The VA has announced new closing-disclosure guidelines and a new mandatory method for the stacking order of loan files selected for full-loan review. According to the VA, all files selected for full review on or after Oct. 3 may include the HUD-1 statement. The agency is aware that loans will be requested that have the HUD-1 closing document, and that it will perform the full file review with the ...

A trade association representing large financial institutions has asked the FHA to clarify its policy regarding the use of downpayment assistance programs on home purchases financed with FHA mortgage loans. The differences in the interpretation of the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s inspector general and the FHA of downpayment assistance programs (DAP), especially by state housing finance agencies, has created uncertainty among lenders, according to the Consumer Mortgage Coalition. In a letter to HUD Secretary Julian Castro, the CMC expressed concern that lenders may become unwilling to continue offering loans with assisted financing because of legal uncertainty. “This would be unfortunate for moderate-income borrowers nationwide, and it would unnecessarily limit the ability of [state housing finance agencies] to function,” the group said. SHFAs do not rely on taxpayer funding for ...