CSP watchers say the GSE platform is starting to look like an orphan under director Mel Watt. But will Watt mention the project in his first public speech next week?
Freddie CEO Don Layton warns that staffers “at all levels” would flee the secondary market giant amid the five-year transition period, citing several provisions of the bill that are detrimental to employees.
Beginning in December, the FHFA directly stepped into the MSR sales market, requiring its approval on all Fannie/Freddie transfers involving 5,000 loans or more. This additional level of approval initially caused concern in the market because it added another layer of oversight to sales.
Based on what Freddie's Layton said, one might think that going forward, the GSEs might barely break even. Maybe that’s why the GSEs – and not necessarily Mel Watt – want to hike their guaranty fees…
Additional industry layoffs are likely in the months ahead. In the first quarter, all lenders originated just $235 billion in mortgages. It was the weakest production quarter in 14 years.
There’s a growing concern among participants in the secondary market that legislation in the Senate to reform the government-sponsored enterprises won’t be able to allow the to-be-announced market to function. The latest anxieties were raised by officials at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, whose securities flourish in the TBA market. Legislation in the Senate from Sens. Tim Johnson, D-SD, and Mike Crapo, R-ID, calls for the preservation of the TBA market but doesn’t provide any roadmap for how the proposed Federal Mortgage Insurance Corp. should accomplish that feat. “Unless the FMIC sets...
Johnson-Crapo requires 12 percent mortgage insurance if the LTV exceeds 80 percent but is no more than 85 percent; 25 percent MI if the LTV exceeds 85 percent but no more than 90 percent; and 30 percent MI if the LTV exceeds 90 percent.
Charge-offs in the credit-card ABS sector reached a new low in the first quarter of 2014, due mostly to a steady decline in delinquencies and lower bankruptcy rates, according to Fitch Ratings. Loss rates continued to break new records heading into 1Q14, falling to 2.89 percent during the latest March distribution period, even as average charge-offs dropped to a record 3.00 percent for 1Q14 from 3.04 percent in 4Q13. “This marks 15 consecutive quarters of improvement and is approximately 25 percent lower year-over-year,” said Fitch Ratings Credit Card ABS Group Managing Director Michael Dean and Director Herman Poon in a new report. Late payments also fell...
Did someone in the mortgage industry actually ask one of the GSEs recently to increase the 25 basis point servicing fee that it pays to residential servicers?