A New York federal judge has given preliminary approval to a $280 million settlement proposed by JPMorgan Chase to investors who claimed they were misled into buying $36.8 billion of non-agency MBS, ending a long-running, consolidated class-action suit. U.S. District Judge Pamela K. Chen granted initial approval late last week to the settlement with investors led by the Public Employees’ Retirement System of Mississippi. The Mississippi pension plan sued...
Over the past 10 days, MBS prices have risen by roughly 50 basis points. Since early April, prices have jumped 150 basis points, based on the Fannie Mae 4s, catching market participants off guard. Joe Farr, director of sales for MBSQuoteline, noted, “The expectation was that everyone thought bond prices would fall.” But it hasn’t turned out that way, even with the Federal Reserve continuing to taper its investment in MBS. The problem in the MBS market continues...
The sphere of mortgage lending that will exist outside the parameters of the qualified-mortgage standard established by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau represents an attractive opportunity for both lenders and bond buyers, but skittish investors need to be won back before they return and participate to any significant degree. That was one of the key take-aways from a webinar sponsored this week by Inside Mortgage Finance, an affiliated publication. Non-QM mortgages will exist...
It’s now believed that the legislation will clear the committee, but Majority Leader Harry Reid will not allow it to move any further because of weak support overall.
Non-QM mortgages will exist throughout the credit spectrum, according to Mitch Hochberg, a partner at Fenway Summer and general counsel at Ethos Lending, a start-up wholesale mortgage originator.
The amended consent process that led to faster cash payouts to victims of improper loan modifications and foreclosure practices should be evaluated and tested further to ensure servicers’ implementation of foreclosure prevention principles, according to the Government Accountability Office. The new GAO report represents the third and final phase of the watchdog’s examination of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s Independent Foreclosure Review (IFR) process. In 2013, the IFR was replaced for most servicers with cash payments and foreclosure prevention actions. The latest report found...
During a legislative markup session this week, the House Financial Services Committee approved H.R. 2673, the Portfolio Lending and Mortgage Access Act, introduced by Rep. Andy Barr, R-KY, which would deem all mortgages held in portfolio to be qualified mortgages under the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s ability-to-repay rule. Republican supporters characterized the bill as the ultimate “skin in the game” measure and noted it was specifically drafted to avoid the pitfalls of the “originate to distribute” model so heavily criticized for contributing to the financial crisis. But Democrat opponents said...
State regulators are evaluating regulation and supervision of nonbank servicers due to the growth seen in the sector in recent years, according to officials at the Conference of State Bank Supervisors, which last month closed a request for proposals on the issue. “This is just a really good time for us as a system to look at this change, what does this change mean, and how should it inform the licensing regime on the state side,” said Michael Stevens, senior executive vice president at the CSBS. Among other issues, state regulators are researching...
Although the pace of blockbuster servicing deals appears to have slowed, the giants of the mortgage-servicing business continued to leak market share in early 2014. Significantly, there is now just one lender with more than $1 trillion in mortgage servicing. Back in the third quarter of 2005, Countrywide Financial became the first company to amass over $1 trillion in mortgage servicing, and Wells Fargo joined the club by the end of that year. Chase Home Finance became a $1 trillion servicer in the fourth quarter of 2008, shortly after Bank of America took over Countrywide and became the first $2 trillion servicer. But BofA dumped...[Includes two data charts]
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