Residential servicers started 47,955 new foreclosures in the quarter, a 1.6 percent sequential decline, and a whopping 25.3 percent fall compared to a year ago.
Small servicers have significantly outpaced larger servicers in terms of growth in the past year. While many nonbanks focused on servicing nonperforming mortgages in the past, the more recent growth by small servicers has been in performing mortgages, including those originated in-house. The total unpaid principal balance of single-family mortgages outstanding at the end of the third quarter of 2016 was $10.11 trillion, up by 1.6 percent, according to the Federal Reserve. Growth was...
Ever since the nation’s financial crisis, commercial banks and other depositories have dominated the second-lien business and likely will continue to do so in the coming years, but that isn’t stopping nonbanks from testing the waters once again. According to research by Inside Mortgage Finance, several nonbanks have slipped back into the market, albeit with muted production volumes. And many of the firms that have crept back in are partnering with depositories. The reason for the strategy is...
Regulators are working to get a better understanding about the ownership of mortgages, particularly for the span between origination and final funding, according to the Office of Financial Research. “Regulators now collect origination data and loan performance data about much of the home mortgage market,” the OFR said in its recently published 2016 financial stability report. “However, they do not collect data about ownership of a mortgage between origination and final funding. Information on this short phase in the life of a loan is needed for a full picture of risks.” The OFR, an office of the Treasury Department that was established by the Dodd-Frank Act, noted...
PHH Corp., the Department of Justice and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau have, in recent weeks, gone back and forth with the filing of briefs on multiple angles associated with the legal dispute the lender has had with the CFPB over alleged violations of the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act. However, it looks like the separation of powers under the U.S. Constitution will play a more decisive role in the outcome than will issues related to RESPA, according to some top legal observers. PHH and the DOJ both submitted responses to the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appeals on Dec. 22, the deadline set by the court. The government is seeking an en banc review by the full appeals court of a ruling by a three-judge panel. In its brief, the mortgage lender said...
The Federal Housing Finance Agency late last month issued two final rules that will give the Federal Home Loan Banks somewhat more flexibility in setting collateral requirements for advances and managing their acquired member assets (AMA). A new AMA rule was necessary because the Dodd-Frank Act requires financial regulators to remove references to ratings, which had been used in setting limits on their AMA programs, most of which involve purchases of mortgages from member institutions. Under the new rule, the FHLBanks will be able to choose their own models to determine credit enhancement requirements. The FHFA also deferred...
“Mr. Mulvaney has been described as a staunch deficit hawk and his nomination is viewed as sending a signal that federal regulations are likely to face tough scrutiny in a Trump administration,” Mishkin said.
For years, TransUnion has worked to get mortgage lenders and the GSEs to adopt VantageScore, a move that is still under consideration, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency.