Real estate investment trusts that invest in agency MBS could be in for some turbulence on their book values in the coming quarters if rates continue to rise – as they have since the November election. As Inside MBS & ABS went to press, most analysts had come to the same conclusion: that publicly traded mortgage REITs have underperformed most financial stocks, including nonbank lender-servicers such as Ocwen Financial, PHH Corp. and Walter Investment Management Corp. Then again, investing in so-called mREITs has never been...
A New York appellate court this week denied Credit Suisse’s motion to dismiss claims made by NY Attorney General Eric Schneiderman in relation to the creation and sale of MBS to investors. In a majority decision, the New York Supreme Court held that the AG’s claims of securities fraud and persistent fraud or illegality are not time-barred, finding that the claims under the state Martin Act and Executive Law are governed by the six-year statute of limitations rather than the three-year limitations found in Section 214(2) of the state’s Civil Practice Law and Rules (CPLR). As of March 21, 2012, the parties entered...
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has fined three reverse-mortgage lenders $790,000 in combined civil penalties to resolve charges of deceptive advertising to consumers. The bureau also ordered American Advisors Group (AAG), Reverse Mortgage Solutions (RMS) and Aegean Financial to stop the misleading ads and to implement compliance plans that include an advertising compliance policy. The misleading ads allegedly violate the federal Mortgage Acts and Practices – Advertising Rule (Regulation N) and the Dodd-Frank Act. AAG is the largest originator of FHA-insured reverse mortgages in 2016, with a 13.9 percent share of the HECM market. RMS third with a 4.11percent share, while Aegean, in 27th place, accounts for 0.48 percent. The three lenders allegedly ran ads that similarly misrepresented that a consumer with a reverse mortgage could not lose the ...
A recent ruling by Florida’s Fifth Court of Appeal, if finalized, will affect any FHA foreclosure case that references the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s mandatory face-to-face interview with borrowers, according to industry attorneys. In Palma v. JPMorgan Chase Bank, Nat’l Ass’n, et al., the state appellate court found that HUD’s face-to-face interview requirement is “a condition precedent to foreclosure” for Florida mortgages that specifically incorporate the HUD regulation. Prior to the decision, no Florida appellate court has held that HUD’s requirement constitutes a condition precedent to foreclosure, according to attorneys with the Richmond, VA, law firm McGuireWoods. “Although this decision is not yet final and rehearing is likely, it has far-reaching impacts on the conditions and evidence required for foreclosure trials throughout Florida and is the ...
Housing counselors participating in the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s various programs must be certified to offer counseling services to consumers, according to a final rule issued this week by the agency. In order to become certified, housing counselors must pass a standardized written examination and work for a HUD-approved housing counseling agency (HCA). Applicants must demonstrate proficiency in six areas of housing counseling: financial management, property maintenance, responsibilities of homeownership and tenancy, fair housing laws and requirements, housing affordability, and avoidance of mortgage delinquency, eviction and default. Despite its recent release, the final rule will take full effect three years following the announcement of the certification exam. HUD will offer intensive training and study resources in English and Spanish to ...
The growing popularity of private-label servicing and the way it’s offered to lenders are raising regulatory questions, underscoring the need for guidance and supervision, according to legal experts. With the most comprehensive offerings of private-label servicing, the borrower never knows the subservicer exists, and that’s the point of the arrangement, according to Craig Nazzaro, of counsel at the Atlanta-based law firm Baker Donelson. Nazzaro attributes...
Home-equity lending cooled off in the third quarter of 2016 as consumers took advantage of low interest rates to refinance rather than draw down more second-mortgage debt. Lenders originated an estimated $50.7 billion of home-equity loans during the third quarter, including home-equity lines of credit and closed-end second mortgages. Although that was down 5.2 percent from the second quarter, it still marked the second highest three-month volume since the housing market collapse in 2008. And depository institutions, the dominant lenders in the HEL market, reported...[Includes three data tables]
The Federal Reserve late last week reported a modest 0.6 percent increase in the volume of single-family mortgages outstanding during the third quarter of 2016, the fifth straight quarterly gain in a market finally recovering from the housing meltdown. Still, at $10.123 trillion, the supply of mortgage debt outstanding was $1.118 trillion below the level it reached at the end of 2007. Most of the growth in the third quarter came...[Includes two data tables]
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