The list of reasons to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is growing and taxpayer risk is increasing the longer the current housing finance system lingers in uncertainty, according to speakers at a Capitol Hill briefing on government-sponsored enterprise reform sponsored by the Mortgage Bankers Association. Fowler Williams, president and CEO of Crescent Mortgage, said that without the secondary mortgage market outlet, smaller institutions like his would not be able to make 30-year fixed-rate mortgages available in rural and small towns. Ethan Handelman, vice president for policy and advocacy at the National Housing Conference, said...

Following up on limited guidance the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau issued in January on the disclosure of construction-to-permanent loans under the TRID integrated disclosure rule, CFPB officials this week participated in a webinar and provided some specific answers to a number of detailed questions they have received from the industry on the topic. A number of industry participants inquired, first of all, as to the kinds of options available to a lender for disclosing construction loans. Lenders have several possible ways to disclose construction loans under the integrated disclosure rule, according to Nick Hluchyj, senior counsel in the bureau’s office of regulations. “Regulation Z and Appendix D have...

It’s no secret that the secondary market for TRID “scratch-and-dent” loans has blossomed the past few weeks – albeit at niche levels – but dealmakers are now trying to figure out how much longer it can last and whether more buyers will step up. To date, Mid America Mortgage Corp., Addison, TX, appears to be the predominant purchaser of the product, which is being offered by at least three firms: Mortgage Delivery Specialists, Rincon Loan Trading and Spurs Capital. Jeffrey Bode, president, CEO and owner of Mid America, told...

Disclosure requirements for publicly-registered ABS have prompted fewer investor-friendly changes than might have been expected, according to analysts at Moody’s Investors Service. The Securities and Exchange Commission adopted the so-called Regulation AB2 disclosure rule in August 2014 and a number of issuers have filed Form SF-3 registration statements in compliance with the rule. “Very few issuers have provided additional collateral and/or performance information beyond the data they were already disclosing prior to SF-3 registration statement requirements,” Moody’s said of auto ABS issuers. The rating service said...

Ellington Financial is increasing its investments in non-qualified mortgages as officials at the nonbank expect strong profits from the loans. Ellington held $9.2 million in non-QMs at the end of 2015, up from $3.5 million at the end of the third quarter. The nonbank started financing purchases of non-QMs under a facility with an unidentified “large investment bank” in January. “While it took a little longer than I had hoped to get here, the non-QM pipeline will have a meaningful ...

Determining a borrower’s ability to repay a bank-statement mortgage is more complicated than evaluating a borrower underwritten with full income documentation, according to a recent report by Moody’s Investors Service. The rating service noted that originations of bank-statement loans tend to be non-qualified mortgages for self-employed borrowers. “The quality of loans originated through bank-statement income documentation programs depends heavily on ...

Major servicers participating in the non-agency portion of the Home Affordable Modification Program have improperly ended mods for a number of borrowers, according to data from the Treasury Department. The Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program is urging the Treasury to take actions to prevent servicers from terminating mods that meet HAMP guidelines. “Treasury’s findings in its on-site visits to the largest seven mortgage servicers in HAMP over ...

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau last week published its policy for issuing no-action letters for certain innovative financial products. Lenders had called for the policy but industry analysts caution that no-action letters from the CFPB won’t necessarily be helpful. Under the policy, lenders can apply for a no-action letter from the CFPB. The regulator said it will review applications for such letters and in certain circumstances indicate that ... [Includes three briefs]

Carol Galante, former head of the FHA, has been named to Ocwen Financial’s board of directors. Galante left the FHA in August 2014 to take on the position of faculty director with the Terner Center for Housing Innovation at the University of California, Berkeley. Current director Phyllis Caldwell was elevated...

Many small and medium-sized nonbanks have been earning steady profits the past three years, but all that ended in the fourth quarter of 2015, thanks to the integrated disclosure rule known as TRID. At least that’s what some warehouse managers told Inside Mortgage Finance. These credit executives, who spoke under the condition their names not be used, were somewhat surprised by the development, but were quick to caution that about a third of their clients posted losses. The managers also noted...