The stock market hasn’t been treating real estate investment trusts that buy MBS very well of late, but there could be better news on the horizon: prepayment rates on the securities they own are coming down. As Barclays noted in a recent report: “Prepays fell for most cohorts, led by recent vintage 3.5s and 4s.” The investment banking firm added: “Next month, we expect speeds to remain mostly stable as seasonal factors and a 12 basis point rally in driving rates (3.83 percent vs 3.95 percent) helps offset another one-day drop in day count (20 days vs 21 days).” Several mREITs tracked...

The overall size of the single-family mortgage servicing market isn’t changing much, but the dynamics of the business continued to shift in early 2015, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance analysis and ranking. The Federal Reserve won’t provide an official reading on single-family mortgage debt outstanding as of the end of the first quarter for another month or so, but the data point to little or no growth in the market during early 2015. Mortgage originations were...[Includes two data charts]

Thanks to the recent uptick in interest rates, the value of mortgage servicing rights is on the rise again, which should pave the way for a busy spring and early summer for investment bankers who play in the space. “Prices are holding up pretty well,” said Mark Garland, president of MountainView Servicing Group, Denver. “Prepayment speeds increased in March, but April speeds have come down a bit.” According to Garland, buyers of receivables are paying...

Mortgage industry participants are encouraged by a bipartisan bill introduced in the House last week that would provide a temporary license for loan originators transitioning from a bank to a nonbank or between states. H.R. 2121, from Rep. Steve Stivers, R-OH, would change the Secure and Fair Enforcement for Mortgage Licensing Act to allow for a temporary transitional license and give loan originators 120 days to pass testing standards for nonbank LOs when transitioning from a bank or between states. “The SAFE Act inhibits...

In another display of multijurisdictional cooperation, the CFPB and the Maryland Attorney General last week brought an enforcement action against a Maryland-based title company and its executives, alleging they participated in a mortgage kickback scheme, trading cash and marketing services in exchange for referrals. The complaint names Genuine Title, LLC, as well as Jay Zukerberg, Brandon Glickstein, Gary Klopp, Adam Mandelberg, William Peterson, and Angela Pobletts, along with a number of limited-liability companies controlled by certain defendants. The CFPB and Maryland allege that Zukerberg and Glickstein developed and operated schemes to give loan officers marketing services and cash payments in exchange for referrals of title work. The kickback schemes violated the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, which prohibits giving a ...

The mortgage industry has just under 100 days until the do-or-die deadline of August 1 kicks in for compliance with the CFPB’s integrated disclosure rule under the Truth in Lending Act and the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act, otherwise known as the TRID. And as the new lending environment approaches, industry anxieties are getting stronger and more specific in nature. “The primary concerns that I am hearing are about the inability to reset the fee tolerances when the closing date is significantly delayed, which many fear will require lenders to start over and scuttle closings, and the lack of guidance for wholesale lenders who work with brokers,” said Benjamin Olson, counsel in the Washington, DC, office of the BuckleySandler law ...

The CFPB told the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit that property tax loans should get consumer protections under the federal Truth in Lending Act. The CFPB made its case in an amicus brief with the court in Billings v. Propel Financial Services, LLC. The legal question presented in this case is whether a private lender extends “consumer credit” under the Truth in Lending Act by providing loans to consumers for the purpose of paying off residential property-tax delinquencies.The bureau asserted its legal interest in the case on the grounds that it is the federal agency charged with interpreting and promulgating rules under TILA, and because it has authority to enforce compliance with the requirements of TILA....

David Silberman, associate director of research, markets and regulations at the CFPB, told members of Congress recently that the bureau will continue to work with the mortgage industry as it implements and adapts to the pending integrated disclosure rule under the Truth in Lending Act and the Real Estate Settlement and Procedures Act. “The bureau’s work supporting implementation of the integrated disclosure rule does not end with the effective date of the integrated disclosure rule,” Silberman told the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit recently. “We expect to continue working with industry, consumers, and other stakeholders to answer questions, provide guidance, and evaluate any issues industry and consumers experience as the integrated disclosure rule is implemented.” ...

Borrower complaints about their student loans continued their apparently inexorable downward momentum, both quarter over quarter and year over year, according to a new analysis by Inside the CFPB of the latest complaint data from the CFPB. Industry wise, consumer gripes fell 11.3 percent QoQ and an even larger 15.7 percent YoY, the data show. Navient, the Sallie Mae spinoff, continues to dominate because of the sheer size of its footprint in the marketplace. Nonetheless, it showed impressive drops of 24.3 percent and 33.0 percent, respectively, for both time periods. Repayment problems continue to represent the lion’s share of the issues about which student-debt borrowers have issues. However, after peaking in the second quarter of 2012, and experiencing another big ...

The Community Home Lenders Association recently sent a letter to CFPB Director Richard Cordray, asking the bureau to require consumer disclosures on each mortgage loan that indicate whether the mortgage loan originator working on that loan is licensed. Such disclosures also should show whether the MLO has passed the SAFE Act test, and has completed an independent background check and SAFE Act approved pre-licensing and continuing education courses. CHLA also recommended that consumers be told if their loan originator previously failed (and never passed) the SAFE Act test or has ever been denied a state license because they failed a background check. “The CFPB is carrying out its ‘Know Before You Owe’ initiative, to improve consumer understanding and mortgage disclosures” ...