Credit Plus Offers Reps-and-Warrants Coverage to Help Lenders Cope with CFPB, OCC Expectations. Credit Plus, a Salisbury, MD-based third-party verifications specialist for mortgage professionals, has come out with representations-and warranties-insurance coverage for all of its services, responding to the CFPB’s and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s expectation that lenders are now ultimately responsible for practicing effective third-party risk management. The insurance coverage allows customers to better defend their companies against the negative financial consequences of a possible loan default and the resulting repurchase requests, the company said. “While we are confident in the quality of our verification services, we are also a strong proponent of best practices,” said Greg Holmes, national director of sales and marketing at ...

New issuance of non-mortgage ABS fell 6.6 percent last year even though the market’s biggest segment pushed to a new post-crash high, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis. A total of $173.05 billion of non-mortgage ABS were issued in 2015, the second-highest annual output since 2008. The direction, however, was less encouraging. New issuance tumbled 17.1 percent from the third to the fourth quarter, sinking to $30.69 billion – the lowest three-month total in over three years. But with record sales in the U.S. auto industry, securitization of vehicle-finance contracts increased...[Includes two data tables]

About a month after risk-retention requirements took effect for newly issued non-agency MBS, industry participants continue to work on complying with the standards set by the Dodd-Frank Act. Non-agency MBS issued on Dec. 24, 2015, and beyond are subject to risk-retention standards. The standards will apply to other MBS and ABS asset types for deals issued on and after Dec. 24 of this year. The first jumbo MBS subject to risk-retention requirements is scheduled...

Issuers of MBS and ABS continue to address compliance issues with the Securities and Exchange Commission’s so-called Regulation AB2. Meanwhile, the Structured Finance Industry Group has urged the SEC to continue to delay further action on disclosure proposals that remain outstanding. In August 2014, the SEC published a final rule setting a variety of disclosure requirements for the structured finance market. Issuers of publicly registered MBS and ABS were required to comply with rules, forms and disclosures established by Reg AB2 by Nov. 23, 2015. Asset-level disclosure requirements will take effect Nov. 23 of this year. During a webinar hosted by the law firm of Mayer Brown late last week, Stuart Litwin, a partner at the law firm, said...

The servicing auction market experienced a flurry of deals at yearend 2015, but investors for the most part have been more cautious about what they’re willing to pay for mortgage servicing rights, given some of the large markdowns that damaged second- and third-quarter earnings. “A lot of investors got hurt by buying during the first half of last year,” said one MSR investor who spoke under the condition his name not be used. “A few of them aren’t bidding anymore.” During the first half of 2015, MSR buyers were willing...

There’s mounting evidence that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s disclosure rule is having an impact on home sales and purchase mortgages, according to the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey. In December, closing times on mortgage-financed home purchases continued to stretch out and fewer sales closed on time. Tom Popik, research director of Campbell Surveys, said the CFPB’s Truth in Lending/Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act disclosure rule appears to have caused slight increases in closing times and the share of missed closings for the second month in a row. “Closing time metrics are still showing...

Earnings season has begun, and among the biggest financial institutions and mortgage lenders that have reported thus far, there’s been little evidence of damage to the bottom line as a result of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s integrated disclosure rule known as TRID. At top-ranked Wells Fargo, total loan production for the fourth quarter was $47 billion, versus $55 billion in the third quarter, and $44 billion in the fourth quarter of 2014, something Chairman and CEO John Stumpf attributed to seasonality as well as TRID. During an earnings-related conference call with investors last week, Stumpf was asked...

By now the word is out: Certain unnamed secondary market investors are turning away mortgages because of compliance errors, expressing the opinion they do not want to be on the “liability hook” for any origination errors under the new integrated disclosure rule known as TRID. The Mortgage Bankers Association recently singled out a jumbo investor that’s been rejecting 100 percent of the loans offered by originators. The trade group declined to identify the investor, but other ...

FHA lenders are uneasy over whether issues raised by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s new integrated disclosure rules could affect FHA lending. Although the issues cited by lenders are not FHA issues per se, these lenders are concerned that such uncertainties may cause problems for their FHA business, according to mortgage industry consultant Brian Chappelle, a principal at Potomac Partners. For example if a lender cures a mistake and the cure results in a reimbursement of, say, $100 to the borrower at closing, would that be considered a violation of the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s minimum 3.5 percent cash-investment requirement for FHA loans. “I don’t think it is a violation, but lenders are worried about how HUD might interpret it,” said Chappelle. “It is well after closing and it is obviously not a gift given to the borrower. It is ...

A significant amount of mortgage originations that were set to be completed before the end of 2015 were pushed into early 2016, according to industry analysts. The closing issues could be related to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s “TRID” integrated disclosure rule, with first quarter production expected to see a boost as lenders adjust to the new requirements. Late this week, JPMorgan Chase offered the first look at origination trends for major lenders ...