While lenders affiliated with homebuilders tend to lend to riskier borrowers than other originators, their mortgages actually perform better, according to new research published by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. The researchers suggest that the stronger performance is related to the hands-on nature of homebuilder lending, among other factors. The Chicago Fed published the findings in a study authored by Sumit Agarwal, Gene Amromin, Claudine Gartenberg, Anna Paulson and Sriram Villupuram, who note that their findings run counter to assumptions about the quality of builder-affiliate originations. “At first glance, the allegations of the nefarious role played by the homebuilders in the crisis are consistent...

When it comes to the legal theory of disparate impact and the Supreme Court of the United States, perhaps the third time around will be the charm. Recently, the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs requested the nation’s highest court to agree once again to take on the issue of disparate impact under the Fair Housing Act. The questions presented to the high court in Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs, et al., Petitioners v. The Inclusive Communities Project, Inc. are...

There has been a resurgence of city lawsuits lately against major banks seeking to recover lost property tax revenues, which city officials say were needed to pay for expensive foreclosure-related city services. The latest in these lawsuits was filed by the City of Los Angeles against JPMorgan Chase alleging discriminatory mortgage lending led to a wave of foreclosures that continues to diminish revenue for basic city services. The new litigation against Chase comes...

The spring 2014 semi-annual regulatory agenda of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau indicates the CFPB remains on schedule on a handful of mortgage-related rulemakings, including an eventual rule implementing Dodd-Frank Act changes to the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act. The good news for the mortgage industry is that the bulk of Dodd-Frank-required mortgage rules have already been issued. On the HMDA front, the CFPB recently convened...

RBS Securities – which is 64 percent owned by the government of the United Kingdom – is shaking up its mortgage trading operation in the U.S., cutting staff and taking a close look at its future in an extremely tough American mortgage market. Officials at the bank’s MBS headquarters in Stamford, CT, did not return telephone calls about the matter, but several lenders and Wall Street executives confirmed that cutbacks have been made at the company over the past week or so. Frank Skibo, a managing director for RBS in Connecticut, and Ara Balabanian, a director in the group, also could not be reached...

U.S. auto ABS may have hit a few potholes in recent months, but seasonal factors and investors’ hunger for greater returns is strengthening the sector, especially for subprime deals, according to Wall Street analysts. “Subprime auto ABS continue to benefit from the hunt for yield,” said Elen Callahan and Kayvan Darouian, analysts with Deutsche Bank, in a recent research report. Many deals are oversubscribed and are often upsized, they added. “With spread differentials of up to 600 basis points, depending on issuer and tranche, investors who are comfortable with the asset class’s recent performance are moving from the top of the credit structure, down to the first-loss piece, to pick up yield.” Increased demand for subprime auto ABS subordinate bonds is...

Ford Credit priced a $1.08 billion deal earlier this month backed by prime auto-loan receivables that included a noteworthy twist, according to John McElravey, director of consumer ABS research at Wells Fargo Securities. The deal will revolve for five years before paying principal with a soft-bullet maturity. “In our opinion, this deal adds an interesting new dimension to prime auto-loan ABS,” McElravey said in a recent report. “We would not be surprised if other prime lenders eventually adopted similar structures based on market pricing and the pace of investor acceptance. Upon reflection, it is somewhat surprising that more prime auto-loan ABS have not been structured in this way.” Moody’s Investors Service explained...

Originations that don’t meet standards for qualified mortgages have largely been held in bank portfolios in the months since the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s ability-to-repay rule took effect. However, nonbanks are also eyeing the products, and industry participants suggest that non-QMs will eventually be included in non-agency mortgage-backed securities. Laurence Platt, a partner at the law firm of K&L Gates, said a number of hedge funds and investment banks are ...

The Department of Veterans Affairs said there may be a need for further clarification of its newly issued qualified mortgage (QM) rule to allay lender fear of potential liability if they originate VA streamlined refinances, also known as Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loans (IRRRL), with a rebuttable presumption. Industry sources say VA lenders remain apprehensive despite assurances by agency officials that little has changed in the VA lending process as a result of the agency’s interim final rule. VA issued its QM document on May 9 in compliance with the Dodd-Frank Act, defining the types of VA loans that are “qualified mortgages” for purposes of the new ability-to-repay (ATR) provisions of the Truth in Lending Act. The Act also imposed similar requirements upon the FHA and the Department of Agriculture for the loans they insure or guarantee. The agency said it issued the rule on ...

Echoing an assessment that has become all too common across the housing and mortgage markets, CFPB Director Richard Cordray said excessive student loan debt is keeping many young people from buying a house and taking on a mortgage. “The consumers we hear from tell us how their debt burden has stopped them from buying a home, opening a small business, or starting a family,” Cordray said in a speech last week. With student-loan debt now having reached $1.2 trillion, the CFPB estimates that more than 7 million Americans are in default on a student loan. “For those who default early in their lives, the negative consequences for their credit report can make it more difficult to pass employment background checks...