Issuers of securities backed by assets other than residential mortgages were able to win some concessions from federal regulators in the final risk-retention rule that was approved this week. However, the standards for “qualified” loans that are exempt from risk-retention requirements are much more stringent than those for qualified-residential mortgages, even including downpayment requirements in some instances. The risk-retention requirements for non-mortgage ABS and commercial MBS take effect two years after the final rule is published in the Federal Register. Securities that include loans that don’t qualify for exemptions will be required to have risk-retention of at least 5.0 percent, though there are instances when the required retention can be lower. The final standards qualifying commercial loans, commercial real-estate loans and auto loans were...

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau this week finalized a rule change that allows lenders to fix inadvertent mistakes that send mortgages over the 3 percent cap on points and fees for qualified mortgages.Under the “right-to-cure” amendment, a lender can, under limited circumstances, re-fund the excess amount of interest to keep the loan a QM.

Lenders have a number of underwriting options under the ability-to-repay rule when originating mortgages for self-employed borrowers, according to officials at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Self-employed borrowers account for a sizeable portion of the potential customer base for jumbo mortgages. The FDIC hosted a conference call this week to address concerns banks have raised regarding the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s ATR rule, and one of the most ...

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau this week issued a final rule providing lenders with a right to cure a mistake when the points and fees on what was intended to be a qualified mortgage inadvertently surpass the allowable points-and-fees cap on QMs. Points and fees charged to a borrower for a QM generally can’t exceed 3.0 percent of the loan principal at the time the loan is made. If a lender discovers after the loan has closed that the ... [Includes three briefs]

Even though the origination volume of non-agency, non-jumbo mortgages is relatively small, private equity firms increasingly are eyeing the space, believing that within two years – or maybe sooner – the business could be producing robust profits. In short, investors want to enter non-agency lending before anyone else does – and at “ground level” prices. According to non-prime executives and investment advisors, private-equity funds of varying sizes want...

The mortgage credit box contracted quickly as the housing market slid toward disaster in 2007, but it’s proving to be much more difficult to stretch it back to what used to be considered normal. The subtitle to this week’s annual convention of the Mortgage Bankers Association could well have been “access to credit,” an idea that clearly dominated the conversation. Despite the recent unexpected drop in mortgage interest rates, most observers expect origination volume in 2015 to track closely to this year’s sluggish level and part of the problem is relatively weak home-purchase lending. Industry people are...

State regulators recently proposed expanding the data that state-licensed lenders must report on the Nationwide Mortgage Licensing System and Registry’s mortgage call report. The State Regulatory Registry said the data help state regulators supervise licensees, determine examination schedules, monitor compliance and calculate assessments. The SRR was established by the Conference of State Bank Supervisors and the American Association of Residential Mortgage Regulators. The SRR owns and operates the NMLS and has required state-licensed lenders to submit quarterly call report data since 2011. On Oct. 1, the SRR proposed...[Includes one data chart]

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s high-profile ability-to-repay rule has had “little to no impact” on borrower access to mortgage credit, officials at the bureau said this week. But other regulations are certainly forcing compliance costs to go up while pushing the quality of customer service down, according to community bankers. Speaking during a meeting of the CFPB’s Community Bank Advisory Council in Washington, DC, this week, Brian Webster, program manager for the bureau’s Office of Mortgage Markets, said he was glad to see that mortgage lending did not grind to a halt the day after the ability-to-repay rule took effect in January. “Over the past months, we have heard...

Bureau Updates Its Reverse Mortgages Guide With Words of Caution. The CFPB has updated its reverse mortgage guide to reflect some recent, potentially important changes to such loan products. The bureau is urging caution, noting such mortgages can be risky and expensive. “It’s a complicated type of loan that works best for homeowners who carefully consider all of their options,” the agency said. One of the highlighted changes limits the amount of money a homeowner can draw from the loan in the first year. “Borrowers often get into trouble by taking a lump-sum payment early on,” said the CFPB. “It may feel great to get a big payment up front, but borrowers can outlive this money – which spells financial trouble for borrowers who live longer lives.” ...

To this point, most products offered outside of standards for qualified mortgages have targeted super-prime borrowers, often with jumbo loan balances. However, competition among lenders in that sector has been strong and there are plenty of borrowers with somewhat less than perfect credit looking for non-QMs, prompting some lenders to work on expanding their non-QM offerings. Brian Simon, COO of New Penn Financial, said the nonbank is launching a non-QM for borrowers who have ...