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Inside Mortgage Finance

May 2, 2013

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Nonbanks Continue Assault on Mortgage Servicing Market, Three Claim Top-10 Rankings in Early 2013

Nonbank mortgage servicers continued surging into the top ranks of servicers during early 2013, more than doubling the size of their stake in the market compared to a year ago, according to a new market analysis and ranking by Inside Mortgage Finance. The seven largest nonbank servicers accounted for $1.40 trillion in mortgage servicing at the end of the first quarter, an increase of 68.9 percent in just three months. Compared to a year ago, the combined portfolio of these companies was up 144.3 percent. Ocwen Financial rose...[Includes one data chart] Read More

White House Tells Lenders in Meeting That It Will Push for More Changes to HARP

The Obama administration has sent a message to the mortgage industry that it wants to expand the Home Affordable Refinance Program by changing the eligibility date for high loan-to-value and underwater borrowers who want to refinance loans financed by the government-sponsored enterprises. According to members of the Mortgage Bankers Association who attended a recent pow-wow at the White House, the administration wants to push the eligibility date for HARP into mid-2010 or so. Currently, a mortgage eligible for the program has to have a securitization date prior to June 2009. In theory, this would increase... Read More

Industry Braces for Hike in GSE Net Worth Minimum, Wants FHFA to Put the Changes ‘Out for Comment’

Mortgage lenders that do business with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are bracing for higher net worth minimums required by the two government-sponsored enterprises, but that doesn’t mean their representatives at the trade groups will go down without a fight. David Stevens, president of the Mortgage Bankers Association, told Inside Mortgage Finance that he has met with Ed DeMarco, acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, “several times” to discuss net worth and related issues affecting lenders. However, DeMarco may not be in the job much longer if the nomination of Rep. Mel Watt, D-NC, to head the agency clears the Senate. The White House this week nominated... Read More

Genworth Posts Impressive First-Quarter Gains While Other MIs See Mixed Results in Business on Legal Fronts

Genworth Financial reported improved first-quarter earnings, Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Co. made some progress on the litigation front while new entrant National Mortgage Insurance went through some highs and lows in the same week. It’s not every day a private MI gets to report a net profit, but Genworth’s U.S. mortgage operation posted $21 million in operating income during the first quarter, following a $32 million loss in the previous quarter. It was the first time in five years that the MI unit reported a profitable quarter. First-quarter results included a $4.5 million charge related to the settlement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced on April 4. Genworth’s MI losses were... Read More

Treasury Defends HAMP Performance, Considers Extending Loan Modification Program Beyond 2013

The Treasury Department strongly defended the Home Affordable Modification Program this week after criticism and calls for changes from the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program. The Obama administration is also considering extending HAMP, which is currently set to expire at the end of this year. “Data show that the majority of homeowners who receive assistance from HAMP have a high likelihood of long-term success to avoid foreclosure, and that HAMP modifications continue to outperform private industry modifications,” said Andrea Risotto, Treasury’s spokesperson for HAMP. She was responding... Read More

Qualified Mortgage Eligibility Issues Still Concern Lenders Even as CFPB Provides Clarity Elsewhere

The high-profile ability-to-repay rule and its “qualified mortgage” standard issued earlier this year by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is still a work in progress, as mortgage lending industry representatives continue to work the regulators for additional changes and clarifications before the January 2014 implementation. Last week, in meetings with CFPB personnel, officials from the Mortgage Bankers Association pressed for changes and additional guidance on the final rule. The CFPB recently issued a proposed rule to clarify a number of issues related to the January ATR rule. Many of the issues the trade group raised last week were not addressed... Read More

FHFA Report: Feedback Drives Fannie, Freddie Development of Common Securitization Platform

Encouraged by what it describes as positive public feedback, the Federal Housing Finance Agency says it is pressing forward with its proposed contractual and disclosure framework to enhance transparency and investor protections in residential mortgage-backed securities. The progress report issued this week by the FHFA addresses work that the agency and the two government-sponsored enterprises have done so far in the development of the contract and disclosure framework, or CDF, as well as on the design of a common securitization platform, or CSP. The combination of the CDF and CSP “will enable... Read More

At the Point-of-Sale, Mortgage Origination Landscape Remains Considerably Diverse

Although a number of major correspondent lenders pulled back from that market in 2013, a hefty 29.1 percent of home mortgages were funded by one company and then sold, servicing released, to a larger aggregator and, typically, securitized by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or Ginnie Mae. That means total production figures that include correspondent lending significantly overstate the concentration in the mortgage origination sphere. Including its correspondent production, for example, Wells Fargo put its fingerprint on 27.7 percent of new mortgages originated in 2012. But the company’s direct originations – loans generated through its retail channel and funded through mortgage brokers – represented... Read More

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