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Inside Mortgage Finance

May 28, 2015

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Brokers, Retail Shops Do Heavy Lifting During First-Quarter Surge in Mortgage Originations

All three mortgage-production channels saw increased volume during the first quarter of 2015, but brokers made the most of the rising market, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance ranking and analysis. Mortgage brokers produced an estimated $39.0 billion of home mortgages during the first three months of 2015, an increase of 14.7 percent over the fourth quarter. That pushed the broker share of originations to 10.8 percent, the sector’s highest market share since 2010. Retail production facilities did...[Includes five data tables] Read More

FHFA Prepares to Raise Conforming Loan Limits As Home Prices Move Toward Pre-Crisis Levels

Conforming loan limits could go up for the first time in years as the Federal Housing Finance Agency formally announced plans to use one of its own home price indexes to calculate changes. “Given the rising prices, it is now important that FHFA formally establish the specific methodology it will use for tracking prices and adjusting the baseline loan limit,” the agency said in a public notice seeking feedback. The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 prevents... Read More

Buyers Continue to Hunt for Mortgage Firms; Blackstone Still Pursuing PMAC?

Although no “large” mortgage companies have changed hands in quite some time, investor interest in small to medium-sized lenders remains strong as banks, private-equity funds and nonbanks continue to show their interest as buyers. Since last fall, at least 25 deals have been publicly disclosed, according to sales tracked by Inside Mortgage Finance, but none of the originators have been larger than $4 billion a year in production. According to interviews conducted over the past week with investment banking advisors, in the months ahead lenders that originate between $500 million to $2 billion a year are... Read More

Lenders Showing ‘Restrained Enthusiasm’ for Latest Rep-and-Warrant Policy, Dispute Resolution Ahead

Six months into the latest representations-and-warranties framework from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, lenders said they appreciate the added clarity but are approaching the changes with caution as more transparency is still needed. The new rules, announced by the government-sponsored enterprises in November 2014, were made to ease lenders’ concerns about repurchase requests for loans that contain data inaccuracies or misrepresentations. During last week’s secondary market conference sponsored by the Mortgage Bankers Association, Jeremy Potter, general counsel and chief compliance officer at Norcom Mortgage, said... Read More

Shelby Regulatory Relief Bill Just a Start; Further Changes Needed Before Full Senate Takes Up Vote

Mortgage-related issues will likely play a central role in the end product of financial regulatory relief legislation working its way through the U.S. Senate. For now, though, the measure passed by the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee last week is really an opening gambit, as congressional staffers confer over technical details and lawmakers horse trade and arm twist. “It’s a starter,” said Bob Davis, head of mortgage markets and the senior lobbyist at the American Bankers Association, speaking of the bill sponsored by committee chairman Sen. Richard Shelby, R-AL, the Financial Regulatory Improvement Act of 2015. “The Shelby bill will be... Read More

HUD Offers Form Changes that May Help Lenders Avoid FCA Suits, But Stakeholders Say Proposals Need Work

The Department of Housing and Urban Development is seeking comment on proposed changes to FHA’s loan certification document to make it less likely for direct-endorsement lenders to be sued for loan fraud over a technical glitch or an unintentional oversight. Language in Form 92900-A (HUD Addendum to Uniform Residential Loan Application), a loan-certification document signed by lenders, has been revised to reflect updated provisions in the new HUD Single Family Policy Handbook, a compendium of FHA policies and guidelines. The proposed changes would differentiate... Read More

More Potential Regulatory Headaches: NY-SEC Looking At the Use of Collection Agents by Mortgage Servicers

The New York regional office of the Securities and Exchange Commission has opened up a preliminary investigation into the use of “collection agents” by mortgage servicers, including Ocwen Financial. In a recent 10-Q filing, Ocwen said it received a letter in February from SEC staff “informing us that it was conducting an investigation relating to mortgage loan servicer use of collection agents, and it made a request for the voluntary production of documents and information.” In the filing, Ocwen provided... Read More

Banks Coming Back to MSR Market, Some of Them, As Profitable Means to Acquire Clients

Nonbanks have indisputably bought a bigger share of the mortgage servicing market in recent years, but that doesn’t mean some banks haven’t been buyers during the migration. The servicing asset was a pariah not long ago, said Mark Garland, president of MountainView Capital Holdings, during a panel session at the recent secondary market conference sponsored by the Mortgage Bankers Association. “It was stepping into a buyback obligation. Suddenly, two years ago, it became the greatest asset ever,” he said. And although Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Citibank have pruned... Read More

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