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Inside Nonconforming Markets

August 24, 2007

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Subprime Mortgage Debt Outstanding Continues to Decline

Subprime servicers’ portfolios have taken a hit this year, posting unprecedented declines. And with subprime originations stalling, it could be a long time before subprime servicing portfolios increase.Meanwhile, sources... [Includes one chart and one graph] Read More

Subprime Contagion Hits Top-Ranked Countrywide

Recent suggestions that Countrywide Financial, the top-ranked subprime lender and number one overall lender, could go bankrupt, put a whole new face on the subprime market’s problems. A report last week by Merrill Lynch raised the possibility that Countrywide... Read More

Fannie Mae Adopts Subprime Guidance, Freddie to Follow

Fannie Mae last week adopted federal regulators’ recently issued subprime guidance, in a move required by the government-sponsored enterprise’s safety and soundness regulator. Fellow GSE Freddie Mac said it will soon follow suit. However, a lenders’ organization... Read More

MBA Ramps up Rhetoric Regarding Subprime Turmoil

There was plenty of blame to go around as the Mortgage Bankers Association led a discussion about the subprime market for congressional staffers this week in Washington, DC. MBA economist Jay Brinkman reviewed the events that led to the current situation... Read More

SEC Reportedly Investigating Firms’ Subprime Activity

The Securities and Exchange Commission is reportedly investigating how large investment banks account for losses on subprime mortgage-backed securities and related assets. Reached last week, Cheryl Scarboro, associate director of the SEC’s division of... Read More

Subprime ARM Disclosures Available for Comment

Federal regulators recently unveiled two proposed disclosure formats designed to inform consumers about the risks and benefits of certain subprime adjustable-rate mortgage products. Institutions are not required to use either of the two proposed “illustrations... Read More

Industry Split on What the Fed Should do with HOPEA

The Federal Reserve’s revision of regulations under the Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act currently stands as the only planned federal regulatory response to the problems in the subprime market, but just what the regulator plans to do with HOEPA remains... Read More

Product Proposed to Hedge Against Home Prices

Subprime lending volumes surged in recent years in part due to home price appreciation. However, with home prices dropping in some states and expected to continue to fall, some subprime borrowers have been unable to tap increased home equity to avoid foreclosure.... Read More

B&C News Briefs

The Homeownership Preservation Foundation said it fielded a record 30,078 calls from troubled homeowners in the second quarter of 2007. That’s more than double its call volume in the first quarter of this year and more than six times the volume from the same quarter in... Read More