The rating service’s proposal to notch ratings assigned by rival firms when assessing insurers didn’t sit well with the Justice Department, members of Congress and industry participants.

While investors in fix-and-flip and other business-purpose loans are taking a closer look at loan characteristics and lenders’ practices, lenders are adjusting and considering locking in longer-term financing.

The consumer sectors to watch out for include student loans, subprime auto and retail credit cards, according to Fitch Ratings.

Issuers of expanded-credit MBS stocked deals with $14.10 billion of volume in the first quarter of 2022, a record for the sector. A rise in interest rates helped to increase securitization activity. (Includes three data charts.)

Redwood’s profit took a hit in the first quarter, with non-agency mortgage aggregation and loan sales slowing amid a rise in interest rates. Still, officials at Redwood were happy with the REIT’s performance.

Annaly Capital Management is working to increase its aggregation of non-agency mortgages. The company generated returns in the mid-teens from the activity in the first quarter.

Some issuers of non-agency MBS are stocking deals with mortgages that have seasoned for an average of about one month while others are still offloading mortgages that were originated prior to the runup in interest rates.

While non-agency MBS issuance was essentially level in the first quarter of 2022, there was some movement among servicers in the sector. Servicing activity at Cenlar and UWM dropped, while Shellpoint and smaller servicers increased their market share. (Includes data chart.)

Loan repurchases from Ginnie MBS in the first quarter of 2022 neared pre-pandemic levels as delinquency rates declined. Loan removal trends vary among the top servicers. (Includes two data charts.)

Ginnie hopes to align, to the extent possible, its revised capital requirements for seller/servicers with FHFA’s standards. Industry participants are pushing for uniformity that isn’t too stringent.