Now that Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson has sworn in a new FHA commissioner, reverse mortgage lenders are hoping to see some changes in the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage program. The National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association is planning to ask FHA Commissioner Brian Montgomery for changes in the HECM program, particularly at the back end, to make it more profitable for lenders. Peter Bell, the group’s chief executive officer, believes there are opportunities to reduce the cost of the HECM program to the FHA fund by having better servicing procedures. “We would like to see certain loss mitigation procedures in the new HECM rules to be made available to all reverse-mortgage loans,” he said. Some of those procedures apply only to loans originated on or after the new rules became effective, such as “cash for keys.” Cash for keys is a cash offer by a lender to a ...

Bipartisan legislation was introduced recently in the House to addresse problems arising from the use of the False Claims Act and the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act in the context of mortgage insurance claims. Co-sponsored by Reps. Josh Gottheimer, D-NJ, and Lee Zeldin, R-NY, the bill would provide certain restrictions and clarifications on false claims and civil actions related to loans with FHA, VA or U.S. Department of Agriculture guarantee. H.R. 5993, the Fixing Access to Credit Act of 2018, has been sent to the House Financial Services Committee and to the House Committee on the Judiciary. A Civil War statute, FCA seeks to deter fraud against the government by providing hefty penalties for violations and establishing a 10-year statute of limitations to file civil claims. Enacted in the wake of the savings and loan debacle in the 1980s, FIRREA outlawed abusive lending and ...

Some rating services have concerns that a 20.0 percent due diligence sample rate is too low…

The share of interest-only loans in commercial MBS conduits has risen to near-peak levels last seen in 2007 as underwriting deteriorates, according to major credit rating agencies.

Expanded-credit products look to be a ray of sunshine in an otherwise gloomy mortgage market. Originations of the loans increased in the first quarter of 2018 while production in many other product categories declined, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets. An estimated $10.1 billion of expanded-credit mortgages were originated in the first quarter of 2018, up 3.1 percent from the previous quarter and a 13.5 percent ... [Includes one data chart]

The amount of jumbo mortgages handled by a large group of servicers increased in the first quarter, according to a new ranking by Inside Nonconforming Markets. The 30 servicers handled an estimated total of $1.05 trillion in jumbos as of the end of March, up 1.4 percent from the end of 2017 and a 13.5 percent increase from March 2017. Growth in jumbo servicing significantly outpaced trends in total mortgage debt outstanding. Some $10.65 trillion ... [Includes one data chart]

A pending change to accounting standards could change the way banks price jumbo mortgages, according to industry analysts. Beginning in 2020, many banks will have to change their accounting methods to include a “current expected credit loss model.” The adoption timeline was recently set by federal banking regulators. The CECL model forces banks to make projections for lifetime losses on loans they hold and potentially increase reserves relating to the projected losses ...

The Trump administration is likely to play a more active role in reducing the footprint of the government-sponsored enterprises in 2019, according to administration officials and industry analysts. Mel Watt’s term as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency is set to end in January, allowing Trump to appoint a new director. The new director will likely take actions that are aligned with the Treasury Department’s goals for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, according to industry analysts ...

The latest prime non-agency mortgage-backed security from Flagstar Bank will differ somewhat from two similar deals issued by the bank this year, according to presale reports released this week. The share of mortgages subject to due diligence was adjusted and there will be a higher share of mortgages in the deal that are eligible for sale to the government-sponsored enterprises. The pending $466.93 million Flagstar Mortgage Trust 2018-4 follows deals from the bank that closed in ...

Prepayment rates on non-qualified mortgages are higher than the rates seen on legacy non-agency mortgages and performance for new production is better, according to industry analysts. “Nonprime non-QM loans have exhibited high voluntary prepayment speeds, resulting from credit curing and high initial mortgage interest rates,” analysts at Deutsche Bank Securities said. The voluntary prepayment rate on non-QM mortgage-backed securities ... [Includes one data chart]