Redwood Trust is about to have company from other real estate investment trusts looking to issue non-agency jumbo mortgage-backed securities. Two Harbors Investment will issue its first jumbo MBS later this month, and PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust plans to issue a security by the end of September. Redwood helped revive non-agency jumbo MBS issuance beginning in 2010 and has been active in the sector ever since. Following the financial crisis, no other REITs joined Redwood even though ...
The Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission filed similar lawsuits this week against Bank of America regarding an $855.67 million non-agency jumbo MBS issued in January 2008. The lawsuits claim that BofA failed to disclose key facts regarding one of the last jumbo deals to be issued before the securitization market essentially closed in 2008. BofA counters that the securities were sold to sophisticated investors that had ample access to the underlying data. BofA was the issuer of the security in question Banc of America Mortgage 2008-A Trust as well as the originator, servicer, sponsor and depositor, and affiliated entities managed the transaction. The regulators allege...
Redwood Trust had a $2.6 billion pipeline of non-agency jumbo mortgages at the end of the second quarter of 2013. While that usually wouldnt cause much concern for the real estate investment trust, the loans were originated before interest rates on 30-year fixed-rate non-agency jumbos spiked by 100 basis points. The increase, beginning in mid-May, caused spreads on non-agency jumbo MBS to widen significantly. However, officials at Redwood stressed this week that the non-agency MBS market didnt ...
PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust plans to issue its first non-agency jumbo mortgage-backed security in the third quarter of 2013 by combining $393.0 million of non-agency jumbos it recently acquired in a bulk transaction with mortgages from its correspondent lenders. The real estate investment trust said it acquired $107.0 million in non-agency jumbos via its conduit in the second quarter, along with $8.0 million in the first three months of 2013. Jumbo originations have been affected by the ...
President Obama this week endorsed a reduction in the FHAs high-cost loan limits and called on the Federal Housing Finance Agency and the Department of Housing and Urban Development to consider further decreases to reduce conforming loan limits. The proposal was included in a fact sheet that accompanied Obamas speech this week on housing. The FHAs high-cost loan limits are scheduled to be reduced at the end of this year. HUD and FHFA should closely examine using their existing authorities to reduce ...
One of the last non-agency jumbo mortgage-backed securities issued before the securitization market effectively closed in 2008 is the subject of similar lawsuits by the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission. Bank of America issued the $855.7 million security in January 2008, as well as originated and serviced the loans included in the MBS. The regulators cite internal reports from BofA as well as email communications among employees to allege that BofA provided inadequate ...
Credit Suisse issued its latest non-agency jumbo mortgage-backed security last week and, in a change of pace, included a significant portion of 15-year fixed-rate mortgages in the deal. The $597 million CSMC Trust 2013-6 included mortgages that have seasoned for an average of three months with a weighted-average coupon of 3.56 percent, according to a rating report from DBRS. The seasoning on the mortgages wasnt out of the ordinary compared with other recent issuance by Credit Suisse, but the average ...
The government-sponsored enterprises holdings of vintage nonprime mortgage-backed securities declined in the second quarter of 2013 due to sales as well as runoff. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are working toward the goal set by the Federal Housing Finance Agency to sell 5.0 percent of the non-agency and less liquid mortgage-related assets they held in their retained portfolios at the end of 2012. Combined, the government-sponsored enterprises held $96.48 billion in nonprime MBS as of ... [Includes one data chart]
The question of whether the FHA should allow the refinancing of underwater mortgages seized through eminent domain has reemerged as a key issue following a recent decision by the city of Richmond, CA, to use its authority to take over distressed mortgages for restructuring. There is a new twist to the question, however. Could FHAs refusal to refinance such mortgages be deemed discriminatory against cities and homeowners if eminent domain programs meet the requirements of the FHA Short Refinance program? Is that tantamount to redlining? A top executive of Mortgage Resolution Partners, which developed the eminent domain strategy to help underwater homeowners at risk of foreclosure, said ...
Continued abuses has caused single-family loan originations to remain a top priority for reviews and targeted audits, according to the Department of Housing and Urban Developments Office of the Inspector General. A specialized audit program has been developed to target lenders, considering a number of high-risk indicators, the OIG said. Although the agency did not elaborate, it did note Congress keen interest in FHA solvency and in eradicating policies and practices that contribute to the agencys current financial woes. The OIG said it plans to ...