In a familiar refrain, participants in the non-QM market suggest the sector is ready for takeoff. Still, technology in the non-QM market lags compared with the GSEs.

Issuers of prime non-agency MBS are increasingly removing loans subject to third-party due diligence reviews from the final MBS pools. Kroll Bond Rating Agency said the practice is a slippery slope.

QM revisions not on CFPB’s agenda; regulators leave risk-retention standards as is; forbearance on non-agency loans increase; non-agency MBS issuance update; Deephaven allowing remote appraisals for non-QMs.

The Structured Finance Association has developed a framework due diligence providers can use to help gauge QM compliance. A large chunk of the document focuses on verification of a borrower’s employment.

Non-agency MBS brought to the market in the past two weeks were primarily stocked with jumbo mortgages and GSE-eligible loans for investment properties. There were also a few expanded-credit deals.

UWM is offering its first non-QM product in years; the impairment rate on securitized non-QMs declined somewhat in October.

MFA Financial posted a sharp increase in income, driven by its focus on buying non-agency mortgages and its acquisition of Lima One, a business-purpose lender.

AG Mortgage Investment Trust more than doubled its net income in the third quarter as it shifted its focus to non-agency mortgages. AGMIT is sourcing many of its mortgage acquisitions from an affiliated lender.

The public REIT portion of the Angel Oak Companies non-QM machine nearly tripled its income in the third quarter thanks to an increase in loan acquisitions and an MBS issuance.

The largest non-agency MBS on offer in the past two weeks was a $762 million deal from United Wholesale Mortgage. Barclays Capital is also set to issue an expanded-credit MBS.