A number of Republicans raised concerns last week about the exemption from qualified mortgage standards currently provided to mortgages eligible for sale to the government-sponsored enterprises. Loans must meet a number of standards to receive QM protections, including having a debt-to-income ratio below 43 percent. However, under the ability-to-repay rule from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that took effect in 2014, mortgages eligible for sale to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can receive QM status even if they have DTI ratios above 43 percent. The exemption is known as the “GSE patch.”

After the standards for qualified mortgages took effect in 2014, few state-regulated banks stopped offering non-QMs, according to a survey by the Conference of State Bank Supervisors. “Non-QM mortgage lending activity appears relatively stable despite the regulatory tumult,” the state regulators said. According to a CSBS survey of more than 600 banks, the share of respondents that don’t offer non-QMs changed from 23.8 percent in 2014 to 26.5 percent ... [Includes one brief]

A former Deutsche Bank employee is at the center of a lawsuit brought by the government over the sale of more than $1 billion of non-agency MBS. It’s rare when the government focuses on an individual for mortgage fraud, but the Department of Justice said the bank’s former head of subprime trading allegedly defrauded investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars. The civil complaint was filed in Brooklyn’s federal court against Paul Mangione for knowingly selling bad subprime mortgages financed during the crisis and misleading investors about loan quality. The complaint alleges that he engaged in fraudulent schemes involving the origination practices of Deutsche Bank’s subsidiary, DB Home Lending LLC, which originated the bulk of the loans. The securities were sold...

Most rated residential MBS in regions affected by Hurricanes Harvey and Irma have limited exposure that will mitigate the losses resulting from the devastation, according to rating services. Residential MBS rated by Moody’s Investors Service, including securities backed by single-family rental properties, have minimal exposure to the storm-affected counties of Texas and Louisiana thereby easing the losses due to reduced property values, rising delinquencies and longer foreclosure and liquidation timelines, the rating agency said. The analysis is...

Redwood Trust is set to issue its first jumbo mortgage-backed security backed predominantly by loans with looser underwriting standards than the super-prime jumbos that have dominated the market. The planned $316.49 million Sequoia Mortgage Trust 2017-CH-1 includes many non-qualified mortgages and other loans that fall outside of Redwood’s traditional Select program. Kroll Bond Rating Agency and Moody’s Investors Service assigned preliminary AAA ratings to the MBS last week ...

Bank and thrift holdings of first-lien mortgages continued to increase in the second quarter, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets. Banks and thrifts held $1.97 trillion of first-lien mortgages at the end of June. The holdings were up by 1.9 percent from March and up 3.8 percent from a year ago. Trends in portfolio management were somewhat mixed among the top 10 holders of first-lien mortgages. Top-ranked Wells Fargo had ... [Includes one data chart]

Caliber Home Loans is on track to nearly double its originations of non-qualified mortgages this year and will supply the collateral for a forthcoming mortgage-backed security, the largest in the post-crisis era.Caliber plans to originate $1.00 billion of non-QMs this year, up from $539.0 million in 2016, according to DBRS. The nonbank lender has boosted its non-QM production across lending channels, led by wholesale. Caliber had $247.0 million in wholesale non-QM originations ...

The retail channel dominates production among prominent jumbo lenders and gained some market share through two quarters this year, according to a new analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets. The retail channel accounted for 77.5 percent of jumbo originations among a group of lenders that had a total of $108.00 billion in jumbo volume in the first half of 2017. The retail share was 76.6 percent over the same period in 2016. The correspondent ... [Includes one data chart]

An affiliate of Shellpoint Partners is preparing to issue another jumbo mortgage-backed security backed largely by mortgages aggregated by Bank of America. The planned Shellpoint Co-Originator Trust 2017-2 is a $323.38 million deal that received preliminary AAA ratings this week. Nearly all of the mortgages were aggregated by BofA through its jumbo whole-loan purchase program and sold to Shellpoint in bulk deals. Loans from 17 lenders will be included in the pool, led by ...

Three non-agency mortgage-backed securities issuers were preparing to issue deals around the time that Hurricane Harvey hit the Gulf Coast and Hurricane Irma made landfall in Florida. Deals from the issuers include mortgages on properties in the disaster areas, prompting inspections and an emphasis on the representations and warranties included with the MBS. An affiliate of Shellpoint Partners is set to issue a $323.38 million deal on Sept. 29. According to Kroll Bond Rating Agency ...