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As the new year rolls in, DS News is taking a look back at some of the biggest secondary market headlines and stories of 2014:
1. GSEs Officially Lower Down Payment to 3 Percent for Qualifying First-Time Homebuyers – Following months of talk and speculation, both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced on Monday they will begin allowing qualifying first-time borrowers to purchase homes with just a 3 percent down payment.
2. Fannie Mae Announces Risk Transfer Deal to Increase Role of Private Capital in Mortgage Market – Fannie Mae has expanded its risk sharing offerings with the announcement of the credit insurance risk transfer (CIRT) deal, which transfers the credit risk on a pool of loans from the taxpayers to a panel of domestic reinsurers.
3. Judge Upholds $1.5 Billion Claim against Wells Fargo – A lawsuit filed by European bank LBBW Luxemburg S.A. over an alleged $1.5 billion subprime mortgage-backed securities (MBS) fraud scheme was upheld by a federal judge, who denied the bank’s motions to dismiss. U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken let stand charges of fraud, breach of contract, negligent misrepresentation, and constructive fraud against Wells Fargo Securities LLC and Fortis Securities LLC.
4. Lender, Servicer Call Off $39 Billion Mortgage Servicing Rights Deal – Wells Fargo and Ocwen Financial have mutually agreed to cancel the sale of billions of dollars residential mortgage servicing rights after New York's top financial regulator put the deal on hold, according to multiple reports.
5. New York Regulator Accuses Servicer of Sending Backdated Foreclosure Notices – Benjamin Lawsky, superintendent of financial services for New York, said an investigation of Ocwen's mortgage servicing practices turned up more than 7,000 letters sent to borrowers that had been backdated and sent only after their payment deadlines had passed.
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