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Tag Archives: RMBS

White House Representative Speaks on Housing Finance Reform

Speaking at an industry symposium recently, Gene Sperling, director of the National Economic Council for the White House, stressed the importance of securitization in the housing market, saying it makes mortgages cheaper and enables banks to free up limited capital to support additional home purchases and other forms of lending. However, he says the current securitization market is in need of major reforms.

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Bank of America and Freddie Mac Settle Repurchase Claims

Bank of America has agreed to pay Freddie Mac $404 million to be released from existing and future repurchase claims on approximately 716,000 loans originated in the last decade by BofA and sold to the GSE. The payment also compensates Freddie Mac for past and future mortgage insurance-related losses on the loans, but doesn't cover loan servicing obligations or private-label securities.

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GSEs Update Short Sale Policies

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced changes to their Servicing Guides Monday aimed at helping more borrowers avoid foreclosure through short sales and deeds-in-lieu of foreclosure (DILs). Some of the changes are to align with certain Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) rules and regulations that implement the mortgage servicing provisions of the Dodd-Frank Act, and some are simply to ease eligibility requirements for liquidation workout options.

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Fannie Mae’s Board Elects Asset Management Veteran

Diane Nordin, a seasoned asset management executive, has joined Fannie Mae's board of directors, the company announced. Nordin most recently spent a year as a fellow at the Advanced Leadership Initiative at Harvard University. Before that, she worked for 20 years at Wellington Management Company, a private asset management firm.

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New Head of FHFA Expected

Analysts expect to see a new face at the helm of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) now that Senate Democrats have changed the rules so that a filibuster can't be used to block presidential appointments. Now only needing a simple majority for confirmation, Mel Watt's 56 votes in the Senate's first decision on his nomination mean he has enough support to become director of the FHFA--a change analysts say raises policy risk but also credit availability.

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New Network Launches to Connect Secondary Market Traders

Secondary market professionals have a new way to connect with potential buyers and sellers: LendTrade, a recently launched community for trading professionals designed to cut out the middleman and save costs. Upon joining LendTrade, new members set up a profile and indicate the types of deals they're seeking, then they receive notifications when opportunities posted meet their criteria.

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JPMorgan Strikes Deal with Mortgage Investors

JPMorgan Chase & Co. has reached a $4.5 billion agreement with 21 institutional investors to settle mortgage repurchase and servicing claims on 330 residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) issued by J.P. Morgan, Bear Stearns, and Chase. The group of investors supports the arrangement, according to their legal representative, and has asked the trustees to accept JPMorgan's offer. The bank says it is appropriately reserved for this and any remaining RMBS litigation matters.

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Analysts Consider How Ability-to-Repay and QM Impact RMBS Losses

As lenders prepare to adopt the Ability-to-Repay and Qualified Mortgage (QM) rules in January, so too are ratings agencies preparing for these new rules. Fitch Ratings released a report revealing its expectations for how the rules will impact future loss severities on residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS). Overall, Fitch expects the rules to result in greater underwriting uniformity and enhanced due diligence, with 100 percent of reviews completed on all QM and higher-priced QM loans.

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Long Liquidation Times Ramp Up Loss Severities Despite Rising Prices

While home prices have risen 14 percent nationally since their trough a few years ago, Fitch Ratings points out that loss severities on residential mortgage-backed securities have only 5 percent over the past year. The slow rate of improvement is primarily the result of prolonged liquidation timelines which hit an all-time high in the third quarter. Currently, 32 percent of seriously delinquent homeowners have not made a payment in more than four years.

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SEC Says RBS Securities Misled Investors in Subprime Deal

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Thursday charged RBS Securities Inc., the wholesale banking subsidiary of the Royal Bank of Scotland, with misleading investors in a 2007 subprime residential mortgage-backed security (RMBS) offering. RBS agreed to settle the matter and pay more than $150 million, which the SEC will use to compensate investors for harm suffered as a result of the RBS deal.

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