Tag Archives: RMBS

In a commentary, Fitch stated the proposed uses of eminent domain in California could negatively affect private label RMBS performance. Recently, the board of supervisors of San Bernardino County voted to form a joint powers authority with California cities Fontana and Ontario to look into the option of using eminent domain to seize underwater mortgages. Fitch said one proposal, which is of particular concern, indicates that only current and delinquent mortgages, not those in foreclosure, would be eligible. Thus, borrowers who would have stayed current on their payments could have their mortgage seized by the local, state, or county government. If eminent domain was to be used in such a way, then holders of the seized homes could experience losses, Fitch said.

Home prices and mortgage delinquencies appear to be stabilizing, but how well U.S. residential mortgage backed-securities (RMBS) issued before 2008 perform will depend on three key variables, according to a Standard and Poor's report. Those three variables are collateral performance, the effectiveness of structural protections, and the behavior of transaction parties such as servicers and bond trustees.

Porthos Portfolio Management, LLC, a privately held capital and asset management company, recently announced Robert Willis has been named COO. Willis joins a team of industry professionals from the financial services sector specializing in distressed debt and the residential real estate space. Willis is responsible for expanding the company's reach into the residential mortgage-backed securities market and serving clients' complex needs of providing both homeowner retention strategies and dignified exits for liquidations.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) says it has filed a subpoena enforcement action with a California federal court against Wells Fargo & Company because the bank has failed to produce documents requested by the SEC. According to the filing, the SEC is investigating possible fraud in connection with Wells Fargo's sale of nearly $60 billion in residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) to investors between September 2006 and early 2008.

Foreclosure timelines are on the rise, and the increase is resulting in greater losses to residential mortgage backed securities (RMBS), according to Moody's Investor Service's Servicer Dashboard for the fourth quarter 2011, released Thursday. The average loan in foreclosure has been in the process for 571 days, but judicial states are weighing heavily on that average. Foreclosures in judicial states have aged an average 654 days, while foreclosures in non-judicial states have aged an average 297 days, according to Moody's.

Some Bank of America borrowers may be in for principal reductions in amounts exceeding $100,000, according to the latest developments in the settlement the bank and four other large servicers made with state and federal regulators. While the other four servicers in the national settlement are being required to diminish principal so underwater borrowers have loan-to-value ratios of 120 percent or less, BofA will be reducing principal for about 200,000 homeowners to fall in line with current market values.

Home prices across much of the country are still overvalued, but the gap is narrowing, according to Fitch Ratings. The agency has revised its Sustainable Home Price (SHP) model, and the results show that residential property values are now on track to fall an additional 9.1 percent nationally before arriving at a level that is supported by market fundamentals. Though home prices are falling nationally, Fitch notes that price movement in some regional markets is still quite volatile due to the volume and pace of distressed sales being processed.

Reluctant attorneys general for New York and Delaware both signed on to the multi-state $25 billion settlement last week with the nation's largest servicers, securing $740 million and $45 million for their states, respectively. The two attorneys general were lured back to the settlement in its final days when they were assured the settlement would not impede further investigation into additional civil and criminal claims at the five mortgage servicers – Bank of America, Citi, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, and GMAC.

Residential Credit Solutions, Inc. (RCS) has just received approval from the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae) to be an issuer and servicer for the Ginnie Mae I and II single-family mortgage-backed securities programs. Dennis Stowe, president and CEO of RCS, says the nod from Ginnie Mae will allow the company to provide assistance to a broader constituency of homeowners by expanding its servicing and sub-servicing offerings to both investors and issuers of federally insured and guaranteed loans.

Analysts at Fitch Ratings expect to see a sharp rise in the cost to service mortgage loans. They describe the housing recovery in the U.S. as ""unhurried"" and as a result, they say lenders have been forced to shoulder higher foreclosure expenses. Fitch says increased foreclosure costs compounded by credit, compliance, regulatory, and other real-estate owned expenses are beginning to have a profound effect on the industry. The agency estimates the cost of servicing nonperforming loans is likely to double from pre-crisis levels.