Industry Briefs Feb. 4, 2022: RMBS Non-Prime Mods Surge as Forbearances Expire

Fitch Ratings: RMBS Non-Prime Modifications Surge as Forbearances Expire

Fitch Ratings, New York, said non-prime loan modifications surged as forbearance plans expire across the sector.

The Fitch 3Q21 U.S. RMBS Servicer Metric Report found bank and non-bank servicers reported no movement in the 60+ day delinquency category; this remained constant at 2% throughout all three quarters. Serious delinquencies of 90+ day past due accounts as reported by bank and non-bank servicers continued a moderate quarterly decline over this period.

“Loan modifications have seen significant increases as borrowers exited forbearance plans in the third quarter, and forbearances are now down to 43% of all loan workouts, as reported by bank servicers,” said Director Richard Koch. “Bank servicers showed significant loss mitigation activity over the past year; non-bank servicers are reporting similar loss mitigation trends, albeit to a more modest degree.”

The report said forbearance plans experienced a year over year drop to 43% from 87% of all loan workout options, while loan modifications quadrupled to 40% from 10% year over year as a percentage of loss mitigation portfolios for bank servicers. Koch said these results indicate that borrowers are exiting forbearance agreements in favor of loan modifications or paying current on accounts. Non-bank servicers, meanwhile, report a 10% decrease year over year in forbearance plans, peaking in Q1 at 71%, while tripling the percentage of loan modifications to 19% from 6.61% year over year.

Trinity Realty Group LLC Joins TCN Worldwide

TCN Worldwide Real Estate Services, San Diego, announced Trinity Realty Group LLC, Albany, N.Y., as its newest member.

TRG serves commercial real estate needs of Upstate New York, including the Capital Region, Hudson Valley and Central/Western New York. Founded in 2007, TRG is a full-service real estate company specializing in brokerage advisory, property management and development.

HUD Provides $2 Billion in Federal Funds for Disaster Recovery, Mitigation

HUD issued an Allocations for Community Development Block Grant Disaster Recovery and Implementation of the CDBG-DR Consolidated Waivers and Alternative Requirements Notice to open access to more than $2 billion in federal funds to help communities equitably recover and improve long-term resilience to disasters and future climate impacts.

HUD’s Consolidated Notice, which lays out requirements for the use of these disaster recovery and mitigation funds, will require Community Development Block Grant-Disaster Recovery grantees to incorporate disaster mitigation measures into all recovery activities involving construction and to advance equitable distribution of the disaster recovery assistance.

The Consolidated Notice applies to the more than $2 billion in CDBG-DR funds allocated by the Department in November and funds appropriated in the continuing resolution, the Extending Government Funding and Delivering Emergency Assistance Act, signed into law on September 30, 2021. That allocation was made to 10 states covering 15 separate major disasters that occurred calendar year 2020.

IntroLend Carolinas Adds 2 Mortgage Lenders to Platform

IntroLend Carolinas, Charlotte, N.C., added two lenders, American Security Mortgage and Highlands Residential Mortgage, to its platform.

The platform allows agents to launch and track their client’s digital mortgage journey, from rapid pre-approval through closing. In the process, competitive mortgage bids are sourced from a network of 150+ wholesale and retail lenders.

Mortgage Coach Launches New Website

Mortgage Coach, Irvine, Calif., launched a newly designed website, allowing visitors an enhanced user experience featuring immersive brand exploration opportunities and an enriched library of lender resources.

An enhanced library of free educational resources is available to help lenders build borrower relationships with personalized mortgage advice. The Top Producer Insights page features video interviews where successful lending professionals share how they use Mortgage Coach to attract leads, win borrower business and generate referrals. The website also features on-demand training to help Mortgage Coach users at all levels optimize the platform.

The website is available at https://mortgagecoach.com/.

Redfin: Homebuyer’s Agent Commission Rate Dips to 2.63%, Lowest Since At Least 2017

Redfin, Seattle, said the typical commission rate paid to brokerages representing homebuyers has fallen to its lowest point in at least four years. Redfin found the typical U.S. buyer’s agent commission was 2.63% of the home-sale price during the three months ending Nov. 30—down from 2.69% a year earlier and the lowest rate in Redfin’s records, which date back to 2017.

Redfin agents said the competitive housing market may be accelerating the decline in the buy-side commission rate. Another factor at play is increasing transparency. Some real estate websites, including Redfin, last year started publishing buyer’s agent commission rates in select markets. In November, the National Association of Realtors passed a policy to allow brokerages and agents to display buyer’s agent commissions on their websites, which will bring commission transparency to even more markets in 2022. Consequently, more consumers may discover that some home sellers and home-selling companies, like iBuyers, are already paying lower commissions, and follow suit.

The report said while the average commission rate has been declining, the dollar value of buy-side commissions has been on the rise. At $12,415, the average commission fee a buyer’s agent received during the three months ending Nov. 30 was up 6.9% from a year earlier and up 29.2% from the same period in 2017. That’s a function of rising home prices. The median sale price of U.S. homes surged 15% year over year to $383,100 in November.

Tavant Partners with PennyMac

Tavant, Santa Clara, Calif., partnered with PennyMac Financial Services Inc. Pennymac has integrated Tavant FinDecision into its POWER Portal for broker partners.

Pennymac’s access to FinDecision’s dual Automated Underwriting Systems functionality and other core processes provides the company an additional tool to yield faster decisioning. At its core, FinDecision provides the ability to validate AUS responses (both Desktop Underwriter and Loan Product Advisor) and equivalently review their findings. It also identifies all potential avenues to improve operational efficiency, including optimizing cost and decreasing processing times. FinDecision allows lenders and brokers to be more flexible in their decision-making.