Redwood Trust Shifts Away from Fannie, Freddie Conforming Loans

HousingWire, Feb. 11, 2016–Lane, Ben
Seeking to rid itself of two business segments that are dragging on the real estate investment trust’s bottom line, Redwood Trust announced recently that it will be discontinuing the acquisition and aggregation of conforming loans for sale to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and will also discontinue commercial loan originations for distribution in commercial mortgage-backed securities.

U.S. Fed Buys $6.6 Bln of Mortgage Bonds, Sells None

Reuters, Feb. 11, 2016
The Federal Reserve bought $6.582 billion of agency mortgage-backed securities last week, but sold no securities guaranteed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or Ginnie Mae.

Want a Mortgage? Borrow Big; It’s Cheaper

WTOP (Washington, D.C.), Feb. 10, 2016–Clabaugh, Jeff
Mortgage rates show no signs of heading higher. Indeed, with 10-year Treasury yields falling, long-term mortgage rates have been moving lower in recent weeks.

Arch MI Underwriting Income Up More than 140% in 2015

National Mortgage News, Feb. 10, 2016–Finkelstein, Brad
Arch Capital Group’s mortgage insurance segment, which covers both primary and reinsurance operations, had underwriting income of $64.8 million in 2015. This is an increase of more than 140% from the $26.4 million of underwriting income recorded in 2014.

OCC Lifts Mortgage Servicing Restrictions on U.S. Bank, Santander

Housing Wire, Feb. 9, 2016–Lane, Ben
The Office of the Comptroller of the Currency announced Tuesday that it is terminating mortgage servicing-related consent orders against U.S. Bank National Association and Santander Bank, lifting the mortgage servicing restrictions placed on both banks last year due to failure to comply with requirements of the Independent Foreclosure Review.

CFPB Corrects Error in TRID Rule

HousingWire, Feb. 9, 2016–Lane, Ben
According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s addendum, the supplementary information states that “property insurance premiums, property taxes, homeowner’s association dues, condominium fees and cooperative fees” are “subject to tolerances,” when it should read that those fees are “not subject to tolerances.”

TRID Scuttling Revival of Private-Label Securitizations

National Mortgage News, Feb. 9, 2016–Berry, Kate
Many institutional investors are refusing to purchase mortgages loans until they get assurance from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau that they won’t have to pay for others’ mistakes. Their pullback could further the slow the issuance of private-label mortgage bonds this year, a huge concern at a time when the majority of home loans are insured by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the FHA.

Housing Groups Blast GSEs’ Sale of Bad Loans to Goldman, Hedge Funds

National Mortgage News, Feb. 12, 2016–Berry, Kate
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been selling pools of delinquent mortgages at auction to the highest bidders. Community groups say the Federal Housing Finance Agency should be giving preferential treatment to nonprofits and community development financial institutions.