Servicing Newslinks Archive

“The strong economy, low interest rates and liquid finance markets are all contributing to delinquency rates that are at or near record lows for commercial and multifamily mortgage loans. Despite uncertainty on many economic fronts, it is hard to identify factors that would dramatically change the delinquency rate picture in the near term.”–MBA Vice President of Commercial Research & Economics Jamie Woodwell.

“Those in the mortgage industry understand the importance of protecting their customers’ privacy and are acutely aware of their responsibility to protect information and ensure the data they collect is used for appropriate purposes. In order to balance the risk and reward, so that consumers may enjoy the convenience certain innovations provide, there must be parallel development of oversight and regulation to address the issues raised when technology is used. We can ensure responsible innovation without creating unnecessary barriers to widespread use.”–MBA President & CEO Robert Broeksmit, CMB.

“We are gratified that the reports reflect many of the important priorities that MBA has long recommended, including protecting taxpayers from future bailouts, an explicit government guarantee on qualified mortgage-backed securities for single-family and multifamily loans, increased competition and consumer choice via potential additional guarantors and ensuring a level playing field for lenders of all sizes and business models. The reports recognize the need to better coordinate the roles of FHA and the GSEs. Such coordination must preserve affordable financing options for a wide range of borrowers and reflect the vital role FHA plays in the larger housing finance system.”–MBA President and CEO Robert Broeksmit, CMB, on the Trump Administration’s proposal for GSE reform.

“With anticipated increases in prepayment activity, we saw hits to servicing profitability resulting from mortgage servicing right markdowns and amortization. Nonetheless, the profitability on the production side of the business generally outweighed servicing losses.”–MBA Vice President of Industry Analysis Marina Walsh.

“Existing home sales make up approximately 90 percent of all home sales, which means existing homeowners must sell their homes in order for homes to be available for sale. Rising tenure length, therefore, means both fewer buyers and fewer homes on the market, keeping existing-home sales below potential.”–First American Chief Economist Mark Fleming.

“The unemployment rate remains quite low, but the national mortgage delinquency rate in the second quarter rose from both the first quarter and one year ago. The economy is slowing, and this poses the risk of further increases in delinquency rates.”–Marina Walsh, MBA Vice President of Industry Analysis.

“As you recall, MBA opposed the inclusion of the language preference question in the URLA because of the customer relations issues the question would cause if lenders could not actually serve borrowers in their preferred language, and due to unresolved operational and legal questions raised by the language preference information. We greatly appreciate Director Mark Calabria’s willingness to revisit these concerns and resolve them effectively.”–MBA President and CEO Bob Broeksmit, CMB, on an Aug. 8 announcement by the GSEs to delay implementation of the Uniform Residential Loan Application.

“S. 2155 was enacted to right-size regulations for community banks, mid-sized banks, regional banks and credit unions to expand access to capital. We have already started to see meaningful benefits from these laws…more can still be done to support the economic expansion.”–From a July 30 letter signed by nearly a dozen Republican senators to federal agencies, urging them to loosen regulations on banks and non-banks.

“The national mortgage market readjusting away from the Patch can facilitate a more transparent, level playing field that ultimately benefits consumers through stronger consumer protection.”–Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Kathleen Kraninger.

“Today’s announcement is not the end of our efforts to make sure consumers’ sensitive personal information is safe and secure. The incident at Equifax underscores the evolving cyber security threats confronting both private and government computer systems and actions they must take to shield the personal information of consumers. Too much is at stake for the financial security of the American people to make these protections anything less than a top priority.”–Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Kathy Kraninger.