New assistance for renters may help but past efforts, while necessary, failed to get relief to renters in an expedient way, said David Brickman, who is now the head of a new agency lending platform backed by Barings and Meridian Capital.

The Blackstone-affiliated company recently took out a cash-out refi mortgage for a 17-property portfolio, an opportunity aided by high demand for its R&D facilities for COVID-19 research.

While the economic recovery and stimulus checks drove upward movement in purchases, it wasn’t enough to offset tumbling refinance activity.

The company is still searching for someone to fill the roll on a full-time basis, but the $600,000 annual salary cap may limit the candidate pool.

The sponsor has refrained from multi-borrower deals since March 2020, but has pooled together 28 loan participations from 40 properties – including notable concentrations in retail and lodging.

Carvana will use proceeds to pay down existing debt and to fund general corporate purposes.

With a steady stream of Senate hearings held on the racial wealth gap and inequities in the financial system, the new chairman has set a consumer-focused agenda that leans further left than even past Democratic chairs.

Deals, trends and research in structured finance and asset-backed securities for the week of March 5-11

The Federal Housing Finance Agency is preparing to retire certain loan underwriting flexibilities after extending them one additional month to April 30.

Unify Financial is sponsoring a $300M securitization of prime auto loans. The $3.3 billion-asset institution is only the second CU to sell securities backed by auto loans since the NCUA gave the green light for credit-union securitizations nearly four years ago.

The government-sponsored enterprise announced Wednesday it will change eligibility criteria for vacation homes and investor properties starting April 1 to fulfill a directive by former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin.

In its final days, the Trump administration imposed limits on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s holdings of mortgages with loan-to-value ratios above 90% and certain other characteristics. Critics say the changes were unnecessary and disproportionately penalize borrowers of color.