Servicing

The large number of overleveraged commercial mortgage-backed securities loans coming due in 2019 is likely to cause the payoff rate to drop an additional 9 percentage points by December, a Morningstar report said.

Delinquencies associated with the government-sponsored enterprises high loan-to-value ratio programs that target low-to-moderate income homebuyers are slightly better than expected, at least early on, according to Fitch.

The potential for longer homeowner recovery times from hurricanes could hurt mortgage companies that need to advance funds to investors from missed payments.

Private-label mortgage securitizations with variable servicing fee arrangements could become more common going forward as issuers look to increase investor cash flow while reducing the loan servicer's economic exposure, Fitch said.

Commercial mortgages placed into special servicing grew last year, but default and foreclosure dollar volume fell as legacy loan resolutions outpaced newly distressed loans, according to Fitch Ratings.

Freddie Mac's latest nonperforming mortgage auction will include one pool targeted to smaller investors like nonprofit organizations.

Caliber Home Loans settled a grievance with the Massachusetts attorney general over allegations of providing distressed borrowers with unaffordable loan modifications.

The bank agreed to modify loans to struggling U.S. borrowers as part of a 2017 settlement. Instead, it’s receiving credit for financing new mortgages that likely would have been made anyway.

The moves are part of an ongoing effort by the Seattle bank to largely exit mortgage lending.

Controlling classes of investors in commercial mortgage-backed securitizations can replace a special servicer, but before they do, they should make sure the long and potentially expensive process is worth it.