Underwriting

The mortgage industry has put more emphasis on organizing data in a digital manner and presenting it in an easily digestible format.

A year after the major credit bureaus agreed to strip tax liens and civil judgments from consumers' credit files, a new study says it is hampering lenders' credit decisions. But proponents of the move insist it was the right call.

The Federal Housing Administration updated its lender certification proposal originally issued this past May, as it looks to ease industry concerns on False Claims Act enforcement.

Angel Oak is now offering mortgage brokers and correspondent loan sellers a prequalification tool to determine borrower eligibility for non-qualified mortgages.

Fannie Mae's current tack could help it weather some of the new challenges confronting the government-sponsored enterprises, including the planned expiration of its qualified mortgage rule exemption and rate-driven earnings volatility.

Mr. Cooper Group reported a second-quarter net loss of $87 million as the company took a $231 million fair value hit to its mortgage servicing rights portfolio.

The incentives are stronger than ever to work toward standardizing the documentation, language and process for loans in commercial mortgage-backed securities to be combined with PACE financing.

After the government-sponsored enterprise patch expires, "near prime" loans over the 43% debt-to-income ratio should be qualified mortgages if they have compensating factors, according to the Center for Responsible Lending.

The post-crisis operational improvements at both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have resulted in stronger mortgage loan performance, a Fitch Ratings report said.

Mortgages using alternative documentation like bank statements for underwriting performed stronger than expected, but uncertainty remains about their default rates in stressed environments, Fitch Ratings said.

As lawmakers meet this week to discuss artificial intelligence, they should work with regulators to create universal and workable definitions.

Because automated valuation models have not been subjected to a stressed housing market, their increased use holds negatives and positives for residential mortgage-backed securities credit quality, a Moody's report said.

Consumers' knowledge of the mortgage process and what it takes to purchase a home has not improved from four years ago and lenders have an opportunity to fill that need, Fannie Mae said.

The nonconforming market is ready to absorb most of the government-sponsored enterprise loans covered by the QM patch, but not all of them, according Redwood Trust.

After issuing five RMBS deals of prime jumbo loans in 2019, JPMorgan has gathered a pool of 919 investor-only properties for its next mortgage securitization.

Securitized loans originated outside the Qualified-Mortgage rule's parameters have looser underwriting guidelines than mainstream loans do today, but are more tightly underwritten than past subprime or alternative-A products, according to DBRS.

Non-qualified mortgage-backed securities record issuance in the first quarter puts it on pace to top full-year volume predictions, according to Keefe, Bruyette & Woods.

The state's tougher oversight has stripped Property Assessed Clean Energy of its go-to project financing status among contractors. That shift may result in adverse selection.

A top official at the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions defended tougher underwriting rules blamed recently for a slump in the nation’s housing market, but left open the possibility that regulations could ease if conditions change.

As 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose 30 basis points year-over-year, non-QM originations are estimated to grow 400% in 2019.