Mortgages

Requiring solar panels for all newly constructed residences is good news for investors who finance these systems, if only because it will help keep developers afloat, according to Moody’s Investors Service.

After originating more than $1 billion in loans outside the ability-to-repay rule's Qualified Mortgage safe harbor last year, Angel Oak is planning to originate at least twice that in 2018.

Collateral for the mortgage bonds does not include what Moody's Investors Service terms the "improvements," a 42-story building, state-of-the-art digital signage or a 452-room luxury hotel.

Despite the entrance of several large players over the past several years, financing to small-time landlords is still inefficient, executives say.

In a bid to cut time and costs from the mortgage process, Fannie Mae is testing whether appraisers can accurately determine a home's value without actually visiting the property.

Freddie Mac has quietly started extending credit to nonbanks that issue mortgages, a move it says will help the companies maintain access to a crucial stockpile of cash if their home loans go sour.

The removal of costly appraisal requirements on tens of thousands of smaller commercial properties could help community banks better compete for loans they say they have been losing to nonbank lenders.

Fannie Mae's first-quarter profits were enough for it to rebuild its minimum capital buffer and pay the Treasury Department dividend after being forced to take a draw during the previous fiscal period.

Ocwen Financial Corp. got back in the black during the first quarter after selling New Residential Investment Corp. $110 million in economic rights to mortgage servicing.

In its latest effort to reach first time home buyers, Freddie Mac is launching a new 3% down payment program that casts aside a number of restrictions in its existing low down payment offerings.

If Freddie Mac's credit-risk transfer activities continue to grow, mortgage lenders could eventually see a reduction in the guarantee fees they pay to the government-sponsored enterprise, according to CEO Donald Layton.

The $826.6 million transaction, GPMT 2018-1, represents about two-fifths of the $2.4 billion portfolio of the REIT, which was spun out of Two Harbors Investment last year.

Angel Oak Commercial Lending provide both short- and long-term financing for projects in multifamily, industrial, mixed use, retail, office, self-storage and other sectors.

The legislation would prohibit the CFPB from penalizing institutions that rely in good faith on guidance from the bureau.

The real estate investment trust is issuing $450 million of five-year notes backed by rights to excess servicing strips of Fannie Mae loans.

A class action filed last week alleges that Renovate America and Renew Financial failed to provide consumer protections promised to L.A. County, that this constitutes elder abuse, and the county is complicit.

HELOCs make up just 2.9% of the $281 million pool of collateral; 81.8% of the HELOC borrowers are currently ineligible to make draws; another 18.2% are permanently frozen.

Applications can now be made on the bank's app or website, but closings will still be in person. With this move, BofA joins Quicken Loans, Lenda, SoFi and others offering a mostly digital mortgage. The trend is sure to continue.

Momentum to overhaul the mortgage finance system had been slipping, and with Democrats divided over the Senate's banking relief bill there's virtually no chance more bipartisan deals can be worked out.

The annual progress report on the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac conservatorships reiterated that a new credit score model will likely not be operational until after the implementation of a new Single Security Initiative.