Securitization

If Congress does not act in time to increase the federal debt ceiling, the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) will likely shut down — cutting off a key source of mortgage credit for homebuyers.

The risk retention proposal drafted by federal regulators is likely to hinder the development of a private securitization market and make it harder to wind down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, according to a new paper by Moody's Analytics.

Mortgage application activity declined in the week ending June 17 with both refinancing and purchase activity lower as mortgage rates crept higher.

The keynote speakers at this week’s American Securitization Forum 2011 annual meeting in Washington D.C. gave a bipartisan call from U.S. representatives to save the 30-year mortgage, saying that without this product a significant portion of homebuyers will not be served.

JPMorgan Securities has agreed to a settlement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) concerning its 2007 sale of CDOs called Squared CDO 2007-1, according to a press release from the firm.

Single-family existing home sales fell 3.2% in May as April sales were revised downward and severe weather hampered homebuying in the Midwest.

Enterprise Fleet Management (EFM) is currently in the market with Enterprise Fleet Financing, LLC Series 2011-2. JPMorgan Securities and Bank of America Merrill Lynch are the joint bookrunners on the almost $600 million 144A transaction.

A report by Dealogic reported that global ABS volume increased 12% to $72.9 billion in 2011 year-to-date, up from $65.4 billion in 2010 year-to-date. This was the first year-on-year volume boost for ABS since 2007.

A new ruling yesterday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York has commingled three mortgage lawsuits against Bank of America (BofA) into one big legal effort, with a Pennsylvania pension fund taking the lead.

The RMBS private-label market will continue to be stalled by the still-weakened housing market, according to a Standard & Poor’s report. The release also warned investors not to mistake a potential flurry of issuance in the coming months with a lasting recovery.

In May, the delinquency rate on U.S. CMBS loans fell four basis points to 9.18%.

The residential loan market is looking a little better these days, according to a new forecast from Fannie Mae.

As credit card use slows in certain sectors because of tightened budgets and risk avoidance, many issuers may find they lack consistent retention strategies, according to a study from Celent.

Three new ABS transactions are being marketed this week by General Electric Capital Corp. (GECC), Cabela’s, and Santander. Aside from the usual auto transaction, the equipment and credit card sectors are represented in this week’s deal mix as well.

Wells Fargo & Co. decided to exit reverse mortgages after federal officials insisted it foreclose on elderly customers who were behind on property tax and insurance payments, a Wells executive wrote in an email to business contacts Friday.

The nation’s top three megabanks – Wells Fargo & Co., Bank of America, and JPMorgan Chase – saw their second lien production volumes swoon in the first quarter, according to new figures compiled by National Mortgage News and the Quarterly Data Report.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have taken a big chunk of the Jumbo mortgage market away from private investors since 2008 when Congress raised the maximum GSE loan limit to $729,750, according to researchers at the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

Ginnie Mae issuers sold $25.6 billion of MBS into the secondary market during May, down almost 4% from the previous month, according to new figures released by the Ginnie Mae.

Walter Investment Management Corp., Tampa, has reached another milestone in its efforts to raise capital to fund its purchase of Green Tree Credit Solutions, by closing on the private placement securitization of $102 million in notes backed by residential mortgages, building and installment sales contracts, promissory notes, related mortgages and other security agreements.

National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) filed suits this morning against JPMorgan Chase and RBS Securities claiming fraud in the sale of billions of dollars in private-label MBS the two investment firms sold to the five failed corporate credit unions.