 | | | | By Paul Muolo pmuolo@imfpubs.com New Penn Financial on Wednesday said it has purchased Shelter Mortgage Co., Milwaukee, a $1-billion-a-year originator with strong ties to Realtors, builders and relocation companies. No purchase price was disclosed. Shelter, which bills itself as a full-service mortgage lender, does not own any servicing rights. New Penn services roughly $12 billion in residential product and funds about $6 billion a year. Both companies are nonbanks. New Penn, a growing player in the jumbo market, is owned by Shellpoint Partners, a specialty finance company whose chairman is Lewis Ranieri, co-inventor of the mortgage-backed security. In a statement, New Penn said the purchase “significantly expands its share of the mortgage market and doubles the size of its retail channel.” The sale of Shelter is one of the largest mortgage M&A deals of the past few months and could mark the beginning of an active second half of industry consolidation. Other areas of interest: Originations, Servicing, Mergers & Acquisitions, Mortgage Lending & Servicing | | By Paul Muolo, Charles Wisniowski pmuolo@imfpubs.com, cwisniowski@imfpubs.com Roughly 18 member institutions of the Federal Home Loan Bank system whose entry was facilitated via a “captive” insurance company will be affected by a proposed rule banning them from the system, according to figures provided to IMFnews. A spokesman for the FHFA noted that seven of the 18 are affiliated with mortgage real estate investment trusts. REITs have sought membership in the system to gain access to cheaper funding via the FHLB system’s advance window. By law, only depositories and insurance companies can be FHLB members. On Tuesday afternoon, the regulator issued a proposal that would effectively ban captive insurers from gaining membership while giving existing captives five years to exit the system. REITs that would be affected by the rule change have been identified by stock analysts who cover them. Publicly traded REITs that might have to leave the system include – among others – Annaly Capital Management, Invesco Mortgage Capital, Ladder Capital Corp. and Two Harbors. Analysts at FBR & Co. view the ban as an “earnings issue” because “replacement financing would likely be more expensive than existing financing.” For more detailed analysis on the topic, see the upcoming edition of Inside The GSEs. Other areas of interest: Originations, Servicing, Secondary/MBS, Regulatory | | By George Brooks gbrooks@imfpubs.com Mortgage lenders funded $32.81 billion of FHA "forward" loans in the second quarter, a respectable 16 percent increase from the first quarter, according to figures compiled by Inside FHA Lending. During the first half, originators funded $61.11 billion of FHA forward loans, a 51.8 percent decline from the comparable period in 2013. The drop-off in production is not surprising given higher interest rates this year and a much lower volume of refis. During the first six months of the year, purchase loans accounted for $47.3 billion of all FHA production or 77 percent. Quicken Loans, once again, ranked first among all FHA direct funders with a first half volume of $3.20 billion and a market share of 5.24 percent. Wells Fargo ranked second with $2.58 billion followed by LoanDepot.com ($1.24 billion). JPMorgan Chase, whose chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon has contemplated leaving the FHA program, originated $1.14 billion during the first half, a 55 percent decline from the same period a year ago. For more on the story and exclusive rankings of the top 100 FHA lenders, see Inside FHA Lending. Other areas of interest: Originations, Data/Rankings, Ginnie Mae/FHA | | By Paul Muolo pmuolo@imfpubs.com Bayview Asset Management, Coral Gables, FL, is looking to hire roughly 20 full-timers in its wholesale and correspondent divisions, which cater to both QM and non-QM lenders. “We’re looking for production and we have the appetite,” said Jeff Lemieux, who heads the third-party lending channel of the privately held company. “We’d like to hire them as soon as possible.” In particular, Bayview seeks lending development directors for the Northwest, Upper Midwest, Texas and the Southeast. Additionally, Bayview and its Lakeview affiliate are seeking a wholesale division leader and wholesale account executives in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and other locations. Bayview rolled out a non-QM product line several months ago. On non-QM loans Bayview will go as high as $1.5 million, but the loan-to-value ratio is capped at 80 percent. Other areas of interest: Originations, Personnel, Nonconforming, Mortgage Lending & Servicing | | By Charles Wisniowski cwisniowski@imfpubs.com The Inspector General of the Federal Housing Finance Agency is looking for a supervisory criminal investigator to work on what it calls “unique, complex and sensitive projects,” according to a recent employment ad posted on USAjobs.gov. The applicant, who must have a top secret security clearance, can earn anywhere from $134,000 to $227,000. The in-house investigator would supervise the IG’s hotline team at least 25 percent of the time, and manage and maintain both the Computer Investigative Forensics Program and the National Firearms and Training Program of the department, among other duties. “The duties of this position require moderate to arduous physical exertion involving walking and standing, use of firearms, and exposure to inclement weather,” states the job ad, which closed on Tuesday after just a one-week application period. The FHFA’s official watchdog has noted – including most recently in its April semi-annual report to Congress – that in addition to its mandate to focus on waste, fraud and abuse, it plans to remain “active” on the law enforcement front. Over the past few years, the IG’s office has worked on cases with the Department of Justice, the FBI, and several state attorneys general. During the six-month period ending March 31, the IG boasted that its investigative efforts resulted in the indictment and conviction of 82 and 62 individuals respectively, as well as more than $46 million in criminal fines and restitution orders. Other areas of interest: Secondary/MBS, Regulatory, Fannie, Freddie | | By Paul Muolo, George Brooks pmuolo@imfpubs.com, gbrooks@imfpubs.com The bulk market for mortgage servicing rights continues to roll on – as long as it’s not “legacy” product. Interactive Mortgage Advisors is out in the market with a $4 billion offering of MSRs tied to Fannie Mae loans. The portfolio of 19,706 mortgages has almost no delinquencies and is top-heavy in collateral from Texas, California, Florida and Michigan. The bid deadline is Sept. 10… PennyMac Financial Services said in a new SEC filing that it amended a revolving credit facility it has with Credit Suisse, increasing the line to $157 million from $117 million. The line is used to finance the acquisition of mortgage servicing rights. A research blurb from Compass Point Research & Trading notes: “Although the increase in the facility is relatively small compared to the overall debt financing available at PFSI, it does indicate PFSI is actively looking to purchase additional MSRs.” PFSI is the stock symbol of PMFS… MORTGAGE REGULATORY UPDATE: The FHA recently issued two final rules enhancing consumer protections: one prohibiting lenders from charging additional interest on FHA-insured mortgages that are paid in full and another ensuring that borrowers of adjustable-rate mortgages receive earlier notice of rate changes. Both rules were published in the Aug. 26 Federal Register. For further details, see Inside FHA Lending. IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: HSBC Finance Corp. recently disclosed in an SEC filing that back in May it sold a $1.25 billon pool of real estate-secured receivables to a third-party investor. The buyer, who was not identified in the filing, paid roughly $893 million. Earlier in the year, HSBC outsourced the servicing of its consumer and mortgage REO portfolio to Altisource, an Ocwen spin-off… MORTGAGE PEOPLE: The wholesale lending arm of Carrington Mortgage has hired a former “private client” executive from JPMorgan Chase to lead its attempt at building strategic alliances with community banks and credit unions. The new hire, David Grosteffon, will carry the title of divisional sales manager for strategic accounts. VantageScore Solutions hired Mike Trapanese as senior vice president of strategic planning. He will report to Barrett Burns, president and CEO of VantageScore Solutions.
Trending: Non-QM Lending Each week, more mortgage companies announce they are taking up lending outside the bounds of the qualified mortgage standards. And it is not just companies making loans to hold in portfolio. Learn how others are determining that non-QM lending is a sound business move, how they are approaching it, and whether it’s an originations strategy you should be pursuing at the Sept. 24 Inside Mortgage Finance webinar “Unlocking the Potential of Non-QM Lending.” Other areas of interest: Originations, Servicing, Personnel, Regulatory, Mergers & Acquisitions, Fannie, Freddie, Ginnie Mae/FHA | | | |
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