While residential mortgage lenders are facing tough headwinds driven by rising interest rates and low housing volume, the current market presents opportunities for savvy investors looking at mortgage servicing rights (“MSRs”). The current mortgage market is supported by non-bank mortgage originators and servicers who lack the same access to capital and liquidity as traditional banks.

In early February 2023, as part of its broader mission to support and sustain the financing of affordable single family and multifamily housing for all Americans, Ginnie Mae further refined its focus on social responsibility in the mortgage-backed security (MBS) market by launching an enhanced Low-to-Moderate Income (LMI) disclosure as part of its Ginnie Mae

Mayer Brown is pleased to announce that Krista Cooley, a partner in our Financial Services Regulatory and Enforcement group, has recently expanded her existing practice to take the lead in managing our state licensing practice.  Krista is an experienced Consumer Financial Services attorney with over 19 years of experience.  In this role, Krista advises clients on compliance with the requirements of federal and state laws governing the licensing, approvals and practices of brokers, lenders, purchasers and servicers of mortgages and other consumer loan products, as well as sales finance companies, money service businesses and collection agencies. She also assists clients in navigating the complex state and federal licensing and approval process in connection with, among others, new business lines, legal entity conversions, restructuring and change of control transactions.

Stacey Riggin, one of our Government Affairs Advisors, and Dana Lopez, our Licensing Manager, work closely with Krista and will continue to oversee our team of five regulatory compliance analysts, each of whom has over ten years of experience working together on licensing matters.  Our team has decades of experience in managing nationwide licensing projects and assisting clients in obtaining approval with state and federal government agencies to engage in a variety of financial services related activities.  Our team also coordinates regulatory approvals needed to facilitate mergers, equity investments, stock and asset acquisitions, and servicing sales and transfers.Continue Reading Mayer Brown Announces Consumer Finance Licensing Team Transition

In recent weeks, the US federal housing agencies and government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs) that insure, guarantee, or purchase “federally backed mortgage loans” covered by Section 4022 of the CARES Act (Act) have continued their intense pace of issuing temporary measures, and updates to such measures, intended to implement the Act’s provisions applicable to such loans. These

Residential mortgage loan servicers, trade associations and various members of Congress have been urging the Department of Treasury and the Federal Reserve Board to provide a dedicated servicing advance facility.  On April 10, 2020, Ginnie Mae did just that, announcing the terms of its much-anticipated Pass-Through Assist Program for Issuers of mortgage-backed securities that are

Any day now, maybe even today, Ginnie Mae will announce the details on its Pass-Through Assistance Program (“PTAP”), through which Ginnie Mae will provide a liquidity facility for issuers that need help meeting their obligation as issuers to pass-through payments of regularly scheduled payments of principal and interest, regardless of whether the loans are subject to forbearance.  While quickly trying to finalize PTAP program documents, on Monday April 7th, Ginnie Mae announced that it would recognize servicing advance financing facilities under its Acknowledgement Agreement. Previously, Ginnie Mae would not recognize a servicing advance receivable as  an independent component of mortgage servicing rights related to loans pooled into Ginnie Mae securities (“MSRs”).  This new recognition improves the ability of servicers to finance a valuable income stream, which has proven increasingly costly as the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly challenged liquidity in the housing market. But this recognition comes with limitations, which we detail below.
Continue Reading Modest Improvements: Ginnie Mae’s Servicing Advance Facility Recognition

For many of us who have been around for a while, it seems as if we have seen this movie before.  An economic downturn leads to increased borrower delinquencies on mortgage loans with a progressively increasing obligation for the servicers of those mortgage loans to make principal and interest advances to cover the delinquencies.

But

On Monday, March 30, 2020, from 4:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. EDT, Mayer Brown partners Holly Spencer Bunting and Krista Cooley will discuss actions taken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic by the Federal Housing Administration, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.  This call is a part of Mayer Brown’s Global

On Thursday, March 26, 2020, from 3:00 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. EDT, Larry Platt will discuss the provisions of recent federal legislation that impact residential mortgage loans.  This call is a part of Mayer Brown’s Global Financial Markets Teleconference Series.

Congress’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic is expansive legislation that provides support to federal agencies,

If only the U.S. Treasury had a magic wand to ensure that the dozens of recommendations released last night in its long-awaited reform proposals for housing finance would become a reality; in that case, one could expect real-time results in the quest for an end to GSE conservatorship and the strengthening of the FHA. Instead,