National MI, one of the new mortgage insurers on the block, has been accepted by two large national lenders and will start insuring loans for their correspondent channels this month.
The contracts mark a "critical milestone for the company," said Bradley Shuster, president and chief executive of NMI Holdings, during a conference call Monday on the insurer's fourth-quarter financial results.
Shuster did not identify the two national lenders but said the deals will open the door for National MI to insure loans originated by hundreds of small and midsize lenders that regularly sell loans to these aggregators.
"As of the end of February, we had approximately 400 master policies signed with lenders, including 12 of the top 25 sellers of GSE loans," Shuster told analysts. He expects a "substantial number of these lenders to convert to customers" now that the big correspondent lenders have given National MI the green light.
As of Feb. 28, National MI was receiving mortgage insurance applications from fewer than 60 lenders and just
In the fourth quarter, the company generated $157.6 million in primary new insurance written, compared to $3.6 million in the third quarter.
Shuster also told the analysts and investors that he expects to be insuring loans for the retail channels of the two large national lenders soon.
