Mortgages

Hawaii plans to sell $150 million in taxable bonds in November to fund a program to provide low-interest loans targeting residents with poor credit or low income who want to install energy savings devices like solar panels on their homes.

Fitch Ratings may decline to rate or limit the maximum rating on re-performing securitizations if their representations and warranties, rep providers, documentation, due diligence reviews and structures aren't up to snuff.

The overall message – that mini-correspondents were intended as transitions, not permanent business models – means that the loan channel would be examined for consistency with the intended purpose.

This is what CFPB will be looking for to determine if a mini-correspondent really is a mortgage banker or a mortgage broker.

The issuance of securities backed by mortgage loans on multifamily properties guaranteed by Fannie Mae increased over 30% from the first quarter of 2014.

Residential mortgage delinquencies declined for the fifth consecutive quarter to roughly 6%, the lowest level since the fourth quarter of 2007, as subprime loan portfolios continue to shrink.

MGIC Investment Corp. reported its insurance subsidiaries wrote $3.6 billion in new primary mortgage insurance in July, up 12.5% from June, continuing its second-quarter trend.

Minority borrowers, as a group, are more likely to use the same lender again and more likely to comment about the experience in social media.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are relying more and more on their income from loan guarantee fees just at a time when their regulator is considering a proposal to reduce those fees.

Morgan Stanley is returning to the jumbo residential mortgage-backed securities market for the first-time since the housing crisis. The originator is well-known, but the loans are unusual and the geographic concentration is high.

Selling loans into the secondary market was a good strategy for housing finance agencies when rates were falling, but now they are said to be heading back to traditional bond financings to boost their balance sheets.

Fair Isaac's new credit scoring model includes enhancements to evaluate borrowers with limited credit histories and quantify the risk associated with different types of debt.

U.S. non-governmental residential mortgage-backed securities infrastructure may help Canadian players diversify their funding sources. The U.S. might win more key investors back if it had Canada's credit strengths.

Ellie Mae has agreed to buy AllRegs, an electronic publisher of underwriting guidelines.

Zais Financial Corp., a real estate investment trust in Red Bank, N.J., has acquired the privately owned mortgage company GMFS in Baton Rouge, La., for approximately $61 million.

Banks and other lenders appear to be waiting on a regulatory signal from the Federal Housing Finance Agency before approving loans for borrowers with less than stellar credit profiles.

Though some borrowers will suffer from payment shock when home equity lines reach their end-of-draw-period after 10 years, the risks are isolated. Fewer than 20% of home equity lines have an elevated risk of default in the next few years, TransUnion found.

Radian Group Inc. jumped in New York trading after the mortgage insurer posted a second-quarter profit as the housing market improved.

Northrim BanCorp in Anchorage, Alaska, has agreed to buy Residential Mortgage Holding Co.

Fannie Mae will give the Treasury Department $3.7 billion next month after the largest financier of mortgages posted its 10th-consecutive quarterly profit.