Securitization

Vandy Fartaj, the firm’s chief capital markets officer, says a novel deal structure allows the real estate investment trust to issue additional term notes its portfolio of mortgage servicing rights grows.

Investor demand for mortgage bonds is strong; the only limiting factors are consumer awareness of the product and loan officers' willingness to offer them.

The U.S. is investigating lenders for allegedly pressuring veterans and members of the military into unneeded mortgage refinances — unsavory conduct that not only leads to higher consumer costs but has consequences for one of the world’s largest bond markets.

Damage from Hurricane Irma could potentially put billions of dollars in commercial mortgage-backed securities at risk, according to Morningstar Credit Ratings.

Morningstar thinks that $38.94 billion of CMBS loans that it rates in Florida could be impacted; it sees another $19.38 billion of exposure in Georgia, $5.16 billion in Alabama, and $5.03 billion in South Carolina.

The Terrorism Risk Insurance Act was created after 9/11 to serve as a crucial federal backstop for commercial real estate insurers, but an analysis of alternatives to fund the program reveals the continued challenges of measuring and predicting terror risk.

Hurricane Irma could potentially affect more private-label mortgage securities collateral than any other recent storm.

The $426.2 million COLT 2017-2 is backed entirely by loans originated by Caliber, an affiliate of private equity firm Lone Star Funds. There are no loans originated by Sterling Bank & Trust, which accounted for 22% of the collateral for the prior deal.

Ginnie Mae will help issuers with certain servicing obligations if more than 5% of their portfolios are in areas Hurricane Harvey has ravaged.

The 4,443 single-family rental homes securing Starwood Waypoint Homes 2017-1 have an average age of 30 years, older than any previous transaction by the sponsor, but are bringing in more than $1,700 apiece in monthly rent.

Carlyle Group LP was exonerated in a lawsuit tied to the collapse of a mortgage fund from 2008, avoiding $1 billion in damages sought by the pool's liquidators.

The legal logjam involving a pair of distressed properties in Garfield Heights, Ohio is starting to clear, after more than eight years of litigation and stagnation.

Damages have typically not been a "disruptive problem" with hurricanes because of commercial properties' insurance, Trepp reports, but expiring leases of major tenants and the energy industry fallout have already had an impact on Houston-area office buildings.

If mortgage rates rise slowly as the economy continues to grow, the impact from the Fed’s unwind on housing likely will result in a decline in refinancing activity.

The average home value backing the loans is $117,000, well below the average $150,000 of other recent RPL securitizations, according to Fitch Ratings.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will adjust their risk-sharing deals so that they can accommodate high loan-to-value loans refinanced under the programs replacing the Home Affordable Refinance Program.

A $507.6 million first mortgage on the Hotel del Coronado, a 130-year-old landmark with 1,400 linear feet of direct ocean frontage, is being securitized in BBCMS 2017-DELC. Barclays is the loan seller.

MFA Financial Inc. co-CEO William Gorin died Aug. 10 after a long illness. He was 59.

Redwood Trust is raising $225 million in a debt offering with the proceeds to be used to repay borrowings that come due next year.

For all the talk that Janet Yellen’s plan to shrink the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet will hurt Treasuries, U.S. mortgage bonds face a bigger test.