A just-released ratings agency report indicates that loan modifications are having a positive impact on residential delinquency.
Delinquency has declined for many subprime residential mortgage-backed securities issued from 2005 to 2007, Moody’s Investors Service reported. Serious delinquency for the vintages was down around 2.5 percent in the first half of this year.
In addition, serious delinquency on Alt-A issuances have stabilized, with the delinquency rate edging up just 0.3 percent.
On transactions issued between 2005 and 2008, RFC issuances serviced by GMAC Mortgage have seen the biggest decline in serious delinquency for all asset classes. Delinquency on subprime and Alt-A loans serviced by GMAC were down more than 11.5 percent.
GMAC has also been the most aggressive pursuing loan modifications over the past year — with a one-third modification rate on subprime mortgages and a 14 percent rate on Alt-A loans.
Bear Stearns deals serviced by JPMorgan have showed 2.8 percent improvement, while delinquent subprime mortgages at JPMorgan improved 11.5 percent.
Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, which Moody’s called the biggest issuer of jumbo RMBS, has also seen improvement.
“In times dominated by loss mitigation efforts, the servicer makes a big impact on residential mortgage loan performance,” Moody’s stated. “We believe that the level of modification activity is the key driver for the performance differences among servicers and product types.”
In addition to GMAC and Wells, Moody’s said it reviewed deals serviced by BAC Home Loan Servicing, JPMorgan Chase Bank and CitiMortgage Inc. — where delinquency deteriorated 4.89 percent.
Much hinges on the level of re-defaults with loan modifications, which Moody’s has estimated at between half and 70 percent.
