Ginnie Mae Aligns Manufactured Home MBS Program with FHA Changes

Ginnie Mae, mortgage-backed securities (MBS) guarantor, on Thursday announced a new program for issuers of manufactured home (MH) MBS. The program comes in response to the Federal Housing Administration‘s (FHA) recent updates to the federal mortgage insurance program for manufactured housing. Ginnie, which guarantees FHA MBS, adjusted to align with FHA’s changes. The new program applies to pools backed by loan collateral for which the mortgage application date is on or after June 1, 2009. Issuers must provide an acceptable FHA loan application date at the time of pooling. The guarantee fee for MH MBS will remain at 30 basis points for the new program, but the minimum pool origination balance will increase to $1m. Eligible manufactured housing loans may now be pooled as Ginnie II MBS, using the program’s Manufactured Housing Custom Pool type. Ginnie will, effective immediately, accept applications for issuers to participate in MH MBS. “The program is designed not only to fulfill the needs of borrowers and lenders, but also to provide for prudent risk management,” Ginnie said in a letter to MBS program participants. Issuers currently approved to issue manufactured housing securities will have to re-apply in order to participate in the new program. Ginnie said the major change to the program will be that all issuers must maintain a minimum adjusted net worth of $10m, plus 10% of the amount of MH MBS outstanding. Ginnie expects to issue full program guidance no later than Sept. 1, 2010. Write to Diana Golobay.