Strength of MI Report
USMI’s report, “Private Mortgage Insurance: Stronger and More Resilient,” highlights the many regulatory and industry-led reforms taken over the last decade to improve and strengthen the role of private mortgage insurance (MI) in the nation’s housing finance system. The report analyzes the various regulatory enhancements and the industry-led initiatives that private MIs have taken and continue to take to ensure sustainable mortgage credit through all market cycles and to better serve low down payment borrowers in the conventional market, especially during critical economic times. Click below to read the report.
The report also highlights the steps the industry has taken since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic to support the federal government foreclosure prevention programs, including the announcements made by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac regarding forbearance programs and other mortgage relief available to support borrowers impacted by COVID-19. USMI members have focused their efforts on helping borrowers remain in their homes by supporting their lender customers during these challenging times.
Among the enhancements to the industry in the last several years, the report outlines and analyzes the following:
- Private Mortgage Insurer Eligibility Requirements (PMIERs) – Adopted in 2015 and updated in 2018 and 2020, PMIERs nearly doubled the amount of capital each mortgage insurer is required to hold. USMI members collectively hold more than $5.1 billion in excess of these requirements.
- New Master Policy – Updated terms and conditions from mortgage insurers for lenders, which provide lenders with greater clarity pertaining to coverage.
- Rescission Relief Principles – First published in 2013 and updated in 2017, these principles allow MIs to offer day-one certainty to lenders of coverage, including automatic relief after 36 timely payments.
- MI Credit Risk Transfer (MI-CRT) Structures – Private MI companies have transferred $41.4 billion in risk on over $1.8 trillion of insurance- in-force (IIF) since 2015—through both reinsurance and insurance-linked notes.
Download the full report here.
