Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Representations and Warranties Obligations and Corporate Guarantees

v2.4.0.8
Representations and Warranties Obligations and Corporate Guarantees
9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2014
Representations and Warranties Obligations and Corporate Guarantees [Abstract]  
Representations and Warranties Obligations and Corporate Guarantees
NOTE 7 – Representations and Warranties Obligations and Corporate Guarantees
 
Background

The Corporation securitizes first-lien residential mortgage loans generally in the form of RMBS guaranteed by the GSEs or by GNMA in the case of FHA-insured, VA-guaranteed and Rural Housing Service-guaranteed mortgage loans. In addition, in prior years, legacy companies and certain subsidiaries sold pools of first-lien residential mortgage loans and home equity loans as private-label securitizations (in certain of these securitizations, monolines or financial guarantee providers insured all or some of the securities) or in the form of whole loans. In connection with these transactions, the Corporation or certain of its subsidiaries or legacy companies make or have made various representations and warranties. These representations and warranties, as set forth in the agreements, related to, among other things, the ownership of the loan, the validity of the lien securing the loan, the absence of delinquent taxes or liens against the property securing the loan, the process used to select the loan for inclusion in a transaction, the loan's compliance with any applicable loan criteria, including underwriting standards, and the loan's compliance with applicable federal, state and local laws. Breaches of these representations and warranties have resulted in and may continue to result in the requirement to repurchase mortgage loans or to otherwise make whole or provide other remedies to the GSEs, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) with respect to FHA-insured loans, VA, whole-loan investors, securitization trusts, monoline insurers or other financial guarantors (collectively, repurchases). In all such cases, the Corporation would be exposed to any credit loss on the repurchased mortgage loans after accounting for any mortgage insurance (MI) or mortgage guarantee payments that it may receive.

Subject to the requirements and limitations of the applicable sales and securitization agreements, these representations and warranties can be enforced by the GSEs, HUD, VA, the whole-loan investor, the securitization trustee or others as governed by the applicable agreement or, in certain first-lien and home equity securitizations where monoline insurers or other financial guarantee providers have insured all or some of the securities issued, by the monoline insurer or other financial guarantor, where the contract so provides. In the case of private-label securitizations, the applicable agreements may permit investors, which may include the GSEs, with sufficient holdings to direct or influence action by the securitization trustee. In the case of loans sold to parties other than the GSEs or GNMA, the contractual liability to repurchase typically arises only if there is a breach of the representations and warranties that materially and adversely affects the interest of the investor, or investors, or of the monoline insurer or other financial guarantor (as applicable) in the loan. Contracts with the GSEs do not contain equivalent language. Generally the volume of unresolved repurchase claims from the FHA and VA for loans in GNMA-guaranteed securities is not significant because the requests are limited in number and are typically resolved promptly. The Corporation believes that the longer a loan performs prior to default, the less likely it is that an alleged underwriting breach of representations and warranties would have a material impact on the loan's performance.

The estimate of the liability for representations and warranties exposures and the corresponding estimated range of possible loss is based upon currently available information, significant judgment, and a number of factors and assumptions, including those discussed in Liability for Representations and Warranties and Corporate Guarantees in this Note, that are subject to change. Changes to any one of these factors could significantly impact the estimate of the liability and could have a material adverse impact on the Corporation's results of operations for any particular period. Given that these factors vary by counterparty, the Corporation analyzes representations and warranties obligations based on the specific counterparty, or type of counterparty, with whom the sale was made. For additional information, see Note 7 – Representations and Warranties Obligations and Corporate Guarantees to the Consolidated Financial Statements of the Corporation's 2013 Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Settlement Actions

The Corporation has vigorously contested any request for repurchase when it concludes that a valid basis for repurchase does not exist and will continue to do so in the future. However, in an effort to resolve these legacy mortgage-related issues, the Corporation has reached bulk settlements, including various settlements with the GSEs, including settlement amounts which have been significant, with counterparties in lieu of a loan-by-loan review process. The Corporation may reach other settlements in the future if opportunities arise on terms it believes to be advantageous. However, there can be no assurance that the Corporation will reach future settlements or, if it does, that the terms of past settlements can be relied upon to predict the terms of future settlements. The following provides a summary of certain large bulk settlement actions. For a discussion of the larger settlement actions prior to 2014, see Note 7 – Representations and Warranties Obligations and Corporate Guarantees to the Consolidated Financial Statements of the Corporation's 2013 Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Settlement with the Bank of New York Mellon, as Trustee

On June 28, 2011, the Corporation, BAC Home Loans Servicing, LP (BAC HLS, which was subsequently merged with and into BANA in July 2011), and its Countrywide affiliates entered into a settlement agreement with The Bank of New York Mellon (BNY Mellon), as trustee (the Trustee), to resolve all outstanding and potential claims related to alleged representations and warranties breaches (including repurchase claims), substantially all historical loan servicing claims and certain other historical claims with respect to 525 Countrywide first-lien and five second-lien non-GSE residential mortgage-backed securitization trusts (the Covered Trusts) containing loans principally originated between 2004 and 2008 for which BNY Mellon acts as trustee or indenture trustee (BNY Mellon Settlement). The BNY Mellon Settlement is supported by a group of 22 institutional investors (the Investor Group) and is subject to final court approval and certain other conditions.

The BNY Mellon Settlement provides for a cash payment of $8.5 billion (the Settlement Payment) to the Trustee for distribution to the Covered Trusts after final court approval of the BNY Mellon Settlement.

On January 31, 2014, the court issued a decision, order and judgment approving the BNY Mellon Settlement. The court overruled the objections to the settlement, holding that the Trustee, BNY Mellon, acted in good faith, within its discretion and within the bounds of reasonableness in determining that the settlement agreement was in the best interests of the covered trusts. The court declined to approve the Trustee's conduct only with respect to the Trustee's consideration of a potential claim that a loan must be repurchased if the servicer modifies its terms. On February 21, 2014, final judgment was entered and the Trustee filed a notice of appeal regarding the court's ruling on loan modification claims in the settlement. Certain objectors to the settlement have filed cross-appeals appealing the court's approval of the settlement, some of whom have subsequently withdrawn their objections. All appeals were fully briefed by September 22, 2014, and oral argument occurred on October 23, 2014. The court's January 31, 2014 decision, order and judgment remain subject to these appeals, as well as a motion to reargue to be heard on February 26, 2015, and it is not possible at this time to predict when the court approval process will be completed.

If final court approval is not obtained by December 31, 2015, the Corporation and Countrywide may withdraw from the BNY Mellon Settlement, if the Trustee consents. The BNY Mellon Settlement also provides that if Covered Trusts holding loans with an unpaid principal balance exceeding a specified amount are excluded from the final BNY Mellon Settlement, based on investor objections or otherwise, the Corporation and Countrywide have the option to withdraw from the BNY Mellon Settlement pursuant to the terms of the BNY Mellon Settlement agreement. If final court approval is not obtained or if the Corporation and Countrywide withdraw from the BNY Mellon Settlement in accordance with its terms, the Corporation's future representations and warranties losses could be substantially different from existing accruals and the estimated range of possible loss over existing accruals described under Private-label Securitizations and Whole-loan Sales Experience in this Note.

For more information on the BNY Mellon Settlement, see Note 7 – Representations and Warranties Obligations and Corporate Guarantees to the Consolidated Financial Statements of the Corporation's 2013 Annual Report on Form 10-K.

FHFA Settlement

On March 25, 2014, the Corporation entered into a settlement with the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) as conservator of FNMA and FHLMC to resolve (1) all outstanding RMBS litigation between FHFA, FNMA and FHLMC, and the Corporation and its affiliates, and (2) other legacy contract claims related to representations and warranties (collectively, the FHFA Settlement). In connection with the FHFA Settlement, on April 1, 2014, the Corporation paid FNMA and FHLMC, collectively, $9.5 billion and received from them RMBS with a fair market value of approximately $3.2 billion, for a net cost of $6.3 billion.

FGIC Settlement

On April 7, 2014, the Corporation entered into a settlement with Financial Guaranty Insurance Company (FGIC) for certain second-lien RMBS trusts for which FGIC provided financial guarantee insurance. In addition, on April 11, 2014, separate settlements were entered into with BNY Mellon as trustee with respect to seven of those trusts; settlements on two additional trusts with BNY Mellon as trustee were entered into on May 15, 2014 and May 28, 2014. The agreements resolve all outstanding litigation between FGIC and the Corporation, as well as outstanding and potential claims by FGIC and the trustee related to alleged representations and warranties breaches and other claims involving certain second-lien RMBS trusts for which FGIC provided financial guarantee insurance. The Corporation made payments totaling $950 million under the FGIC and trust settlements.

Unresolved Repurchase Claims

Unresolved representations and warranties repurchase claims represent the notional amount of repurchase claims made by counterparties, typically the outstanding principal balance or the unpaid principal balance at the time of default. In the case of first-lien mortgages, the claim amount is often significantly greater than the expected loss amount due to the benefit of collateral and, in some cases, MI or mortgage guarantee payments. Claims received from a counterparty remain outstanding until the underlying loan is repurchased, the claim is rescinded by the counterparty or the representations and warranties claims with respect to the applicable trust are settled, and fully and finally released. When a claim is denied and the Corporation does not receive a response from the counterparty, the claim remains in the unresolved repurchase claims balance until resolution.
The table below presents unresolved repurchase claims at September 30, 2014 and December 31, 2013. The unresolved repurchase claims include only claims where the Corporation believes that the counterparty has the contractual right to submit claims. For additional information, see Private-label Securitizations and Whole-loan Sales Experience in this Note and Note 10 – Commitments and Contingencies.

Unresolved Repurchase Claims by Counterparty and Product Type
 
 
 
(Dollars in millions)
September 30
2014
 
December 31
2013
By counterparty
 
 
 
Private-label securitization trustees, whole-loan investors, including third-party securitization sponsors and other (1, 2, 3)
$
23,012

 
$
17,953

Monolines (4)
1,087

 
1,532

GSEs
70

 
170

Total unresolved repurchase claims by counterparty
$
24,169

 
$
19,655

By product type
 
 
 
Prime loans
$
592

 
$
623

Alt-A
2,351

 
2,259

Home equity
1,629

 
1,905

Pay option
6,324

 
5,780

Subprime
13,076

 
8,928

Other
197

 
160

Total unresolved repurchase claims by product type
$
24,169

 
$
19,655


(1) 
At both September 30, 2014 and December 31, 2013, unresolved repurchase claims did not include repurchase demands of $1.2 billion where the Corporation believes that these demands are procedurally or substantively invalid as noted on page 201.
(2) 
The total notional amount of unresolved repurchase claims does not include repurchase claims related to the trusts covered by the BNY Mellon Settlement.
(3) 
Includes $14.0 billion and $13.8 billion of claims based on individual file reviews and $9.0 billion and $4.1 billion of claims submitted without individual file reviews at September 30, 2014 and December 31, 2013.
(4) 
At September 30, 2014, substantially all of the unresolved monoline claims pertain to second-lien loans and are currently the subject of litigation with a single monoline insurer.

During the three months ended September 30, 2014, the Corporation received $2.4 billion in new repurchase claims, including $2.1 billion of claims submitted without individual loan file reviews and $249 million of claims based on individual loan file reviews submitted by private-label securitization trustees, $60 million submitted by the GSEs for both Countrywide and legacy Bank of America originations not covered by the bulk settlements with the GSEs, and $19 million submitted by whole-loan investors. During the three months ended September 30, 2014, $135 million in claims were resolved. Of the claims resolved, $47 million were resolved through rescissions and $88 million were resolved through mortgage repurchases and make-whole payments with GSEs, private-label securitization trustees and whole-loan investors.

During the nine months ended September 30, 2014, the Corporation received $6.1 billion in new repurchase claims, including $4.9 billion of claims submitted without individual loan file reviews and $698 million of claims based on individual loan file reviews submitted by private-label securitization trustees and a financial guarantee provider, $301 million submitted by the GSEs for both Countrywide and legacy Bank of America originations not covered by the bulk settlements with the GSEs, and $217 million submitted by whole-loan investors. During the nine months ended September 30, 2014, $1.8 billion in claims were resolved. Of the claims resolved, $856 million were resolved through settlement, $464 million were resolved through rescissions and $505 million were resolved through mortgage repurchases and make-whole payments with GSEs, private-label securitization trustees and whole-loan investors.

The increase in the notional amount of unresolved repurchase claims during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2014 is primarily due to: (1) continued submission of claims by private-label securitization trustees, (2) the level of detail, support and analysis accompanying such claims, which impact overall claim quality and, therefore, claims resolution, and (3) the lack of an established process to resolve disputes related to these claims. For example, claims submitted without individual file reviews generally lack the level of detail and analysis of individual loans found in other claims that is necessary to support a claim. The Corporation expects unresolved repurchase claims related to private-label securitizations to increase as such claims continue to be submitted by private-label securitization trustees and there is not an established process for the ultimate resolution of such claims on which there is a disagreement. For further discussion of the Corporation's experience with whole loans and private-label securitizations, see Private-label Securitizations and Whole-loan Sales Experience in this Note.

In addition to, and not included in, the total unresolved repurchase claims of $24.2 billion at September 30, 2014, are repurchase demands the Corporation has received from private-label securitization investors and a master servicer where it believes that these demands are procedurally or substantively invalid. The total amount outstanding of such demands was $1.2 billion at both September 30, 2014 and December 31, 2013, comprised of $935 million of demands received during 2012 and $272 million of demands related to trusts covered by the BNY Mellon Settlement. The Corporation does not believe that the $1.2 billion of aforementioned demands outstanding at September 30, 2014 are valid repurchase claims and, therefore, it is not possible to predict the resolution with respect to such demands.

The notional amount of unresolved monoline repurchase claims totaled $1.1 billion and $1.5 billion at September 30, 2014 and December 31, 2013. Substantially all of the unresolved monoline claims pertain to second-lien loans and are currently the subject of litigation with a single monoline insurer. For further discussion of the Corporation's practices regarding litigation accruals and estimated range of possible loss for litigation and regulatory matters, which includes the status of its monoline litigation, see Estimated Range of Possible Loss in this Note and Litigation and Regulatory Matters in Note 10 – Commitments and Contingencies.

The notional amount of unresolved GSE repurchase claims totaled $70 million at September 30, 2014 compared to $170 million at December 31, 2013.

Liability for Representations and Warranties and Corporate Guarantees

The liability for representations and warranties and corporate guarantees is included in accrued expenses and other liabilities on the Consolidated Balance Sheet and the related provision is included in mortgage banking income in the Consolidated Statement of Income. The liability for representations and warranties is established when those obligations are both probable and reasonably estimable.

The Corporation's estimated liability at September 30, 2014 for obligations under representations and warranties given to the GSEs and the corresponding estimated range of possible loss considers, and is necessarily dependent on, and limited by, a number of factors, including the Corporation's experience related to actual defaults, projected future defaults, historical loss experience, estimated home prices and other economic conditions. The methodology also considers such factors as the number of payments made by the borrower prior to default as well as certain other assumptions and judgmental factors.

The Corporation's estimate of the non-GSE representations and warranties liability and the corresponding estimated range of possible loss at September 30, 2014 considers, among other things, repurchase experience based on the BNY Mellon Settlement, adjusted to reflect differences between the Covered Trusts and the remainder of the population of private-label securitizations, and assumes that the conditions to the BNY Mellon Settlement will be met. Since the non-GSE securitization trusts that were included in the BNY Mellon Settlement differ from those that were not included in the BNY Mellon Settlement, the Corporation adjusted the repurchase experience implied in the settlement in order to determine the estimated non-GSE representations and warranties liability and the corresponding estimated range of possible loss. The judgmental adjustments made include consideration of the differences in the mix of products in the subject securitizations, loan originator, likelihood of claims expected, the differences in the number of payments that the borrower has made prior to default and the sponsor of the securitizations. Where relevant, the Corporation also takes into account more recent experience, such as increased claim activity, its experience with various counterparties, recent court decisions related to the statute of limitations as summarized below and other facts and circumstances, such as bulk settlements, as the Corporation believes appropriate.

An additional factor that impacts the non-GSE representations and warranties liability and the portion of the estimated range of possible loss corresponding to non-GSE representations and warranties exposures is the requirement to meet certain presentation thresholds in order for any repurchase claim to be asserted on the initiative of investors under the non-GSE agreements. A securitization trustee may investigate or demand repurchase on its own action, and most agreements contain a presentation threshold, for example 25 percent of the voting rights per trust, that allows investors to declare a servicing event of default under certain circumstances or to request certain action, such as requesting loan files, that the trustee may choose to accept and follow, exempt from liability, provided the trustee is acting in good faith. If there is an uncured servicing event of default and the trustee fails to bring suit during a 60-day period, then, under most agreements, investors may file suit. In addition to this, most agreements also allow investors to direct the securitization trustee to investigate loan files or demand the repurchase of loans if security holders hold a specified percentage, for example, 25 percent, of the voting rights of each tranche of the outstanding securities. Although the Corporation continues to believe that presentation thresholds are a factor in the determination of probable loss, given the BNY Mellon Settlement and subsequent activity with certain counterparties, the estimated range of possible loss assumes that the presentation threshold can be met for a significant amount of the non-GSE securitization transactions. The population of private-label securitizations included in the BNY Mellon Settlement encompasses almost all Countrywide first-lien private-label securitizations including loans originated principally between 2004 and 2008. For the remainder of the population of private-label securitizations, other claimants have come forward and the Corporation believes it is probable that other claimants in certain types of securitizations may continue to come forward with claims that meet the requirements of the terms of the securitizations. See Estimated Range of Possible Loss in this Note for more information on the representations and warranties liability and the corresponding estimated range of possible loss.

The table below presents a rollforward of the liability for representations and warranties and corporate guarantees.

Representations and Warranties and Corporate Guarantees
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Three Months Ended September 30
 
Nine Months Ended September 30
(Dollars in millions)
2014
 
2013
 
2014
 
2013
Liability for representations and warranties and corporate guarantees, beginning of period
$
12,084

 
$
14,020

 
$
13,282

 
$
19,021

Additions for new sales
2

 
9

 
7

 
31

Net reductions
(305
)
 
(236
)
 
(1,773
)
 
(5,706
)
Provision
167

 
323

 
432

 
770

Liability for representations and warranties and corporate guarantees, September 30
$
11,948

 
$
14,116

 
$
11,948

 
$
14,116



The representations and warranties liability represents the Corporation's best estimate of probable incurred losses as of September 30, 2014. However, it is reasonably possible that future representations and warranties losses may occur in excess of the amounts recorded for these exposures. Although the Corporation has not recorded any representations and warranties liability for certain potential private-label securitization and whole-loan exposures where it has had little to no claim activity or where the applicable statute of limitations has expired, these exposures are included in the estimated range of possible loss.

Government-sponsored Enterprises Experience

The various settlements with the GSEs have resolved substantially all outstanding and potential mortgage repurchase and make-whole claims relating to the origination, sale and delivery of residential mortgage loans that were sold directly to FNMA through June 30, 2012 and to FHLMC through December 31, 2009, subject to certain exclusions, which the Corporation does not believe are material.

Private-label Securitizations and Whole-loan Sales Experience

In private-label securitizations, certain presentation thresholds need to be met in order for investors to direct a trustee to assert repurchase claims. Continued high levels of new private-label claims are primarily related to repurchase requests received from trustees and third-party sponsors for private-label securitization transactions not included in the BNY Mellon Settlement, including claims related to first-lien third-party sponsored securitizations that include monoline insurance. In addition, private-label securitization trustees may have obtained loan files through other means, including litigation and administrative subpoenas, which may increase the Corporation's total exposure.

A December 2013 decision by the New York intermediate appellate court held that, under New York law, which governs many RMBS trusts, the six-year statute of limitations starts to run at the time the representations and warranties are made, not the date when the repurchase demand was denied. That decision has been applied by the state and federal courts in several RMBS lawsuits not involving the Corporation, resulting in the dismissal as untimely of claims involving representations and warranties made more than six years prior to the initiation of the lawsuit. Unless overturned by New York's highest appellate court, which has taken the case for review, this decision would apply to claims and lawsuits brought against the Corporation where New York law governs. A significant amount of representations and warranties claims and/or lawsuits the Corporation has received or may receive involve representations and warranties claims where the statute of limitations has expired under this ruling and has not been tolled by agreement, and which the Corporation therefore believes would be untimely. The Corporation believes this ruling may have had an influence on recent activity in requests for tolling agreements and the pace of lawsuits filed by private-label securitization trustees prior to the expiration of the statute of limitations. In addition, it is possible that in response to the statute of limitations rulings, parties seeking to pursue representations and warranties claims and/or lawsuits with respect to trusts where the statute of limitations for representations and warranties claims against the sponsor and/or issuer has run, may pursue alternate legal theories of recovery and/or assert claims against other contractual parties. For example, on June 18, 2014, a group of institutional investors filed six lawsuits against six trustees covering more than 2,200 RMBS trusts alleging failure to pursue representations and warranties claims and servicer defaults based upon alleged contractual, statutory and tort theories of liability. The Corporation and its affiliates have not been named as parties to these lawsuits. The impact on the Corporation, if any, of such alternative legal theories or assertions is unclear.

The representations and warranties, as governed by the private-label securitization agreements, generally require that counterparties have the ability to both assert a claim and to actually prove that a loan has an actionable defect under the applicable contracts. While the Corporation believes the agreements for private-label securitizations generally contain less rigorous representations and warranties and place higher burdens on claimants seeking repurchases than the express provisions of comparable agreements with the GSEs, without regard to any variations that may have arisen as a result of dealings with the GSEs, the agreements generally include a representation that underwriting practices were prudent and customary. In the case of private-label securitization trustees and third-party sponsors, there is currently no established process in place for the parties to reach a conclusion on an individual loan if there is a disagreement on the resolution of the claim. For more information on repurchase demands, see Unresolved Repurchase Claims in this Note.

The majority of the repurchase claims that the Corporation has received and resolved outside of those from the GSEs and monolines are from third-party whole-loan investors. The Corporation provided representations and warranties and the whole-loan investors may retain those rights even when the loans were aggregated with other collateral into private-label securitizations sponsored by the whole-loan investors. The Corporation reviews properly presented repurchase claims for these whole loans on a loan-by-loan basis. If, after the Corporation's review, it does not believe a claim is valid, it will deny the claim and generally indicate a reason for the denial. When the whole-loan investor agrees with the Corporation's denial of the claim, the whole-loan investor may rescind the claim. When there is disagreement as to the resolution of the claim, meaningful dialogue and negotiation between the parties are generally necessary to reach a resolution on an individual claim. Generally, a whole-loan investor is engaged in the repurchase process and the Corporation and the whole-loan investor reach resolution, either through loan-by-loan negotiation or at times, through a bulk settlement. As of September 30, 2014, 16 percent of the whole-loan claims that the Corporation initially denied have subsequently been resolved through repurchase or make-whole payments and 47 percent have been resolved through rescission or repayment in full by the borrower. Although the timeline for resolution varies, once an actionable breach is identified on a given loan, settlement is generally reached as to that loan within 60 days. When a claim has been denied and the Corporation does not have communication with the counterparty for six months, the Corporation views these claims as inactive; however, they remain in the outstanding claims balance until resolution.

At September 30, 2014, for loans originated between 2004 and 2008, the notional amount of unresolved repurchase claims submitted by private-label securitization trustees, whole-loan investors, including third-party securitization sponsors, and others was $22.9 billion. The Corporation has performed an initial review with respect to substantially all of these claims and does not believe a valid basis for repurchase has been established by the claimant.

Monoline Insurers Experience

The Corporation has had limited loan-level representations and warranties repurchase claims experience with the monoline insurers due to settlements and ongoing litigation with a single monoline insurer. For more information related to the monolines, see Note 12 – Commitments and Contingencies to the Consolidated Financial Statements of the Corporation's 2013 Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Open Mortgage Insurance Rescission Notices

In addition to repurchase claims, the Corporation receives notices from mortgage insurance companies of claim denials, cancellations or coverage rescission (collectively, MI rescission notices). The Corporation had approximately 81,000 open MI rescission notices at September 30, 2014. This amount includes approximately 24,000 open MI rescission notices at September 30, 2014 pertaining to first-lien mortgages sold to the GSEs and loans HFI, of which approximately 15,000 are expected to be resolved when certain MI company settlement agreements have received the consent of the GSEs. At September 30, 2014, the Corporation also had approximately 9,000 open MI rescission notices pertaining principally to first-lien mortgages sold to other investors as well as 48,000 pertaining to second-lien mortgages which are implicated by ongoing litigation where no loan-level review is currently contemplated nor required to preserve the Corporation's legal rights. In this litigation, the litigating mortgage insurance company is also seeking bulk rescission of certain policies, separate and apart from loan-by-loan denials or rescissions. For additional information, see Note 7 – Representations and Warranties Obligations and Corporate Guarantees to the Consolidated Financial Statements of the Corporation's 2013 Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Estimated Range of Possible Loss

The Corporation currently estimates that the range of possible loss for representations and warranties exposures could be up to $4 billion over existing accruals at September 30, 2014. The estimated range of possible loss reflects principally non-GSE exposures. It represents a reasonably possible loss, but does not represent a probable loss, and is based on currently available information, significant judgment and a number of assumptions that are subject to change.

The liability for representations and warranties exposures and the corresponding estimated range of possible loss do not consider any losses related to litigation matters, including RMBS litigation or litigation brought by monoline insurers, nor do they include any separate foreclosure costs and related costs, assessments and compensatory fees or any other possible losses related to potential claims for breaches of performance of servicing obligations (except as such losses are included as potential costs of the BNY Mellon Settlement), potential securities law or fraud claims or potential indemnity or other claims against the Corporation, including claims related to loans insured by the FHA. The Corporation is not able to reasonably estimate the amount of any possible loss with respect to any such servicing, securities law, fraud or other claims against the Corporation, except to the extent reflected in existing accruals or the estimated range of possible loss for litigation and regulatory matters disclosed in Note 10 – Commitments and Contingencies; however, such loss could be material.

Future provisions and/or ranges of possible loss for representations and warranties may be significantly impacted if actual experiences are different from the Corporation's assumptions in predictive models, including, without limitation, ultimate resolution of the BNY Mellon Settlement, estimated repurchase rates, estimated MI rescission rates, economic conditions, estimated home prices, consumer and counterparty behavior, the applicable statute of limitations and a variety of other judgmental factors. Adverse developments with respect to one or more of the assumptions underlying the liability for representations and warranties and the corresponding estimated range of possible loss could result in significant increases to future provisions and/or the estimated range of possible loss. Finally, although the Corporation believes that the representations and warranties typically given in non-GSE transactions are less rigorous and actionable than those given in GSE transactions, the Corporation does not have significant experience resolving loan-level claims in non-GSE transactions to measure the impact of these differences on the probability that a loan will be required to be repurchased.

Cash Payments

The Loan Repurchases and Indemnification Payments table presents first-lien and home equity loan repurchases and indemnification payments made by the Corporation to reimburse the investor or securitization trust for losses they incurred and to resolve repurchase claims. Cash paid for loan repurchases includes the unpaid principal balance of the loan plus past due interest. The amount of loss for loan repurchases is reduced by the fair value of the underlying loan collateral. The repurchase of loans and indemnification payments related to first-lien and home equity repurchase claims generally resulted from material breaches of representations and warranties related to the loans' material compliance with the applicable underwriting standards, including borrower misrepresentation, credit exceptions without sufficient compensating factors and non-compliance with underwriting procedures. The actual representations and warranties made in a sales transaction and the resulting repurchase and indemnification activity can vary by transaction or investor. A direct relationship between the type of defect that causes the breach of representations and warranties and the severity of the realized loss has not been observed. Transactions to repurchase loans or make indemnification payments related to first-lien residential mortgages primarily involved the GSEs while transactions related to home equity loans primarily involved the monoline insurers.

Loan Repurchases and Indemnification Payments (excluding cash payments for settlements)
 
Three Months Ended September 30
 
2014
 
2013
(Dollars in millions)
Unpaid
Principal
Balance
 
Cash Paid
for
Repurchases
 
Loss
 
Unpaid
Principal
Balance
 
Cash Paid
for
Repurchases
 
Loss
First-lien
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Repurchases
$
56

 
$
65

 
$
22

 
$
128

 
$
136

 
$
27

Indemnification payments
194

 
44

 
44

 
190

 
115

 
115

Total first-lien
250

 
109

 
66

 
318

 
251

 
142

Home equity, indemnification payments
3

 
3

 
3

 
25

 
26

 
26

Total first-lien and home equity
$
253

 
$
112

 
$
69

 
$
343

 
$
277

 
$
168

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Nine Months Ended September 30
 
2014
 
2013
First-lien
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Repurchases
$
160

 
$
179

 
$
54

 
$
661

 
$
693

 
$
124

Indemnification payments
437

 
152

 
152

 
481

 
291

 
291

Total first-lien
597

 
331

 
206

 
1,142

 
984

 
415

Home equity, indemnification payments
17

 
17

 
17

 
49

 
51

 
51

Total first-lien and home equity
$
614

 
$
348

 
$
223

 
$
1,191

 
$
1,035

 
$
466



The amounts in the table exclude payments made in connection with the FHFA Settlement, and the 2013 settlement with FNMA in which the Corporation made a cash payment of $3.6 billion to FNMA and repurchased for $6.6 billion certain residential mortgage loans which the Corporation valued at less than the purchase price. Additionally, the amounts shown in the table exclude $988 million and $1.7 billion paid in monoline settlements during the nine months ended September 30, 2014 and 2013, including payments made directly to securitization trusts.