Note 8 – Mortgage Banking

Mortgage Servicing Rights

The activity in MSR is detailed in the table below for the periods presented ($ in thousands):

	Years Ended December 31,
	2014			2013
Balance at beginning of period	$	67,834		$	47,341
Origination of servicing assets		12,293			18,481
Change in fair value:
Due to market changes		(7,202	)		11,818
Due to runoff		(8,567	)		(9,806	)
Balance at end of period	$	64,358		$	67,834

In the determination of the fair value of MSR at the date of securitization, certain key economic assumptions are made. For instance, Trustmark considers the conditional prepayment rate (CPR), which is an estimated loan prepayment rate that uses historical prepayment rates for previous loans similar to the loans being evaluated, and the discount rate in determining the fair value of MSR. An increase in either the CPR or discount rate assumption will result in a decrease in the fair value of the MSR, while a decrease in either assumption will result in an increase in the fair value of the MSR. At December 31, 2014, the fair value of MSR included an assumed average prepayment speed of 11.51 CPR and an average discount rate of 10.29% compared to an assumed average prepayment speed of 9.72 CPR and an average discount rate of 10.52% at December 31, 2013. In recent years, there have been significant market-driven fluctuations in loan prepayment speeds and discount rates. These fluctuations can be rapid and may continue to be significant. Therefore, estimating prepayment speed and/or discount rates within ranges that market participants would use in determining the fair value of MSR requires significant management judgment.

Mortgage Loans Sold/Serviced

During 2014, 2013 and 2012, Trustmark sold $913.5 million, $1.358 billion and $1.816 billion, respectively, of residential mortgage loans. Pretax gains on these sales were recorded to noninterest income in mortgage banking, net and totaled $10.8 million in 2014, $26.4 million in 2013 and $33.9 million in 2012. Trustmark receives annual servicing fee income approximating 0.34% of the outstanding balance of the underlying loans. Trustmark's mortgage loans serviced for others totaled $5.636 billion at December 31, 2014, compared with $5.461 billion at December 31, 2013. The investors and the securitization trusts have no recourse to the assets of Trustmark for failure of debtors to pay when due. The table below details the mortgage loans sold and serviced for others at December 31, 2014 and 2013 ($ in thousands):

	December 31, 2014		December 31, 2013
Federal National Mortgage Association	$	3,579,987	$	3,499,659
Government National Mortgage Association		1,948,565		1,830,420
Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation		80,551		92,599
Other		27,146		37,998
Total mortage loans sold and serviced for others	$	5,636,249	$	5,460,676

Trustmark is subject to losses in its loan servicing portfolio due to loan foreclosures. Trustmark has obligations to either repurchase the outstanding principal balance of a loan or make the purchaser whole for the economic benefits of a loan if it is determined that the loan sold was in violation of representations or warranties made by Trustmark at the time of the sale, herein referred to as mortgage loan servicing putback expenses. Such representations and warranties typically include those made regarding loans that had missing or insufficient file documentation, loans that do not meet investor guidelines, loans in which the appraisal does not support the value and/or loans obtained through fraud by the borrowers or other third parties. Generally, putback requests may be made until the loan is paid in full. However, mortgage loans delivered to Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA) and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (FHLMC) on or after January 1, 2013 are subject to the Lending and Selling Representations and Warranties Framework updated in May 2014, which provides certain instances in which FNMA and FHLMC will not exercise their remedies, including a putback request, for breaches of certain selling representations and warranties, such as payment history and quality control review.

When a putback request is received, Trustmark evaluates the request and takes appropriate actions based on the nature of the request. Effective January 1, 2013, Trustmark was required by FNMA and FHLMC to provide a response to putback requests within 60 days of the date of receipt. Currently, putback requests primarily relate to 2009 through 2013 vintage mortgage loans. The total mortgage loan servicing putback expenses, included in other noninterest expense, incurred by Trustmark during 2014, 2013 and 2012 were $600 thousand, $1.6 million and $8.0 million, respectively.

Changes in the reserve for mortgage loan servicing putback expense were as follows for the periods presented ($ in thousands):

	Years Ended December 31,
	2014			2013			2012
Balance at beginning of period	$	1,050		$	7,800		$	4,277
Provision for putback expenses		600			1,561			8,015
Losses		(480	)		(4,756	)		(4,492	)
FNMA resolution		-			(3,555	)		-
Balance at end of period	$	1,170		$	1,050		$	7,800

During November 2013, Trustmark finalized its agreement with FNMA (the "Resolution Agreement") to resolve its existing and future repurchase and make whole obligations (collectively “Repurchase Obligations”) related to mortgage loans originated between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2008 and delivered to FNMA. Under the terms of the Resolution Agreement, Trustmark paid FNMA approximately $3.6 million with respect to the Repurchase Obligations. Trustmark believes that it was in its best interests to execute the Resolution Agreement in order to bring finality to the loss reimbursement exposure with FNMA for these years and reduce the resources spent on individual file reviews and defending loss reimbursement requests. The Repurchase Obligations were covered by Trustmark’s existing reserve for mortgage loan servicing putback expenses.

Mortgage loans covered by the Resolution Agreement executed with FNMA are only subject to putback risk due to borrower fraud or systemic risk. Trustmark’s exposure to putback requests for loans sold to FNMA, which were originated after 2008, has improved as a result of industry-wide guidelines and process enhancements implemented since that time. Trustmark’s exposure to putback requests for loans sold to GNMA has improved as a result of declining delinquency ratios. Please refer to the “Past Due LHFS” section included in Note 5 – LHFI and Allowance for Loan Losses, LHFI for additional information regarding mortgage loans sold to GNMA.

There is inherent uncertainty in reasonably estimating the requirement for reserves against future mortgage loan servicing putback expenses. Future putback expenses are dependent on many subjective factors, including the review procedures of the purchasers and the potential refinance activity on loans sold with servicing released and the subsequent consequences under the representations and warranties. Trustmark believes that it has appropriately reserved for potential mortgage loan servicing putback requests.