Note 1 - Description of Business (Note)	9 Months Ended
Sep. 30, 2021
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]
Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements Disclosure and Significant Accounting Policies [Text Block]	Description of Business We are a diversified mortgage and real estate business, providing both credit-related mortgage insurance coverage and a broad array of other mortgage, risk, title, valuation, asset management, SaaS and other real estate services. We have two reportable business segments—Mortgage and homegenius. Our homegenius segment was previously named “Real Estate” and during the second quarter of 2021 we renamed it “homegenius” to align with updates to our branding strategy for the segment’s products and services. Mortgage Our Mortgage segment provides credit-related insurance coverage, principally through private mortgage insurance on residential first-lien mortgage loans, as well as other credit risk management, contract underwriting and fulfillment solutions, to mortgage lending institutions and mortgage credit investors. We provide our mortgage insurance products and services mainly through our wholly-owned subsidiary, Radian Guaranty. Private mortgage insurance plays an important role in the U.S. housing finance system because it promotes affordable home ownership and helps protect mortgage lenders and investors, as well as other beneficiaries, by mitigating default-related losses on residential mortgage loans. Generally, these loans are made to homebuyers who make down payments of less than 20% of the purchase price for their home or, in the case of refinancings, have less than 20% equity in their home. Private mortgage insurance also facilitates the sale of these low down payment loans in the secondary mortgage market, most of which are currently sold to the GSEs. Our total direct primary mortgage IIF and RIF were $241.6 billion and $59.4 billion, respectively, as of September 30, 2021, compared to $246.1 billion and $60.7 billion, respectively, as of December 31, 2020. In addition to providing private mortgage insurance, we participate in credit risk transfer programs developed by the GSEs as part of their initiative to distribute mortgage credit risk and increase the role of private capital in the mortgage market. Our additional RIF under credit risk transfer transactions, resulting from our participation in these programs with the GSEs, totaled $429.3 million as of September 30, 2021 compared to $392.0 million as of December 31, 2020. The GSEs and state insurance regulators impose various capital and financial requirements on our mortgage insurance subsidiaries. These include Risk-to-capital, other risk-based capital measures and surplus requirements, as well as the PMIERs financial requirements. Failure to comply with these capital and financial requirements may limit the amount of insurance that our mortgage insurance subsidiaries write or may prohibit them from writing insurance altogether. The GSEs and state insurance regulators possess significant discretion with respect to our mortgage insurance subsidiaries and all aspects of their business. See Note 16 for additional information on PMIERs and other regulatory information, and “—Recent Developments” below for a discussion of the elevated risks posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to an increase in mortgage defaults in our insured portfolio and a resulting increase in our Minimum Required Assets. homegenius Our homegenius segment is primarily a fee-for-service business that offers a broad array of products and services to market participants across the real estate value chain. Our homegenius products and services include title, valuation, asset management, SaaS and other real estate services offered primarily to mortgage lenders, mortgage and real estate investors, GSEs, real estate brokers and agents. These products and services help lenders, investors, consumers and real estate agents evaluate, manage, monitor, acquire and sell properties. These products and services include SaaS solutions and platforms, as well as managed services, such as real estate owned asset management, single family rental services and real estate valuation services. In addition, we provide title insurance and non-insurance title, closing and settlement services to mortgage lenders, GSEs and mortgage investors, as well as directly to consumers for residential mortgage loans. See Note 4 for additional information about our reportable segments and All Other business activities. COVID-19 Developments As a seller of mortgage credit protection, our results are subject to macroeconomic conditions and specific events that impact the housing finance and real estate markets, including events that impact mortgage originations and the credit performance of our RIF. Many of these conditions are beyond our control, including housing prices, unemployment, interest rate changes, the availability of credit and other factors that may be derived from national and regional economic conditions. In general, a deterioration in economic conditions increases the likelihood that borrowers will be unable to satisfy their mortgage obligations. A deteriorating economy can adversely affect housing values, which in turn can influence the willingness of borrowers to continue to make mortgage payments regardless of whether they have the financial resources to do so. Mortgage defaults can also occur due to a variety of specific events affecting borrowers, including death or illness, divorce or other family problems, unemployment, or other events. In addition, factors impacting regional economic conditions, acts of terrorism, war or other severe conflicts, event-specific economic depressions or other catastrophic events, such as natural disasters and pandemics, could result in increased defaults due to the impact of such events on the ability of borrowers to satisfy their mortgage obligations and on the value of affected homes. The unprecedented and continually evolving social and economic impacts associated with the COVID-19 pandemic on the U.S. and global economies that began in early 2020 had a negative effect on our business and our financial results for the second quarter of 2020, and since then to a lesser extent, as further discussed below. Specifically, and primarily as a result of a sharp increase in the number of new defaults during the second quarter of 2020, our financial results in 2020 included: (i) an increase in both provision for losses and reserve for losses and (ii) an increase in our Minimum Required Assets under the PMIERs. However, beginning in the third quarter of 2020 and continuing throughout 2021, the number of new defaults has decreased significantly and has now returned to levels experienced prior to the start of the pandemic. These trends, combined with strong home price appreciation and favorable outcomes from mortgage forbearance programs implemented during the pandemic to assist homeowners, have led to favorable reserve development during 2021 on prior year defaults. See Note 11 for additional information on our reserve for losses. In addition, in response to the threat posed to the economy from the COVID-19 pandemic, in early 2020 the Federal Reserve enacted certain protective measures, to support the economy that resulted in a drop in interest rates generally, and in mortgage rates specifically, resulting in increased mortgage refinance activity. While these developments have benefited our NIW volumes, the low interest rate environment in recent periods has resulted in a high level of refinance activity and associated increase in policy cancellations, which has reduced our Persistency Rate, and in turn contributed to a reduction in our IIF, particularly as a result of a decline in our Single Premium Policies. In the second quarter of 2021 this refinance activity began to moderate, and this trend has continued in the three months ended September 30, 2021. While recent trends have been favorable, the long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our businesses will depend on, among other things: the extent and duration of the pandemic, the severity of illness and number of people infected with the virus and the acceptance and long-term effectiveness of anti-viral treatments and vaccines, especially as new strains of COVID-19 have emerged; the wider economic effects of the pandemic and the scope and duration of governmental and other third-party measures restricting day-to-day life and business operations; the impact of economic stimulus efforts to support the economy through the pandemic; and governmental and GSE programs implemented to assist borrowers experiencing a COVID-19-related hardship, including forbearance programs and forbearance exit programs, as well as suspensions of foreclosures and evictions.

We are a diversified mortgage and real estate business, providing both credit-related mortgage insurance coverage and a broad array of other mortgage, risk, title, valuation, asset management, SaaS and other real estate services. We have two reportable business segments—Mortgage and homegenius. Our homegenius segment was previously named “Real Estate” and during the second quarter of 2021 we renamed it “homegenius” to align with updates to our branding strategy for the segment’s products and services.

Our Mortgage segment provides credit-related insurance coverage, principally through private mortgage insurance on residential first-lien mortgage loans, as well as other credit risk management, contract underwriting and fulfillment solutions, to mortgage lending institutions and mortgage credit investors. We provide our mortgage insurance products and services mainly through our wholly-owned subsidiary, Radian Guaranty.

Private mortgage insurance plays an important role in the U.S. housing finance system because it promotes affordable home ownership and helps protect mortgage lenders and investors, as well as other beneficiaries, by mitigating default-related losses on residential mortgage loans. Generally, these loans are made to homebuyers who make down payments of less than 20% of the purchase price for their home or, in the case of refinancings, have less than 20% equity in their home. Private mortgage insurance also facilitates the sale of these low down payment loans in the secondary mortgage market, most of which are currently sold to the GSEs.

Our total direct primary mortgage IIF and RIF were $241.6 billion and $59.4 billion, respectively, as of September 30, 2021, compared to $246.1 billion and $60.7 billion, respectively, as of December 31, 2020. In addition to providing private mortgage insurance, we participate in credit risk transfer programs developed by the GSEs as part of their initiative to distribute mortgage credit risk and increase the role of private capital in the mortgage market. Our additional RIF under credit risk transfer transactions, resulting from our participation in these programs with the GSEs, totaled $429.3 million as of September 30, 2021 compared to $392.0 million as of December 31, 2020.

The GSEs and state insurance regulators impose various capital and financial requirements on our mortgage insurance subsidiaries. These include Risk-to-capital, other risk-based capital measures and surplus requirements, as well as the PMIERs financial requirements. Failure to comply with these capital and financial requirements may limit the amount of insurance that our mortgage insurance subsidiaries write or may prohibit them from writing insurance altogether. The GSEs and state insurance regulators possess significant discretion with respect to our mortgage insurance subsidiaries and all aspects of their business. See Note 16 for additional information on PMIERs and other regulatory information, and “—Recent Developments” below for a discussion of the elevated risks posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, which has led to an increase in mortgage defaults in our insured portfolio and a resulting increase in our Minimum Required Assets.

Our homegenius segment is primarily a fee-for-service business that offers a broad array of products and services to market participants across the real estate value chain. Our homegenius products and services include title, valuation, asset management, SaaS and other real estate services offered primarily to mortgage lenders, mortgage and real estate investors, GSEs, real estate brokers and agents. These products and services help lenders, investors, consumers and real estate agents evaluate, manage, monitor, acquire and sell properties. These products and services include SaaS solutions and platforms, as well as managed services, such as real estate owned asset management, single family rental services and real estate valuation services. In addition, we provide title insurance and non-insurance title, closing and settlement services to mortgage lenders, GSEs and mortgage investors, as well as directly to consumers for residential mortgage loans.

As a seller of mortgage credit protection, our results are subject to macroeconomic conditions and specific events that impact the housing finance and real estate markets, including events that impact mortgage originations and the credit performance of our RIF. Many of these conditions are beyond our control, including housing prices, unemployment, interest rate changes, the availability of credit and other factors that may be derived from national and regional economic conditions.

In general, a deterioration in economic conditions increases the likelihood that borrowers will be unable to satisfy their mortgage obligations. A deteriorating economy can adversely affect housing values, which in turn can influence the willingness of borrowers to continue to make mortgage payments regardless of whether they have the financial resources to do so. Mortgage defaults can also occur due to a variety of specific events affecting borrowers, including death or illness, divorce or other family problems, unemployment, or other events. In addition, factors impacting regional economic conditions, acts of terrorism, war or other severe conflicts, event-specific economic depressions or other catastrophic events, such as natural

disasters and pandemics, could result in increased defaults due to the impact of such events on the ability of borrowers to satisfy their mortgage obligations and on the value of affected homes.

The unprecedented and continually evolving social and economic impacts associated with the COVID-19 pandemic on the U.S. and global economies that began in early 2020 had a negative effect on our business and our financial results for the second quarter of 2020, and since then to a lesser extent, as further discussed below. Specifically, and primarily as a result of a sharp increase in the number of new defaults during the second quarter of 2020, our financial results in 2020 included: (i) an increase in both provision for losses and reserve for losses and (ii) an increase in our Minimum Required Assets under the PMIERs.

However, beginning in the third quarter of 2020 and continuing throughout 2021, the number of new defaults has decreased significantly and has now returned to levels experienced prior to the start of the pandemic. These trends, combined with strong home price appreciation and favorable outcomes from mortgage forbearance programs implemented during the pandemic to assist homeowners, have led to favorable reserve development during 2021 on prior year defaults. See Note 11 for additional information on our reserve for losses.

In addition, in response to the threat posed to the economy from the COVID-19 pandemic, in early 2020 the Federal Reserve enacted certain protective measures, to support the economy that resulted in a drop in interest rates generally, and in mortgage rates specifically, resulting in increased mortgage refinance activity. While these developments have benefited our NIW volumes, the low interest rate environment in recent periods has resulted in a high level of refinance activity and associated increase in policy cancellations, which has reduced our Persistency Rate, and in turn contributed to a reduction in our IIF, particularly as a result of a decline in our Single Premium Policies. In the second quarter of 2021 this refinance activity began to moderate, and this trend has continued in the three months ended September 30, 2021.

While recent trends have been favorable, the long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our businesses will depend on, among other things: the extent and duration of the pandemic, the severity of illness and number of people infected with the virus and the acceptance and long-term effectiveness of anti-viral treatments and vaccines, especially as new strains of COVID-19 have emerged; the wider economic effects of the pandemic and the scope and duration of governmental and other third-party measures restricting day-to-day life and business operations; the impact of economic stimulus efforts to support the economy through the pandemic; and governmental and GSE programs implemented to assist borrowers experiencing a COVID-19-related hardship, including forbearance programs and forbearance exit programs, as well as suspensions of foreclosures and evictions.