Finance

Lenders are easing loan standards across all types of mortgage products, according to Fannie Mae's latest survey of mortgage lenders.

Ginnie Mae is altering the guarantee fee structure for its Platinum program, decreasing the minimum amount needed to create a security.

Treasuries rallied with U.S. stocks, while the dollar tumbled to a three-week low after the Federal Reserve decided against curtailing stimulus that has helped propel the third-longest bull market since World War II.

Policies that seek to increase homeownership by extending more credit to homeowners are misguided, according to former Federal Housing Finance Agency chief Edward DeMarco.

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of senators reintroduced a bill Wednesday that would prohibit lawmakers from using certain housing finance fees to offset unrelated government spending.

U.S. mortgage securities, especially those with government backing, are being viewed as a haven for bond investors as they brace for the Federal Reserve to lift interest rates.

Freddie Mac is auctioning $327 million of delinquent nonperforming loans.

Equifax has agreed to provide Fannie Mae with anonymous, loan-level FICO credit scores as part of its monthly disclosure program.

American Homes 4 Rent has completed its second single-family rental securitization of the year.

Freddie Mac's next bond with exposure to actual losses on mortgages only features loans with loan-to-value ratios of over 80%.

The Senate passed a bipartisan bill late Tuesday that would cap executive pay at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Colony Mortgage, a real estate investment trust that specializes in "transitional," or improving property, is preparing its third securitization, according to Moody's Investors Service.

Freddie Mac is making plans for its first risk-sharing transaction tied to actual losses on mortgages with higher loan-to-value ratios in the 80% to 95% range.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren is withdrawing her support for a Republican bill that had been on the fast track to bar the Treasury Department from selling Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac preferred shares, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Mission Capital Advisors in New York has merged its mortgage services business with Global Financial Review Inc. in Englewood, Colo.

In the wake of an unprecedented U.S. housing bust that evolved into a global financial crisis, the business of bundling home loans that aren't backed by the American government into bonds that can be sold to investors has all but disappeared.

When the late-night television comedians joke about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — the two government-sponsored housing finance agencies that almost went belly-up during the housing crisis — you know they have reached the public consciousness.

A bulk Ginnie Mae servicing deal that an undisclosed seller will put up for bid soon is one of the largest transactions seen recently in the market.

American International Group won a decision that narrowed the claims by six investment funds that opted out of a $970.5 million class-action settlement last year over allegations the insurer misled investors about its exposure to subprime mortgages.

The rising costs to service mortgages reflects a market where there are not only downsides to being too small, but hurdles to being too large — raising the question of whether there's a middle ground where servicers are not too big, not too small, but just right.