Finance

The government sweep of profits from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was defended by the top Treasury Department housing official, who called again for Congress to replace the U.S.-owned mortgage-finance giants.

JPMorgan's follow-up RMBS to its first securitization of 2015 involves a much smaller pool of mortgages.

Weaker appreciation in the low end of the housing market, combined with higher costs to originate mortgages tied to new regulatory compliance obligations, make smaller loans less attractive for lenders.

Wells Fargo priced $927 million of commercial mortgage securities via its Wells Fargo Commercial Mortgage Trust 2015-C27 series, according to a pricing document.

The Massachusetts Development Finance Agency issued tax-exempt bonds totaling $95.5 million for six affordable housing development projects in Boston.

JPMorgan Chase has agreed to a $50.4 million settlement with the Justice Department for robo-signing documents sent to homeowners in bankruptcy and for related abuses.

An overlooked issue in the plan to reform Federal Home Loan bank membership could inadvertently jeopardize the local focus of the system by allowing insurance companies to apply for membership in any of the 12 districts.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. has accepted Banco Popular de Puerto Rico's bid to purchase mortgage servicing rights held by shuttered Doral Bank.

Morgan Stanley said New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman intends to sue the company, alleging it misrepresented or omitted information when underwriting 30 subprime securitizations.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency released a set of new rules for the sale of troubled mortgages by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

An audit of Ginnie Mae financials identified four "material weaknesses" and one "significant deficiency," primarily related to the accounting of $6.6 billion in defaulted loans made by the failed lender Taylor, Bean & Whitaker.

Embattled mortgage servicer Ocwen Financial faces up to $26 billion in damage claims by bondholders and a greater risk of being fired as a mortgage servicer on thousands of small, private-label trusts.

Standard & Poor's had more than two times more upgrades than downgrades in 2014.

Fresh questions are being asked about the role of investors in the rental market and how their eventual exit may impact mortgage lending, property values and the economic recovery.

With economic growth expected to continue improving, 2015 should looks promising for the housing market, according to Fannie Mae.

The scorecard compares issuers' operational strength and skill in managing delinquent loans with those of their peers.

It can be difficult to have enough staff to handle an exchange of mortgage servicing rights, though companies are exploring different solutions

Some nonbanks feel capital requirements discourage diversification among market participants and their participation in the market because they put more constraints on their financial options and bar smaller players.

Mortgage interest rates increased for the third consecutive weak as strong housing data supported the market, according to Freddie Mac.

Ellie Mae's AllRegs unit has released a new version of its business information tool to help lenders and investors manage risk and identify market opportunities.