Finance

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have set terms for letting borrowers put down as little as 3% of a home's cost to get mortgages, a step criticized by Republican lawmakers as a return to risky lending.

Officials at Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae all heaped praise on nonbank mortgage lenders for stepping up to provide loans for home purchases at a time when many banks have scaled back.

Starwood Waypoint Priced its first securitization of single-family rental property, a $505 million deal backed by some of the oldest homes in this emerging asset class.

Investors should buy Assured Guaranty shares on the prospect that the bond insurer acquires a unit from mortgage guarantor Radian Group, analysts from Macquarie Group said.

Six years after a global financial crisis exacerbated by the lack of transparency in the market for U.S. mortgage debt, regulators are planning only a small step toward offering the public more information on trading.

It is critical for all originators to have a vendor management plan to mitigate their risk and to comply with state, federal and local laws.

Profits from originating mortgages dipped during the third quarter, with independent mortgage banks and mortgage subsidiaries of banks reporting an average gain of $897, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

In the nascent bond market where U.S. government-backed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have insured themselves against losses on $383 billion of home loans, strains are starting to emerge.

The Federal Housing Finance Administration has advised private mortgage insurers that it will delay the release of revised capital standards.

A controversial legal theory on discrimination threatens to disrupt consumer lending and poses a potential liability for anyone securitizing these loans.

From Biblical times to the present, fraud has been the key factor in all financial crises. But there is one financial instrument that, if used correctly, can bring equilibrium to fraud-impacted markets.

Kroll Bond Rating Agency has assigned preliminary ratings to six classes of Starwood Waypoint Residential Trust single-family pass-through certificates.

Starwood Waypoint Residential Trust plans to offer $505 million of debt tied to its rental properties in its first bond sale, according to a person with knowledge of the transaction.

Freddie Mac announced its first K-deal that includes a manufactured housing community loan.

Credit Suisse Group settled a three-year-old lawsuit by Assured Guaranty accusing the bank of misrepresenting the quality of loans in mortgage-backed securities it insured.

Goldman Sachs is preparing to bring its first post-crisis prime jumbo residential mortgage-backed securities transaction to market.

Having fought many battles with Congress over curbs to bond and other programs that affect affordable housing, John Murphy expects the challenges will continue as he retires from the National Association of Local Housing Finance Agencies after 30 years as its executive director.

A final judgment against Bank of America in a mortgage-bond lawsuit by the Securities and Exchange Commission was signed by a federal judge, helping clear the way for the lender to complete a $16.7 billion global settlement of claims it misled investors about risk.