Finance

Standard & Poor's called the civil allegations in the Justice Department’s suit a “stretch” that were based on loosely connected charges with little specificity.

Increasing home values will have only a limited benefit for residential mortgage-backed securities loss severities.

Discover Financial Services originated nearly $1 billion in direct mortgages during the first quarter of 2013.

Synovus Financial reported lower first-quarter earnings because of pressure on its net interest margin.

Among the ways the American Securitization Forum would like to see private capital return to the housing market is by way of more increases in guarantee and premium fees for agency and government loans.

Five Ten Capital closed a $100 million financing facility with Deutsche Bank that is backed by mortgages on rental homes.

Moody’s and Fitch were dropped from an antitrust lawsuit claiming Ambac Financial Group and credit rating companies conspired to force local governments in California to purchase insurance they didn’t need.

John Paulson, the billionaire hedge fund manager who built his fortune betting on a decline in the U.S. housing market in 2007, said he expects a surge in the stock of mortgage insurers led by Radian Group.

The proposed move could result in downgrades for about 1,200 residential mortgage-backed securities.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development is renewing its efforts to get Congress to pass legislation that will give the Federal Housing Administration additional enforcement powers.

Fitch is registering some concern about what it describes as a “very rapid rise” in the number of U.S. large-loan commercial mortgage-backed securities deals in recent months.

The National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ recently proposed additional changes to its residential/commercial mortgage-backed securities valuation method could have a particularly notable impact on alternative-A credit fixed-rate and subprime securities.

JPMorgan will issue $505 million of notes backed by the beneficial interests in a pool of four commercial mortgage loans backed by 82 properties.

The transaction was structured to be a seven-year, 2.58% adjustable-rate loan, with one-year interest only followed by a 30-year amortization schedule.

Interactive Mortgage Advisors is exclusively brokering $312 million Ginnie Mae bulk residential mortgage servicing rights for an unnamed seller.

The era of “extend-pretend” may be coming to an end for maturing commercial mortgages that cannot make their payments.

The title insurance industry was one of the beneficiaries of the 2012 refinance boom, as premiums written during the year totaled $11.4 billion, up 21% over 2012.

Deutsche Bank AG is moving closer to turning U.S. rental home payments into bonds.

While the Senate Banking Committee has clearly reached consensus on the need for mortgage finance reform, the process remains at a standstill beyond that.

Community banks and other small mortgage lenders will have access to a new securitization platform that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are going to build over the next five years.