Finance

One of the most important government actions affecting the farmland bubble goes back to before it was inflated.

Lawsuits by the Federal Housing Finance Agency that charge Bank of America, Citigroup, HSBC and Credit Suisse with wrongdoing in the sale of securities backed by residential mortgages may advance.

A handful of bulk residential servicing packages are in the market, and there is continued strong interest in the product from REITs and hedge funds.

A new Treasury blueprint on what to do with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac appears to be on hold and may not see the light of day until secretary Tim Geithner leaves the agency sometime early next year.

Redwood Trust has closed on a $291 million securitization of mezzanine loans and other subordinate commercial real estate debt.

Congress is finally realizing that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are actually earning money.

It’s at least the second time in less than four months that the Securities and Exchange Commission has dropped an investigation into the marketing of mortgage-backed securities by a large U.S. bank.

One part of the commercial mortgage-backed securities market to watch closely for changing dynamics and hidden risk or opportunity is the retail sector.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac seller/servicers which have already been hit with two recent guarantee-fee increases should expect even more, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

Platinum Home Mortgage will buy traditional conforming and government loans, and has hired Mike Azzarello as senior vice president and managing director to head the unit.

Veteran bond market executive and researcher Mark Adelson is joining BondFactor as its chief strategy officer.

The House Republican Steering Committee officially endorsed Rep. Jeb Hensarling for chair of the House Financial Services Committee.

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago that launched the Mortgage Partnership Finance initiative 15 years ago has been recruiting other FHLBs to sign up for the secondary market program.

Freddie Mac purchased $50 billion of home mortgages from its seller/servicers in October, the highest reading since June of 2009, according to new figures released by the government-controlled secondary market giant.

The qualified mortgage test and risk retention rules will cement Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s dominance in the secondary market, according to FBR Capital Markets.

The privately held Vericrest is serious about expanding its client base in the servicing arena.

It’s not every day that the HUD secretary calls a flesh-and-blood press conference for mortgage reporters, handing out paper instead of electronic files and then issuing a strict edict on a noon embargo. Then again, it’s not every day that the FHA Mutual Mortgage Insurance fund goes into the red by $16.3 billion.

In September and August, issuance of Government National Mortgage Association MBS topped $39 billion each month.

According to figures compiled by National Mortgage News, UBS was one of the largest underwriters of nonprime MBS during the housing boom.

Held in Atlantic City Oct. 9 and 10, the meeting was sponsored by three groups: the New Jersey Association of Mortgage Brokers; the Pennsylvania Association of Mortgage Brokers and the Maryland Association of Mortgage Brokers.