Servicing

Rep. Scott Garrett, a New Jersey Republican who chairs the House subcommittee with jurisdiction over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, plans to unveil a comprehensive bill to reform the secondary mortgage market on Thursday.

CUNA Mutual Group assured credit unions Monday that its CMG Mortgage Insurance joint venture remains financially viable and can pay claims despite the financial troubles of its joint venture partner, PMI Group, San Francisco.

Ocwen Financial Corp., late Monday disclosed that it will buy Saxon Mortgage for almost $60 million in cash, a deal that will push its subprime servicing-related contracts to almost $110 billion.

Barclays Capital has made several appointments to its U.S. CMBS team.

Rising foreign investment flows into U.S. commercial real estate bode well for the CMBS sector, said Standard & Poor's.

A leading credit union executive told the Senate Banking Committee this morning that ongoing proposals to wind down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and privatize the secondary mortgage market would harm credit unions and other community lenders to the detriment of millions of homebuyers.

Reinstating trust in the ratings process is key to growing investor interest, according to buyside participants in a panel at an asset-backed securities conference in Miami last week.

Although the nation's largest mortgage insurer, MGIC, continues to lose money, FBR Capital Markets Monday issued a report calling the firm a "buy," saying it is "relatively better positioned" than its peers.

Correspondent and mortgage broker loan product notably contributed to the recent prepayment surge in lower coupon securitizations, this time with a loan compensation rule-related twist, according to a Barclays Capital report.

An index report Monday showed U.S. commercial real estate prices overall rose for the fourth month in a row.