Servicing

Private markets would be the primary source of mortgage credit going forward under the Obama Administration's plan to reform the housing finance system.

The delinquent loan inventory at two of the nation's largest private mortgage insurers continued to shrink in January, albeit by small amounts, according to data released by both companies.

The new chairman of the House GSE subcommittee is looking for "immediate steps" Congress can take to reign in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mae and reduce their role in the mortgage market.

The House Oversight and Investigations subcommittee next Tuesday will hold a hearing to examine the taxpayer-funded expenditure of legal fees incurred on behalf of former executives at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Vulture fund PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust on Thursday said it will sell 8 million additional shares of common, using some of the proceeds to purchase $250.5 million worth of whole loans.

Nearly $79 billion worth of real estate changed hands via auction last year, according to an Indiana-based management consulting firm.

First BanCorp has agreed to sell a loan portfolio with an unpaid principal balance of $516.7 million and a net book value of $438.5 million to a newly created joint venture in Puerto Rico.The size of this loan pool agreement is $185 million less than the amount originally stated for on Dec. 7, 2010 when First BanCorp signed the letter of intent to sell the portfolio.

Depositories could easily finance the demand for jumbo mortgages if Congress decides to substantially reduce GSE loan limits, according to a conservative think tank analyst.

The Treasury Department's 'white paper' on the future of the GSEs not only calls for the federal government to cut the government umbilical to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but estimates that certain mortgage rates could rise upwards of 150 basis points, according to sources who claim to be familiar with some of the plan's contents.

Many members of Congress—especially the hardcore conservative wing of the GOP—would love to see Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac disappear from the face of the earth. After seeing the GSEs tap Uncle Sam for $150 billion in cash (and counting) to keep their net worth position in the black, elected officials have said enough's enough.