Servicing

The government-sponsored enterprises issued new guidelines for short sales, allowing their servicers to complete many transactions without seeking prior approval from the agencies.

Standard & Poor’s warned that the entrance of new and lesser known special servicing firms can overcrowd the market and complicate the servicing process.

Ellington Financial, a specialty finance company that acquires and manages mortgage-related assets, sold 3.5 million shares of common stock.

The Mortgage Industry Advisory Corp. is selling almost $8 billion worth of Government National Mortgage Association servicing rights for an undisclosed client.

Freddie Mac’s approach to the first HARP refinancing program resulted in faster prepayment speeds on its securitized mortgages compared to Fannie Mae MBS, according to a new report from Amherst Securities Group.

Sabal Financial is getting into the business of lending to homebuilders.

Determining a portfolio’s exact level of risk is particularly challenging due, in part, to the sheer volume of data and information requiring thorough review.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development plans to decrease the New York State Fair Market Rent limits for fiscal year 2013.

The Treasury Department’s announcement Friday that it was restructuring its ongoing bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac caught most observers off guard.

Because of the stabilization in house prices, neither government-sponsored enterprise has had to borrow significant money from the Treasury since the beginning of the year, leaving the total tab for their bailout at around $190 billion.