Secondary

Mortgage lenders might be feeling a little less stressed over False Claims Act actions being brought against them following recent headlines but there is still some work to be done before they can chill out.

Mortgages using alternative documentation like bank statements for underwriting performed stronger than expected, but uncertainty remains about their default rates in stressed environments, Fitch Ratings said.

Former Freddie Mac CEO Donald Layton has joined the Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies as a senior industry fellow focused on reform of the government-sponsored enterprises.

Genworth Financial is marketing its stake in Genworth MI Canada in a possible last-ditch effort to save the long-delayed proposed acquisition by China Oceanwide.

Despite rising delinquency levels, borrower performance on the underlying mortgages in GSE credit-risk transfer securitizations is strong enough to warrant ratings upgrades to more than half of nearly 1,200 outstanding note classes.

FB Financial is selling its correspondent lending channel to Rushmore Loan Management Services, which will complete the bank holding company's restructuring of its mortgage business.

Making low-balance loans with poor economies of scale is tough in a market with slim margins, but it could have its rewards.

The deal is backed by an underlying pool of 1,724 fixed-rate mortgages originated by Blackstone-owned Finance of America Mortgage.

The publicly traded real estate investment firm is backing the securitization via Citi with 156 properties in 28 states.

There is bipartisan agreement in the Senate that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are "too big to fail," but some lawmakers are skeptical that a SIFI designation is appropriate.