Secondary

Policies that seek to increase homeownership by extending more credit to homeowners are misguided, according to former Federal Housing Finance Agency chief Edward DeMarco.

WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of senators reintroduced a bill Wednesday that would prohibit lawmakers from using certain housing finance fees to offset unrelated government spending.

U.S. mortgage securities, especially those with government backing, are being viewed as a haven for bond investors as they brace for the Federal Reserve to lift interest rates.

Conforming mortgage rates barely budged this past week as the industry awaits news from the Federal Reserve Thursday afternoon regarding a potential rate hike.

The window for moving financial services regulatory relief through Congress is rapidly closing, but there appears to be little hope that the partisan tensions that have stalled the process will ease in time.

Heartland Financial USA has hired Insuritas to help it expand its insurance business.

Freddie Mac is auctioning $327 million of delinquent nonperforming loans.

Equifax has agreed to provide Fannie Mae with anonymous, loan-level FICO credit scores as part of its monthly disclosure program.

American Homes 4 Rent has completed its second single-family rental securitization of the year.

Freddie Mac's next bond with exposure to actual losses on mortgages only features loans with loan-to-value ratios of over 80%.