Secondary

I watched the State of the Union speech Tuesday and came away thinking no real "mortgage" surprises tonight except for two: Obama not using the word "mortgage broker" once, and the formation of the DOJ fraud task force on securitizing loans. But what about the "The State of the Mortgage Union"?

There was "very solid demand" for Freddie Mac's $6.5 billion five-year Reference Notes security Friday, according to a Freddie Mac spokesman, who told this publication it was distributed in line with what the GSE has seen on other recent Reference Note deals.

Investors considering nonperforming loan purchases are increasingly concerned about title chains and finding related concerns that need to be cleaned up, according to a new manager at one vendor in this business.

Raising guarantee fees on government-backed loans again would make a "bad situation worse," according to three industry groups that are lobbying elected officials to find new ways of funding a 10-month extension of the payroll tax holiday.

Compliance and documentation go together like education and success. And, the latter is even more determined today by finding the missing pieces in the transaction chain.

Dynex Capital Inc., a real estate investment trust that buys agency and non-agency, residential and commercial mortgage-backed securities, has priced its 12.5 million share common stock offering at $9.12 per share, for gross proceeds of $114 million.

Amid lingering questions about the fate of a broad mortgage servicing settlement, many see the creation of a joint task force to probe mortgage abuses as hope that those negotiating the settlement can work out their differences.

Old Republic International Corp.'s mortgage guaranty business lost $163 million for the fourth quarter and $678 million for the year, 48% worse and 160% worse than the same periods one year ago, as claims costs intensified throughout the year.

ISGN increased its available cash flow with a $20 million secured line of credit obtained from JPMorgan Chase, the mortgage technology and fulfillment outsourcing vendor announced Wednesday.

The Federal Reserve will not sell any of its massive holdings of agency MBS and Treasuries until 2015 as it strives to keep interest rates low, central bank officials said Wednesday afternoon.