Mortgage defaults

Credit default swap spreads have widened substantially for MGIC Investment Corp. since the start of the new year, reflecting changes in policy pricing, according to a report from Fitch Solutions.

The number of U.S. mortgages that were underwater continued to improve in the fourth quarter, although there are still millions of properties in the category, according to RealtyTrac.

Firstsource Group USA has agreed to buy the business process outsourcing subsidiary of ISGN Corp.

American International Group's Donna DeMaio, who has management duties for several different segments of insurance, was designated to stick with the mortgage-guaranty subsidiary that the company plans to exit, CEO Peter Hancock said.

A New Jersey man has been sentenced to six years in prison for running a scam that victimized distressed homeowners and private investors.

American International Group's plan to spin off a portion of its mortgage insurance unit is "almost pointless" given the challenges that CEO Peter Hancock faces to fix the much larger property-casualty business, an analyst at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods said.

American International Group Inc., the insurer being pressured by activist investor Carl Icahn to shrink the company, plans to pursue a partial spinoff of its mortgage guaranty unit.

Mortgage loan delinquencies dropped in December, according to Black Knight Financial Services' First Look report.

Default rates on various types of consumer loans were down 14 basis points in December on a year-over-year basis but were unchanged from November, according to Standard & Poor's and Experian.

Bank of America's mortgage banking income was down 26% from a year ago due to a decrease in core loan production revenue and higher intercompany charges during the fourth quarter.

Credit Plus in Salisbury, Md., has introduced loan repurchase insurance for mortgage lenders and servicers that use its verification products.

Home Equity Conversion Mortgage servicers have received an additional three months to explore loss mitigation options when borrowers or their spouses have difficulty paying their property taxes and insurance.

Amherst Holdings plans to market $400 million worth of bonds backed by single-family rental homes, according to Trepp.

The nonperforming loan situation continued to improve in November, as the national inventory of foreclosed homes dropped to pre-recession levels, according to CoreLogic.

Consumers increasingly fell behind on their payments in several loan categories in the third quarter as economic growth cooled.

The commercial mortgage-backed securities delinquency rate finished 2015 at a six-year low, according to Fitch Ratings.

Wells Fargo & Co. has promoted Carmen Bell to senior vice president of its mortgage default servicing unit.

Home prices across the country rose 6.5% year-over-year in November 2015, including distressed sales, according to CoreLogic.

The delinquency rate on commercial mortgage-backed securities rose slightly in December, according to Trepp.

The plunge in oil prices may jeopardize almost $125 million of securitized loans backed by real estate in North Dakota, as drillers in the state scale back operations, Morningstar Credit Ratings said.