Investments

Ginnie Mae will begin taking requests for assistance from issuers who, having exhausted all other options, are having trouble advancing borrowers' principal-and-interest payments to investors amid the pandemic.

The coronavirus relief legislation could result in private mortgage insurers having to hold more capital, a B. Riley FBR analyst report said.

Real estate crowdfunding company Sharestates launched a program Wednesday offering liquidity to private lenders and loan aggregators contending with margin calls as a result of market volatility related to the coronavirus outbreak.

Impac Mortgage Holdings suspended all mortgage lending activity for a two-week period effective March 31, citing liquidity constraints at the company's secondary market counterparties as a result of the coronavirus.

Two Harbors, a real estate investment trust, sold the bulk of its nonagency mortgage-backed securities portfolio to head off margin calls and refocus on its more favorable agency-MBS investments.

A growing number of real estate investment trusts are facing margin calls, putting increased strain on mortgage market infrastructure and adding to pleas for relief to be included in pending legislation.

The credit watch involves single-borrower securitizations of commercial mortgages for high-priced resorts in Florida and Hawaii.

Mortgage real estate investment trusts are taking stock of their financial ability to respond to market shocks and other concerns stemming from the coronavirus.

The Federal Reserve's most recent economic-stimulus effort could reduce disparities between a rally in Treasurys and a relative slump in mortgage-backed securities that contributed to higher average home-lending rates last week.

The Affordable Housing Credit Improvement Act last week achieved a milestone by garnering bipartisan cosponsorship by more than half of the 435 members of the House.