Investments

A trio of Los Angeles-area real estate developers were accused by the federal government of taking $1.3 billion of investor funds that was supposed to be used for hard money loans for their own use.

First-quarter mortgage banking results at Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase could be an early sign of an improving industry.

The residential mortgages being reinsured are less risky, by several measures, than its previous deal; none of the borrowers have ever missed a payment.

B. Riley FBR initiated equity coverage on Fannie Mae as the chances for privatization of the government-sponsored enterprises improved in a housing finance reform package.

The stream of newly minted, IPO payouts from Lyft — and soon, other tech unicorns — may have Bay Area home sellers dreaming of bigger payouts and buyers wary of even heftier mortgages.

This time, investors required Radian to hold on to the first 2.5% of losses it covers on the pool; by comparison, the insurer’s previous deal, Eagle Re 2018-1, had a lower “attachment” point of 2.25%.

The fate of U.S. office markets is intertwined with that of the biggest technology companies, Starwood Capital Group Chairman Barry Sternlicht said.

The Structured Finance Industry Group wants Treasury and the IRS to issue a notice that a change from Libor to an alternative index would not be treated as a taxable exchange.

An emerging gap between the government-sponsored enterprises on a Federal Housing Finance Agency scorecard item is prompting Fannie Mae to diversify its multifamily credit risk transfer efforts.

While reinsurers are becoming more comfortable with the risk it is offloading, the GSE wants to maintain control of the workout process for loans that go bad.

If mortgage rates fall below 4%, it could more than double the dollar volume of agency mortgages exposed to refinancing incentive, analysts at Keefe, Bruyette & Woods found.

Point, which provides an alternative to traditional home equity lending products, has raised $122 million in new capital from eight investors to expand its reach.

Two Harbors Investment Corp., which grew its servicing portfolio by 22% in the fourth quarter, priced a common stock offering to raise funds to buy more rights as well as mortgage-backed securities.

Impac Mortgage Holdings saw its shift to predominantly originate non-qualified mortgage loans reduce its fourth-quarter GAAP net loss along with increasing its gain-on-sale margins.

A subsidiary of digital-media company Beta Music Group is linking its origination support technology with Arive's online platform, which connects mortgage brokers to lenders, borrowers and third-party vendors.

Falling interest rates contributed to efforts that helped Hovnanian Enterprises nearly halve its net loss during its fiscal first quarter, when it maintained a strong sales pace by selling more low-priced homes.

New York regulators rejected Fidelity National Financial's acquisition of Stewart Information Services because the combination would have a dominant share of title insurance in the state.

Arch Capital’s next offering of credit risk transfer notes features heavy exposure to residential mortgages that have been modified by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.

Ocwen Financial reduced the size of its net loss by nearly half during 2018 thanks to cost-cutting measures, and economies of scale from its acquisition of PHH Corp.

CoreLogic's fourth-quarter earnings declined from the previous year because of the slower mortgage origination market and an $8 million impairment charge due to its restructuring plans.