Secondary markets

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have hiked the standard modification benchmark interest rate.

Treasury Secretary-designate Seven Mnuchin will divest himself of his investments and interests in a number of companies and funds once confirmed, including a fund that has bet on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac being recapitalized and released from government control.

The Federal Housing Administration said it would cut the annual premium by 25 basis points starting on Jan. 27, giving President-elect Donald Trump a limited window to delay or scrap the cut.

New approaches to credit scoring lower the standard of the criteria required to receive a mortgage loan, at greater risk to the industry.

The lending arm of U.S. Department of Agriculture guaranteed 3,439 single-family construction loans in the first quarter of fiscal year 2017, which ended Dec. 31, but just nine of those loans involved its new single-close construction-to-permanent financing option.

Former Jefferies LLC managing director Jesse Litvak "lied to his customers" about the prices of mortgage-backed securities, a prosecutor told jurors as the U.S tries for a second time to win a conviction that sticks.

Mortgage interest rates dropped for the first time since the presidential election in the first week of the new year, Freddie Mac reported.

Now that it has completed the purchase of its rival private mortgage insurer United Guaranty from AIG, Arch Capital Group plans to trim the sales force while avoiding service disruptions.

In hindsight, the U.S. Treasury's support of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was structured in a way that proved to be counterproductive.

Walter Investment Management Corp. has agreed to sell Green Tree Insurance Agency to a wholly owned subsidiary of insurance company Assurant.