Secondary markets

Yes, subprime lending is picking up. But industry experts believe regulatory reform and new documentation requirements will prevent bubble-era style risk layering from re-emerging.

Wells Fargo and Bank of America posted double-digit increases on the amount of credit provided to mortgage bankers in 2013. Most other warehouse lenders' commitments shrunk.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could require an additional bailout of as much as $190 billion in a severe economic downturn, according to the results of stress tests released by the regulator for the U.S.-owned companies.

The proposed federal mortgage guarantor in the Senate reform bill needs 5% hard equity to protect taxpayers, but 10% capital to pass Congress, the Housing Policy Council's John Dalton reckons.

Wells Fargo's loans make up around 20% of the pools referenced in credit risk-sharing transactions issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac through March, according to Fitch.

The company is using proprietary automation to support the channel. Jeff Walsh, who formerly was involved in another wholesale startup, heads the new operation.

First Horizon National Corp. is getting closer to putting its mortgage woes behind it.

Sens. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio, and David Vitter, R-La., filed a handful of "too big to fail" amendments Friday to a pending Senate Banking Committee bill to overhaul the housing finance market.

Senate Banking Committee leaders want to win as much support as possible for their housing finance reform legislation before a panel vote on Tuesday, but it's possible that a failure to win over certain members could ultimately assist their cause.

U.S. prosecutors are seeking more than $13 billion from Bank of America to resolve federal and state investigations of the lender’s sale of bonds backed by home loans in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis.

Fears that the Federal Reserve's reduction in mortgage-backed securities purchases this year would cause rates to skyrocket failed to come true. That's partly because there's less mortgage paper to buy.

Private-label residential mortgage securitizations are designed around a strict hierarchy of classes.

The Senate GSE reform bill may bloat the bureaucracy, encourage risky behavior and expose taxpayers to losses, without sufficient support for affordable housing. That could still be better than nothing.

A powerful group of shareholders is amplifying attacks on housing finance reform legislation as they await resolution of a major legal battle, attempting to slow momentum on the bill before it likely passes the Senate Banking Committee.

Mortgage bondholders have long complained to regulators that the national mortgage settlement gave large bank servicers credit for principal reductions and loan modifications they did not pay for themselves.

The recent housing recovery has been the saving grace for some 2005-2007 subprime mortgage bonds, but in others, delays in getting distressed properties to market have offset home price gains.

As drafted, the Johnson-Crapo bill would allow big banks to originate, aggregate, and guarantee mortgages. Small lenders worry such vertically integrated companies could price them out of the business.

The Senate Banking Committee is scheduled to vote on its bill to overhaul the mortgage finance market on April 29, but questions are now being raised about whether that date will slip, as supporters struggle to secure additional votes.

Colony American Homes has completed a securitization transaction backed by income generated from almost 3,400 single-family rental homes.

Jose Gonzalez, the first Hispanic president of a Federal Home Loan Bank, envisions eventually allowing new categories of lenders like REITs to join the system, but wants membership to stay as it is for now.