Secondary markets

Details in recent legislation unveiled by Sens. Tim Johnson and Mike Crapo are stoking fresh concerns among Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shareholders now embroiled in lawsuits over their share of profits from the mortgage giants.

The best thing to happen to the business over the last three decades was the development of the secondary agencies' automated underwriting engines. The worst? There are several strong contenders….

The vendor thinks it can meet lenders' needs by creating a system which manages the various tasks that must be completed to move a loan through the origination pipeline.

The bill released by Sens. Tim Johnson and Mike Crapo would create a reinsurance fund to recoup losses on securities, establish a common securitization platform for the secondary mortgage market and open access to the secondary market for smaller lenders through a cooperative.

In the current tough mortgage environment, some lenders are willing to take the risk of lending to foreign nationals. The loans don't conform to regulations that took effect in January and typically are held on banks' balance sheets.

The Senate Banking Committee has forged a strong bipartisan agreement to reform the housing finance market, but how—and whether—that effort gets picked up in 2015 is still very much in question.

Bank of America Corp.'s Countrywide unit and the U.S. sparred in court over whether the bank owes as much as $2 billion—or nothing—for selling thousands of defective mortgage loans to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Lawyers for Bank of America Corp.'s Countrywide unit and the U.S. government returned to a federal courtroom today to spar over whether the bank owes nothing—or as much as $2 billion—for selling thousands of defective mortgage loans to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Senate Banking Committee leaders are proposing to capitalize a new mortgage cooperative with a government loan to ensure small and even regional lenders can sell their loans for cash.

Commercial and multifamily mortgage debt outstanding reached a record high during the fourth quarter, erasing the declines caused by the recession.

Mortgage bankers welcomed the Johnson-Crapo housing finance reform proposal as a start, but cautioned they had no illusions it will on its own bring private capital back to their industry.

Holders of residential mortgage-backed securities are planning to communicate with trustees and master servicers about Ocwen Financial’s practices, according to the Association of Mortgage Investors.

Sens. Tim Johnson, chairman of the Banking Committee, and Mike Crapo, the top Republican, laid out a preliminary bipartisan agreement on housing finance reform after months of deliberation.

The bank likely was worried about dealing with sellers who did not have the net worth to buy back loans.

USMI, successor to the Mortgage Insurance Cos. of America, says its top priority is to make sure whatever system replaces Fannie and Freddie uses at least as much private coverage.

A former managing director at the New York investment banking firm Jefferies & Co. has been convicted of multiple offenses involving a scheme to defraud customers trading in residential mortgage-backed securities.

As interest rates increase, prepayment speeds are falling precipitously, extending the maturities of mortgage-backed securities, especially the guaranteed variety. This trend is likely to cause future declines in MBS values.

Former Jefferies & Co. managing director Jesse Litvak was convicted in the only criminal case against an individual in connection with a U.S. program that used bailout funds to spur investment in mortgage-backed securities.

The housing sector is increasingly a drag on consumption and job creation. The fault lies not with the market but with ill-considered regulations and bank capital rules.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. agreed to give mortgage-bond trustees evaluating a proposed $4.5 billion settlement over bad loans an extra three months to consider signing onto the deal.