Secondary markets

The Fed’s balance sheet has taken on some of the characteristics of an old-time savings and loan association.

Fannie Mae sold nearly 43,000 foreclosed properties in the first quarter at a price equal to 65% of the unpaid principal balance of the loans.

A New Jersey man faces 60 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release as well as more than $700,000 in restitution payments in the wake of his guilty plea to fraud and money laundering charges in a Lancaster, Pa., area real estate scam.

Changes to the Platinum program or a tender offer for Ginnie Mae Is are among the strategies Ginnie and stakeholders are examining the pros and cons of in trying to avoid a possible future liquidity concern due to shrinking Ginnie I volumes, a Ginnie capital markets executive told this publication.

Equity Loans LLC may have recently added four retail production offices, but the Atlanta-based company’s president believes its future is in diversifying its stream of income and its production capabilities.

A common refrain in Washington these days is that the Federal Housing Administration plays an outsize role in the mortgage market and should return to its traditional market share of 10% to 15%.

Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said a one-time payment from Fannie Mae confirms that the nation’s debt ceiling won’t be reached until September.

Former Sen. Judd Gregg is a leading candidate to run Wall Street’s biggest lobbying group.

KeyBank Real Estate Capital has agreed to purchase billions in commercial mortgage servicing rights from Bank of America, which will single handedly bring KeyBank’s CMBS servicing portfolio to the nation's top three.

MBIA Inc. started the year off much better this year than it did last year, with an adjusted pretax loss of only $20 million for the first quarter compared to $548 million in 2012.

Ellington Financial has priced a public offering of 5 million common shares.

Farmer Mac reported first-quarter net income of $16.2 million, which is a decline from 1Q12’s $22.2 million.

Mortgage Bankers Association president and CEO David Stevens is pressing hard for the agencies’ risk-sharing initiative to be done soon and on the front end.

A real estate arm of KeyCorp has agreed to purchase more than $100 billion of servicing rights on commercial and multifamily loans from Bank of America.

Ally Financial Inc. may learn today how hard it will be to escape $25 billion in claims made against its bankrupt mortgage arm, Residential Capital.

Freddie Mac plans to begin selling home-loan bonds without U.S. backing from its holdings as rising property prices help boost their value.

PennyMac Financial Services’ Class A shares at the end of their first trading day on the New York Stock Exchange Thursday were up $1 at $19 per share.

Small banks are turning to the Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corp.—better known as Farmer Mac—for lending to agricultural borrowers at interest rates that match those offered by Farm Credit lenders.

Fannie Mae is preparing to the cut a dividend check to the U.S. Treasury for $59.4 billion due to its decision to recognize deferred tax assets that have been sitting on the GSE’s books since it was placed in conservatorship.

EverBank, which recently issued its first jumbo mortgage-backed security, plans to become a regular issuer and is close to another deal.