An anemic $2.09 billion worth of subprime mortgage-backed security issuance in January was followed by two months with no issuance at all. According to the Inside Mortgage Finance MBS Database, the first quarter of 2008 was the... [Includes one chart and one graph]
Read More
Lender trade associations expressed both support and deep concern this week regarding the Federal Reserve’s proposed revision of Home Ownership and Equity Protection Act regulations. The proposed rule would expand regulation of the subprime market and...
Read More
The Department of Housing and Urban Development this week unveiled its long-anticipated expansion of FHASecure. Meanwhile, a proposal floated by Democrats in Congress to expand FHA’s authority to refinance troubled borrowers faces strong opposition. HUD loosened...
Read More
The mortgage industry has apparently succeeded, at least temporarily, in stopping Congress from passing cramdown legislation. A housing package approved by the Senate this week does not contain a provision that would allow bankruptcy courts to reduce home...
Read More
In dealing with subprime servicer Fremont Investment and Loan, a Massachusetts state court and State Attorney General Martha Coakley seem to have changed the rules in the middle of the game. An order issued by Suffolk Superior Court...
Read More
“The so-called Hope Now alliance is clearly a failure,” said Rep. Maxine Waters, D-CA, at a hearing of the House Committee on Financial Services this week. The comment came before the alliance released its latest loan modification data, for February, but adds...
Read More
The dollar volume of subprime mortgage-backed securities issued in 2007 fell substantially from the previous year and the rating servicers’ share of subprime MBS ratings dropped as well. Standard & Poor’s remained the top issuer... [Includes two charts and one graph]
Read More
The least aggressive company, volume-wise, of the three major rating services also issues the most accurate subprime mortgage-backed security ratings, according to analysts at UBS. Fitch Ratings was the most conservative of the rating services...
Read More
Yield-spread premiums give mortgage brokers a strong financial incentive to steer borrowers into overpriced products... Commercial banks reported trading losses of $9.97 billion in the fourth quarter of 2007, the first ever quarterly trading...
Read More