A true bottom has formed under house prices but that assumption could be challenged later this year as the share of distressed sales once again outpaces home sales during the fall and winter months, according to Wells Fargo.

In a conference call yesterday, John McElravey, head of consumer ABS research at Wells Fargo, said that the U.S. auto ABS sector is now the “new benchmark for the consumer ABS market” replacing the credit card sector.

Lawyers for National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) asked a federal court Tuesday to bar potentially embarrassing testimony by NCUA board members Debbie Matz and Gigi Hyland and former chief corporate examiner Kent Buckham in the civil trial over the 2009 collapse of WesCorp FCU, which is projected to cost credit unions $7 billion to resolve.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported a slight 2.1% decline in mortgage application activity as a slowing in refinances was partially offset by a rise in purchases. Aiding activity as well were new lows set in mortgage rates. Results were adjusted for the Fourth of July holiday.

Lawmakers and financial market participants sparred Tuesday over the economic and other impacts of the Dodd-Frank law, as well as the resulting Volcker Rule and potential new money market fund rules.

The scandal brewing over alleged rigging of the London interbank offered rate has piqued the interest of the Senate Banking Committee.

The U.S. CMBS pipeline is seeing some activity this week including a securitization from Morgan Stanley and Bank of America.

Lenders facing legal challenges with respect to possible violations of the “ability to repay” standards in the qualified mortgage rule likely will face significant loan repurchase requests from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, as well as rescissions in coverage by mortgage insurers, according to the Clearing House Association (CHA).

Industry observers and regulators have taken note of Wells Fargo's dominance among the titans of the mortgage market.

While testifying before the House Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises today, American Securitization Forum (ASF) Executive Director Tom Deutsch advised policy makers to thoroughly analyze how the implementation of the Dodd-Frank Act’s various rules will cause cumulative harm to the securitization market.

Information provider CoreLogic and FICO have together launched a consumer credit risk score that is expected to improve the quality of lending decisions and increase the number of mortgage loans lenders make.

The Obama administration’s refinancing programs are reaching more GSE and Federal Housing Administration (FHA) borrowers, allowing these troubled mortgagors to take advantage of historically low mortgage rates, according to a new U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)/Treasury Department report.