A consensus is forming among consumer and housing groups that the ‘Qualified Mortgage’ (QM) rule should encompass a large chunk of conventional mortgages that are being underwritten today.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner reiterated support Wednesday for mortgage principal reductions at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

New-issue, private-label MBS backed by either recent vintage or seasoned loans funded since the downturn have generally had some type of mechanism to enforce and/or clarify parameters for repurchases, a Moody’s Investors Service analyst said.The trend has resulted from a slew of repurchase disputes that have risen as deals from the 2005-2007 period of loose underwriting have aged and underperformed.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) wants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to be more responsive to troubled homeowners seeking a short sale solution or who receive a bid from an interested buyer.

Morgan Stanley filed an S-3 with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to issue under its Morgan Stanley Capital I Trust. For a full copy of the SEC filing, please click here.

The New York Federal Reserve has started a competitive bid process in response to several reverse inquiries for the MAX CDO holdings in its Maiden Lane III (ML III) portfolio.

Residential Capital's (ResCap), Ally Financial's troubled mortgage unit, missed coupon payment indicated that it is heading toward bankruptcy. The firm might also be using the threat of a bankruptcy to get investors to reduce ResCap's debt burden, according to a Barclays Capital securitization research note.

The Mortgage Bankers Association reported a 13.5% jump in the Refinance Index to ~3935 for the week ending April 13. This is its highest level since the week ending March 9.

Construction of new single-family homes fell flat in March after dropping 9% in February, according to government figures released Tuesday morning.

More than five months after the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) 2.0 was announced and there is not much seen in terms of the program's impact on prepayment data, according to FTN Financial in a report released yesterday.

More than 85% of the properties included in Fannie Mae's first REO rental pilot program are already teneted, Barclays Capital analysts reported in their latest securitization report.

Bankrupt bond insurer Ambac Assurance Corp. has sued Bank of America over MBS that have gone sour.