What do the federal bureaucrats who run Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac know that private mortgage lenders don't?

The government's bulk sale initiative to turn foreclosed properties into rentals could be "counterproductive" in certain states, according to the National Association of Realtors (NAR)which is demanding the initiative be scaled back.

After a week of relative quietude via limited data and events that had many participants on vacation for the holiday-shortened week, headlines quickly heated back up to roil the mortgage market.

A federal judge has ordered the former CEO of Brookstreet Securities Corp. to pay a maximum $10 million penalty in a securities fraud case related to the financial crisis.

Recent revisions made to the Home Affordable Refinancing Program (HARP) appear to have sparked an increase in loan applications, raising hopes that more underwater mortgages could refinance.

Henderson Global Investors has hired John Feeney as head of real estate debt in its secured credit team.

Ally Bank is going to issue a $1 billion auto transaction under its Ally Auto Receivables Trust 2012-2. For the Securities and Exchange Commission filing related to the deal, please click here.

KGS-Alpha Capital Markets added an investment grade corporate bond sales and trading team to its fixed income platform.

Home Loan Servicing Solutions (HLSS) – an entity whose sole mission in life is to buy servicing rights from Ocwen Financial Corp. – finally went public this week, raising roughly $186 million in cash.

More details are highlighted on bond insurer MBIA's reported losses in the fourth quarter of 2011 from yesterday's article from ASR sister publication The Bond Buyer.

Turning foreclosed properties into rentals on a mass scale will reduce "some of the fears that an avalanche of distressed properties" will rattle the housing market, according to a new report from Wells Fargo Securities (WFS).