The Obama administration has opened the door for nearly 1 million existing Federal Housing Administration (FHA) borrowers to refinance by encouraging lenders to originate more 'streamline' refinancings. But will it happen?

The recent $26 billion mortgage settlement announced by the government has received coverage throughout the news media. Twenty six billion dollars is an eye-popping number. But it is important that discerning readers look beyond the number and the headlines to determine what is really going on here and separate fact from rhetoric and political posturing.

Some factors started to challenge the strength of MBS' QE3 over the week including better-than-expected economic data and some items in the January Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) meeting minutes.

Freddie Mac is rumored to have a term sheet circulating the Street outlining its own REO-to-rent initiative, according to a Reuters report.

Rate investors are likely going to get a much smaller piece of the triple-A pie for covered bond investments.

Residential Credit Solutions (RCS) has been approved by Ginnie Mae as an issuer and servicer for the GNMA I and II single-family MBS programs.

Aurora Loan Services (ALS), Denver, recently halted residential production as the company continues to weigh bids on its servicing platform, according to a former ALS official and industry consultants.

Fannie Mae's second multifamily DUS REMIC of the year drew several new investors that one of its executives said were attracted by the deal's relatively strong debt-service coverage ratio, LTV and diversified collateral pool.

Year-to-date 2012 ABS transaction volume has hit the largest year-to-date figures since 2008 with $32 billion representing 37 deals, according to numbers Dealogic released today.

Capital One Financial Corp. agreed as part of its purchase of ING Direct USA to originate loans insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) to borrowers with low credit scores. But five months after giving verbal assurances to the Federal Reserve and consumer groups that it would accept FHA applications with minimum FICO scores of 580, Capital One still is not originating such loans.

A new report that found systemic flaws in California's foreclosure process could be fodder for securities investors to make claims against banks and mortgage servicers, its author says.