The delinquency rate on all outstanding residential mortgages fell to a three-year low in the fourth quarter with most loan types improving except for one product: Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans.

Fannie Mae is considering the head of a banking industry trade group and its own general counsel as possible replacements for departing CEO Michael Williams, according to published reports.

A proposal to hike guarantee fees on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for the second time in two months was floated Wednesday night during negotiations over a $150 billion bill that would extend the payroll tax deduction and unemployment benefits.

The fees that special servicers charge borrowers seeking loan modifications may present risk to bondholders, borrowers and the recovering CMBS market, said Fitch Ratings in a report today.

Moody's Investors Service today placed on review for downgrade the ratings of various covered bonds issued by Austrian, Danish, Dutch, Finnish, French and German banks.

The government-owned Ally Financial has agreed to sell $1 billion worth of senior notes to a group of underwriters including Barclays Capital, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley.

For the third straight week, 30-year fixed mortgage rates were unchanged at its record low of 3.87% said Freddie Mac in its weekly survey.

Fitch Ratings released a report yesterday about assessing the risk of container ABS, which is a cyclical asset class.

Citigroup agreed Wednesday to pay $158.3 million to settle claims that its mortgage unit improperly originated Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans, a swift reminder that the massive national mortgage deal does not insulate banks from other mortgage-related claims. The settlement of FHA claims comes less than a week after Citigroup joined the four largest mortgage servicers in a $25 billion settlement with state attorneys general and the Department of Justice. That deal covered the banks' abusive mortgage and foreclosure practices collectively known as robo-signing.Citigroup separately on Wednesday agreed to settle the FHA-related claims made in a lawsuit filed by Preet Bharara, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Helen Kanovsky, general counsel for the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), and HUD's Inspector General David A. Montoya.

BlackRock, the investment firm headed by MBS veteran Larry Fink, recently increased its position in PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust to 5.48%, more than double its last recorded stake.

Regulators said Wednesday they are extending the deadline for borrowers to request an independent foreclosure review under the consent orders signed by 14 mortgage servicers last April.

Nationstar Mortgage, the nation's 11th largest servicer, is in talks to buy all or parts of Aurora Loan Services (ALS), according to industry advisors close to the situation.