Finance

Lenders should face penalties for violating representation and warranty clauses — beyond their obligation to re-purchase the loans — according to Andrew Davidson, president of the New York firm Davidson & Co.

The head of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) delivered a strong defense of the industry Monday, saying the number of loans called into question by the recent foreclosure documentation scandal is "a very small minority" of the 2.3 million mortgages currently in foreclosure.

Federal Reserve Board Chairman Ben Bernanke said Monday banking regulators are putting together a comprehensive review of foreclosure practices at the country's largest financial institutions.

When it comes to repurchase agreements, insurers have had greater success in getting HELOC mortgages from RMBS deals repurchased, JPMorgan Securities analysts said. The success rate is as high as a 60%.

Nixon Peabody expanded its mortgage finance and foreclosure team. The law firm's aim is to offer added resources to address clients’ increasing needs due to mortgage foreclosure crisis.

U-Haul International (UHI) is in the market with a $155 million securitization called U-Haul S Fleet Series 2010-1. The offering is backed by a pool of new and to-be-acquired box trucks.

The public finance market no longer has a triple-A rated bond insurer. Standard & Poor’s downgraded Assured Guaranty’s two insurer platforms on Monday to 'AA-plus' with a stable outlook from 'AAA' with a negative outlook.

The Public-Private Investment Program (PPIP) for legacy assets latest quarterly report showed that $7.4 billion was raised and matched by the Treasury.

The sale of nonperforming home mortgages held by portfolio lenders could double, or even triple next year, according to DebtX CEO Kingsley Greenland.

Moody's Investors Service has downgraded the ratings on 162 tranches and confirmed the ratings on 23 tranches from 17 RMBS deals that are backed by option arm loans issued by Lehman XS Trusts.

Cumulative defaults for fixed-rate U.S. CMBS rose significantly by112 basis points to 10.6% through the end of 3Q10, Fitch Ratings reported in its latest U.S. CMBS newsletter.

The homeowner at the epicenter of the foreclosure documentation scandal has been granted a reprieve, at least temporarily.

HSBC Bank is now actively marketing the servicing portfolio of its mortgage division as a stand alone asset, according to investment banking officials familiar with the matter.

Bank of America Corp. and GMAC Mortgage may be restarting some foreclosures, but this does not mean their legal problems with bad documents are over.

On behalf of commercial banks, insurance companies and mortgage servicers, loan sale advisor DebtX plans to sell $1.1 billion in commercial real estate and residential loans in 10 separate transactions through early December.

RoundPoint Financial Group hired Steve Bashmakov as its new chief financial officer. Bashmakov will report directly to RoundPoint CEO Kevin Brungardt.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) has hired a private law firm as it continues to review subpoenaed loan documents from banks and Wall Street firms that sold Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac private-label MBS.

The U.S. Treasury may have to shell out an additional $73 billion to $215 billion to keep the capital positions of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from going negative, according to new loss projections released by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).

SNR Denton has hired Ricardo Martinez as a partner in its capital markets group. Martinez, who joins SNR Denton from Allen & Overy, will reside in the New York office.

The consumer's prolonged stressed state and seasonal pressures drove auto loan ABS losses and delinquencies higher in the most recent period, as reported by Fitch Ratings' latest auto loan ABS index results.