Finance

Western Asset Mortgage Defined Opportunity Fund’s public-private investment fund or Master Fund was terminated on July 15.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) will now be accepting applications for qualified entities to purchase severely troubled loans that were formerly insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) through the Distressed Asset Stabilization Program.

The slow down in consumer spending seen recently can mean that credit card balances remain flat for the foreseeable future, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts.

Oak Hill Advisors said it held the final closing of its European distressed debt and restructuring fund, hitting its cap of $1.35 billion.

Walker & Dunlop will be opening its twelfth national office in Madison, WI, making it the second location in the state. Michael Lee and Matthew Lund will be vice presidents in the new office and will focus on the financing of all types of income-producing properties.

Syncora Holdings announced on July 17 that its unit Syncora Guarantee had settled claims related to RMBS with Countrywide Financial Corp., Bank of America Corp. and their affiliates.

It appears that Redwood Trust—until recently the only securitizer of jumbo mortgages in the nation—has company in the space: Credit Suisse First Boston. But don’t pop the champagne quite yet. It’s not what you think.

If several California cities move ahead with a plan to seize underwater mortgages, they could end up paying more for the loans they expected, according to a legal expert retained by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA).

Another report of new lows in mortgage rates led to a 22% surge in the MBA's Refi Index to ~5331 for the week ending July 13, just under its mid-June high since April 2009 of 5386. As a percent of total application activity, refinancing share rose to 80.1% from 77% in the prior report.

A Dominion Bond Rating Service (DBRS) report released today showed that securitizations have represented a significant share of the capital structure of certain esoteric asset issuers. This makes ABS an important component in the overall financing available to these firms.

Goldman Sachs is planning to sell a CMBS called GS Mortgage Securities Corp.Trust 2012. The transaction is backed by a single, non-recourse, first lien mortgage that has an original principal balance of $625 million.

Nord/LB has launched a €500 million ($614.38 million) seven-year German covered bond that is backed by aircraft finance assets.

Wells Fargo's mortgage servicing rights portfolio could have an impact on the bank's capital ratios under the Basel III requirements in the not-so-distant future when interest rates rise, a report from Fitch Ratings warns.

Fitch Ratings has switched to predicting gains in new home prices for 2012 instead of modest declines, due to "overt price increases and mix issues." The average single-family new home price should improve by 4.25% and the median should rise by 4.5% in 2012.

The increase in house prices in April was so widespread that 97% of the nation’s 579 metropolitan statistical areas registered an uptick in values from the month prior, according to Lender Processing Services (LPS).

The transaction called Bealine PLC securitizing airport slots at Heathrow airport operated by British Airways (BA) relies heavily on BA's credit worthiness, Moody’s Investors Service analysts said in a conference call held yesterday.

A U.K. RMBS deal issued by Clydesdale Bank will offer investors three-year and five-year bonds.

Jobs are what will get our national economy out of the doldrums. Job growth nationally has flattened out, and at a very low rate, over the past three months. But perhaps even more importantly, mortgage job growth has been flat.

Congress did not intend to impose additional legal liability on lenders that originate properly underwritten loans, according to 106 members of the House of Representatives.