RMBS

Freddie Mac, after being criticized by the Inspector General’s office of its regulator, has improved its mortgage buyback reviews and could recoup an additional $3.4 billion in damages.

MBS valuations can stay rich and tighten further based on the strong technical backdrop the announcement creates.

The GSEs will continue to “maintain their own securitization operations and continue to issue their own securities,” the Federal Housing Finance Agency Acting Director Edward DeMarco said.

The outstanding dollar amount of subprime mortgage debt fell 10% in the second quarter to $374.8 billion as these nonconventional loans continue to “disappear” from servicing portfolios

Freddie Mac reported 30-year fixed mortgage rates were unchanged at 3.55%, while 15-year rates slipped just one basis point to 2.85%.

Servicers that work on delinquent Federal Housing Administration-backed mortgages are becoming more proficient at short sales, FHA said in a recent 3Q12 report to Congress.

The Federal Housing Administration is bracing for a large spike in insurance claim payments now that servicers have adjusted to the requirements of the $25 billion robo-signing settlement.

A California judge upheld his own decision to whittle the government's claims against the firm's ex CEO Michael Perry.

Ambac set up the account in March 2010 to hold certain troubled liabilities. Because of Ambac Assurance's financial troubles, Ambac has not been paying claims on the segregated account.