RMBS

Last summer rumors were spreading that a private equity firm had amassed $1 billion in cash and was eyeing investments in mortgage banking firms. A year later it appears that no such deals were struck by the unnamed fund, but that hasn’t stopped the talk about PE firms still looking at the sector.

Colony Capital LLC is one of the winning bidders on a Fannie Mae REO sale sponsored by the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), according to bidders and other sources familiar with the matter.

Freddie Mac reported more new record lows for 30- and 15-year fixed mortgage rates as well as 5/1 hybrid ARMs.

Homes sales and prices – along with construction activity – have improved over the past few months, but a true recovery in the housing sector is still far away due to tight mortgage credit, according to Federal Reserve monetary policy officials.

San Bernardino County is forging ahead with deliberations on a proposal to seize delinquent mortgages, despite its largest city's decision Tuesday night to seek bankruptcy.

CoreLogic and FICO this week released the FICO Mortgage Score Powered by CoreLogic. This new offering evaluates the traditional credit data from the national credit data repositories and the supplemental consumer credit data in the CoreLogic CoreScore.

More than 90 members of the House of Representatives are urging the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to provide a legal safe harbor in the final qualified mortgage rule to protect lenders from frivolous lawsuits.

A true bottom has formed under house prices but that assumption could be challenged later this year as the share of distressed sales once again outpaces home sales during the fall and winter months, according to Wells Fargo.

Lawyers for National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) asked a federal court Tuesday to bar potentially embarrassing testimony by NCUA board members Debbie Matz and Gigi Hyland and former chief corporate examiner Kent Buckham in the civil trial over the 2009 collapse of WesCorp FCU, which is projected to cost credit unions $7 billion to resolve.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) reported a slight 2.1% decline in mortgage application activity as a slowing in refinances was partially offset by a rise in purchases. Aiding activity as well were new lows set in mortgage rates. Results were adjusted for the Fourth of July holiday.