RMBS

If the new RMBS deals issued in the past week give an indication of what the non-agency market space will look like, then it is clear that only the best will do.

A Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) hearing panel has ruled that David Lerner Associates (DLA) charged excessive markups on CMO and municipal bond deals during a two-year period.

Non-agency MBS investors should look for bonds with smaller loan sizes in a structure that is levered to severity, said Amherst Securities Group analysts in a report today.

Since the housing crisis began in 2007, mortgage rates have currently dropped to all-time lows and home prices continue to bottom out in most markets. The big question still lingers on the mind of everyone in the industry: Are we on the road to a recovery or are there still gloomy days ahead?

Prices of homes sold by owner/occupants are rising for the first time in years and there has been modest price appreciation in January and February, according to a new CoreLogic report.

Oak Hill Advisors named its current Chief Operating Officer as its President.

Mortgage applications rose 4.8% in the week ending March 30 with both refinancing and purchase activity higher.

Morgan Stanley has agreed to pay civil money penalties and conduct a review of 60,300 foreclosures conducted by its former servicing subsidiary, Saxon Mortgage Services, as part of an enforcement action by the Federal Reserve Board.

Ocwen Financial Corp., which relies heavily on its overseas workforce, has decided to shutter a pair of North Texas servicing offices, laying off almost 680 mortgage workers in the process, according to a recent filing with the Texas Workforce Commission.

Fitch Ratings made headlines after it published a widely reported unsolicited commentary on Credit Suisse's prime RMBS deal called CSMC Trust 2012-CIM.