RMBS

New Irish personal insolvency legislation that was proposed in January and expected to become effective in 2013 will introduce debt forgiveness for borrowers viewed as having unsustainable mortgage debt, Moody's Investors Service said in a report released today.

Cashel USA Property Partners plans to purchase up to $500 million in distressed single-family residences in the U.S. to convert into rentals that will be serviced by PropertyAccess, a provider of national property management services for professional investors.

Not surprisingly, a new low in mortgage rates buoyed refinancing activity in the week ending Feb. 3.

Moments before he was scheduled to make a statement on the mortgage servicing settlement Tuesday night, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman postponed the conference call indefinitely.

Mortgage servicers continue to modify 25,000 loans a month under the government's Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP), but that pace could pick up later this summer as new changes to the effort kick in.

Freddie Mac has announced its sixth offering of Structured Passthrough Certificates or K Certificates backed exclusively by multifamily mortgages with a seven-year term.

Analytics provider CoreLogic appointed Kevin Wall as senior vice president of its default services business.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and 38 other Republicans are pledging to file a court brief supporting any legal challenge to the recess appointment of Richard Cordray to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB).

Maverick Funding Corp., Parsippany, N.J. has hired away Joshua Shein, the CEO of reverse lender Great Oak Lending (GOL), who brings with him to his new employer roughly 30 employees including 11 loan officers.

Conventional speeds declined around 6%-8% in January versus an expected 3% average. The factors impacting CPRs included a lower number of collection days at 20 from 21, which offset the slight 4.0% increase on average in refinancing activity in December as mortgage rates slipped to an average of 3.95% from 3.99%.