RMBS

First-time home buyers are no longer a force to be reckoned with.

Two Michigan registers of deeds have filed a class action lawsuit against Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (MERS) for allegedly not paying proper county and state transfer taxes.

Lender Processing Services (LPS) said that, through its Loan Quality Gateway platform, its RealEC, Empower and LSI divisions are now directly integrated with the GSEs' Uniform Collateral Data Portal (UCDP).

Freddie Mac this afternoon released its single-family seller/servicer guide bulletin where the GSE announced its changes to its Freddie Mac Relief Refinance Mortgage – Same Servicer and Relief Refinance Mortgage – Open Access offerings.

In 3Q11, fixed-rate loans comprised over 95% of refinance loans, according to Freddie Mac's Quarterly Product Transition Report that was published today.

Fitch Ratings started a quarterly report that details its U.S. home price projections.

House and Senate conferees have agreed to restore the $729,750 maximum loan limit for Federal Housing Administration (FHA)-backed mortgages for two years – but left the GSE cap unchanged.

PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust recently entered into a master repurchase agreement with Bank of America that allows a subsidiary of the publicly traded REIT to sell — and later repurchase — new originations in an aggregate principal amount of up to $200 million.

Mortgage servicers seem to be caught between a rock and hard place when it comes to foreclosures: their legal practices are being scrutinized by state attorneys general for sloppy paperwork while the GSEs pile on fees for delays in loss mitigation work.

The acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) told a Senate panel this morning that the agency is moving ahead with "private" risk sharing opportunities between Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac and firms outside of the government's control.