RMBS

Mortgage industry groups are calling for the creation of a strong safe harbor clause that will shield lenders from litigation if they originate loans that comply with ‘Qualified Mortgage’ underwriting standards.

As Washington's banking-policy community was focused on the first anniversary of the Dodd-Frank Act, one important player in the law's passage was noticeably absent.

National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) filed another suit last week against Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) over MBS sold to WesCorp Federal Credit Union, the one-time $34 billion corporate that failed in 2009.

Cohen & Steers, an asset manager specializing in real estate, predicts that U.S. REITs will boost dividends by 10% a year for the next five years.The sunny outlook, which cites a recovery in cash flows, comes in spite of the continued woes of many segments of the U.S. housing markets and the sluggish economic recovery.

Mortgage, housing, and even local politicians are stepping up pressure on congressional appropriators to extend the maximum $729,750 loan limit on government-backed loans for another year, fearing that a failure to act will damage already stressed real estate markets.

Whole Loan Capital is auctioning off a $553 million portfolio of GSE and bank residential servicing rights.

The CFPB has published with the Federal Register for public comment an interim final rule establishing Regulation D or the Alternative Mortgage Transaction Parity.

Short sale timelines and completions are improving, but servicing executives also know their industry can have better results in the government-backed Home Affordable Foreclosure Alternatives program, according to panelists at this week’s Best Practices in Loss Mitigation Conference in Dallas, sponsored by National Mortgage News.

Deer Park Road Corp., a distressed mortgage and ABS fixed-income securities manager, has strengthened its portfolio management team as the firm’s assets continue to grow, it announced in a July 20 statement.

The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) is developing an index of "healing housing markets" in an attempt to offset the negative press that casts a pall over the entire sector whenever national price statistics are released.