RMBS

With the government agency that dominates the reverse mortgage space working on moves to address the increase in tax and insurance default concerns there, some players may want to keep an eye on how these affect the market for this product.

The government's primary foreclosure prevention program – Home Affordable Modification Program (HAMP) – has not lived up to expectations and will wind up helping just a fraction of its target audience, according to a new report from the bipartisan Congressional Oversight Panel (COP).

Citigroup late last week agreed to sell a $441 million package of nonperforming loans with PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust being identified as the winning bidder, according to industry sources who play in that space.

Joe Smith, the Obama administration's nominee for director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, said Monday that the government should continue playing a role in the mortgage market, but he left the final word to Congress.

Private placement ABS transactions have come to market in the last week backed by a range of collateral that includes auto and timeshare receivables.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) is in the market again with resecuritizations of residential and commercial real estate debt.

Legal actions tied to mortgage lending jumped by more than 40% in the third quarter based on the Mortgage Litigation Index report published this week.

The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) has assembled a task force of its key members to examine and issue recommendations for the future of residential mortgage servicing. Michael Berman, chairman of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) and John Courson, MBA's president and CEO announced the trade group's move.

Ginnie Mae will join Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in requiring mortgages it purchases to be transmitted in the Uniform Loan Delivery Dataset (ULDD) standard — the set of data points and e-document formats the government-sponsored enterprises will mandate for all mortgages it purchases beginning Sept. 1, 2011.

Moody’s Investors Service sees “encouraging” signs for the emergence of a New Zealand covered bond market following a proposal from regulators for a comprehensive legal framework and the first-time issuance this year of this product.