RMBS

Walter Investment Management Corp., Tampa, said it has signed deals to pay $90 million for several pools of mostly performing first liens from undisclosed sellers.

The effect of halted or delayed foreclosure completions and REO sales was realized in the November ABX remittance reports, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts. This was evidenced by the fact that default rates on each index were down on the month, they said.

Law firm Nixon Peabody has named veteran partner Craig Mills as head of its global finance practice, which it plans to expand, the firm said today.

Homebuilder Lennar Corp.'s subsidiary Rialto Capital completed the first closing of a real estate investment fund with initial equity commitments of around $300 million. This amount includes $75 million committed by Lennar.

Global securities and investment banking firm Jefferies hired James Fadel as a managing director and head of European structured debt capital markets in London.

The chair of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Shelia Bair warned that if left unchecked, rising government debt could rise to 185% of the country’s gross domestic product by 2035.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have resumed sales of foreclosed properties that were placed on hold in late September as a result of questions about improper affidavits used in the foreclosure process.

In an era of low interest rates, weak loan demand and unprecedented efforts by the Federal Reserve Board to pump liquidity into the economy, the demand for Federal Home Loan Bank (FHLB) advances has plummeted to a 10-year low, raising questions about the system's future as the government weighs a redesign of the housing finance sector.

Residential servicers are under siege from regulators, state attorneys general and legislators for messing up the foreclosure process.

Lender Processing Services (LPS), Jacksonville, Fla., reported that by the end of October 2010 the total U.S. foreclosure inventory rate reached 3.92%, marking an all time high in the size of the inventory — which now equals 7.4 times the historical averages and continues to rise.