Securitization

As was expected, with the conclusion of the year-end holidays, mortgage application activity increased 4.5% on a seasonally adjusted basis in the week ending Jan. 6.

Michael Williams, the president and CEO of Fannie Mae, announced plans to step down as soon as a successor can be appointed, according to a company filing issued Tuesday to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

PHH Corp., Mt. Laurel, N.J., is now looking to sell $150 million in debt to help pay off $250 million of debt that matures in April.

Bank of America is gearing up to sell large chunks of its residential servicing portfolio on a regular basis as it continues to whittle down its presence in the mortgage market, according to servicing advisors and investors who have been briefed on the bank's plans.

Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans once served a broad spectrum of borrowers until the subprime mortgage meltdown came along and pushed lenders to tighten underwriting standards and credit score requirements.

Dallas-based Highland Capital Management, which along with its affiliates has roughly $23 billion in assets under management, hired Brian Rice as managing director.

Although CMBS delinquency rates have not seen the double-digit rates many industry analysts predicted would have happened by now, maturing 2007 vintage deals can change that picture.

Freddie Mac is making it easier for investors to track the performance and credit quality of its multifamily MBS known as 'K Certificates.'

Venable has hired a capital markets attorney with a background in derivatives transactions and regulations.

The rising number of MBS lawsuits drove the mortgage litigation index to its highest level since it was first issued in 2007.

Despite the general market volatility, the timeshare industry has benefited from the steps taken to further increase efficiencies, DBRS analysts said late yesterday in a comment.

In his eight years on the Senate Banking Committee, Rick Santorum was an infrequent presence at committee hearings, even though his office was located on the same floor of the Dirksen office building as the committee's hearing room.

Federal regulators must levy fines against residential servicers under their purview to show there are real consequences for their "severe misconduct," according to Federal Reserve governor Sarah Bloom Raskin.

When foreclosure and short sales are excluded from the CoreLogic home price index, it shows that values declined just 0.6% over the 12 months ending Nov. 30.

Societe Generale named Degenhard Schroeren as the head of leveraged finance for Germany, Austria and Central and Eastern Europe, according to reports.

Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) analysts said in a report released today that they disagree with the speculation that the redirection of the GSE fees to pay for non-mortgage related expenses makes a credit rating downgrade is likely.

Santander U.K. is reportedly prepping its first U.K. RMBS for 2012 under the Holmes Master trust series.

The government’s move to change the index that student FFELP loan are tied to should have a slightly positive impact on related ABS, according to Moody’s Investors Service.

Investors holding at least $800 million of secured bonds in Residential Capital Corp. (ResCap) have organized in the event the mortgage firm's parent company, Ally Financial, throws the company into bankruptcy.

More professionals, including securitization staff, are continuing to leave Morgan Stanley, published reports have indicated.