Securitization

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.

In the first decision of its kind stemming from class action litigation over the collapse of the auction-rate securities (ARS) market, a federal appeals court panel in New York ruled Monday that Merrill Lynch had adequately disclosed to customers that it was preventing auctions from failing.

Lloyds Bank priced its $600 million U.K. credit card deal via the Penarth Master Issuer Plc's medium-term note program.

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.

CIFC Corp. is planning to roll out a new CLO, possibly by the end of the year, and is also looking to sell or call an existing CLO, the asset management company disclosed in a regulatory filing late Monday.

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.

SolarTech and CalCEF announced the creation of a working group to bring best practice leaders together to foster renewable energy financing, including securitization.

The Justice Department began sending letters Monday to servicemembers who are entitled to $20 million in damages from Bank of America Corp. for alleged violations of the Servicemember Civil Relief Act.

Home prices, on average, ended August at $205,000, an almost 4% drop from last year, according to new figures compiled by Lender Processing Services (LPS), Jacksonville, Fla.

The National Credit Union Administration (NCUA) announced this afternoon it will receive $165 million from Citigroup and Deutsche Bank Securities to settle claims of wrongdoing in the sale of MBS to failed corporate credit unions.

November remittance data showed that the $192 million loan backed by the Manhattan Apartment Portfolio was liquidated. According to Barclays Capital CMBS analysts, if the loan's disposition strategy is right, this might be considered the largest note sale ever in CMBS.

Nordstrom is in the market with a private-label credit card deal underwritten by the Royal Bank of Scotland. The securitization is called Nordstrom Credit Card Master Note Trust II – Series 2011-1.

Federal Reserve Board Vice Chairman Janet Yellen said Friday the central bank will soon issue a long-awaited package of proposed rules implementing the Dodd-Frank Act.

The ever-optimistic National Association of Realtors (NAR) believes the worst housing downturn since the Great Depression is almost over.

The European primary pipeline saw the addition of a new $500 million U.K. credit card deal via the Penarth Master Issuer Plc's medium-term note program.

Lawyers have opened a new front in mortgage securities litigation by suing BNY Mellon and U.S. Bank over an alleged failure to properly handle the storage and recordkeeping of mortgage documents.

House and Senate conferees will not restore the $729,750 maximum loan limit on GSE-backed mortgages in high cost areas, sources told ASR sister publication National Mortgage News this weekend — but they have agreed to bump up the limit on Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans in lower cost areas.

Santander Consumer Bank is in the market with a €573.0 million ($780 million) securitization backed by a portfolio of German auto loans.

The CREL CDO delinquencies rose to 12.5% in October from 12% the prior month, according to the latest Fitch Ratings index.