Category: Top National News

Reuters, Jan. 27, 2017–Leung, RichardThe U.S. Federal Reserve will stop reinvestments of its mortgage-backed securities holdings in April 2018 in an attempt to shrink its $4.2 trillion balance sheet that had ballooned from bond purchases to combat the last recession, Morgan Stanley analysts said on Friday.

HousingWire, Jan. 27, 2017–Lane, BenThe tale of Jesse Litvak may finally be moving toward an ending, as a federal jury on Friday found the former Jefferies managing director and mortgage-backed securities trader guilty on one count of fraud.

National Mortgage News, Jan. 30, 2017–Jacob PassyNew Residential Investment Corp. is planning a public offering of more than 49.2 million shares of its stock to pay for its purchase of mortgage servicing rights from CitiMortgage.

National Mortgage News, Jan. 30, 2017–Kate BerryPHH Corp. is opposing an attempt by Democratic attorneys general in 16 states and the District of Columbia to intervene in an appeals court case that found the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s structure was unconstitutional.

Bloomberg, Jan. 30, 2017–Todd Shields; Jennifer A. DlouhyPresident Donald Trump set a daunting goal for government agencies bound by complex procedures, ordering his department heads to kill two regulations for each new one they issue.

National Mortgage News, Jan. 30, 2017–Brian CollinsA federal appeals court ruled Monday that the Treasury Department will have to hand over more documents to investors of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac related to its profit sweep of the two government-sponsored enterprises.

Mortgage Daily, Jan. 30, 2017The outlook for refinance production during the first-three months of this year has been raised by Freddie Mac, though at the expense of subsequent quarters.

HousingWire, Jan. 30, 2017–Brena SwansonA freeze on a final rule of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s Know Before You Owe mortgage disclosure rule, also called the TILA-RESPA Integrated Disclosures rule, TRID, could become an unfortunate side effect of Trump’s executive order on Monday.

National Mortgage News, Jan. 17, 2017–Collins, Brian
HUD’s proposed guidance has stirred up a debate on elevation standards as flooding occurs more frequently and in more unexpected places. The higher elevation requirements could impact affordability and “may limit the number of newly constructed homes available to many first-time and low-to-moderate income borrowers,” wrote Thomas Kim and Steve O’Connor of the Mortgage Bankers Association in a Dec. 21 comment letter.

MarketWatch, Jan. 17, 2017–Goldstein, Steve   
The Justice Department on Tuesday finalized its settlement with Deutsche Bank over allegations the German institution misled residential mortgage-backed securities investors in 2006 and 2007.