Reuters, Apr. 9, 2016–Stempel, Jonathan
Wells Fargo & Co admitted to deceiving the U.S. government into insuring thousands of risky mortgages, as it formally reached a record $1.2 billion settlement of a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit.
Category: Top National News
New York Attorney General Pushes FHFA for Principal Reduction
HousingWire, Apr. 8, 2016–Lane, Ben
In a letter to Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mel Watt, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman joins the chorus calling for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to reduce the mortgage balances of struggling borrowers.
Goldman Sachs Resolves U.S. Mortgage Probe for $5.1 Billion
Bloomberg, Apr. 11, 2016–Schoenberg, Tom
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. will pay $5.1 billion to settle a U.S. probe into its handling of mortgage-backed securities involving allegations that loans weren’t properly vetted before being sold to investors as high-quality bonds.
Forget Flipping Houses–These Retail Investors Flip Mortgages
MarketWatch, Apr. 11, 2016–Riquier, Andrea
As government entities like Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have struggled with the legacies of the housing bust, they’ve sold billions of dollars’ of delinquent notes to big institutional investors, who resell them in turn.
Mortgage REIT M&A? Approved
Bloomberg, Apr. 11, 2016–Tan, Gillian
Annaly Capital Management is buying Hatteras Financial, a smaller REIT that buys mortgage debt, in a cash-and-stock deal valued at $1.5 billion.
PHH to Lose Origination, Servicing Business from B of A Merrill Lynch
National Mortgage News, Apr. 11, 2016–Peters, Andy
PHH Corp. in Mount Laurel, N.J., said its loan closing dollar volume will decrease this year, after Bank of America’s Merrill Lynch announced plans to withdraw business from the firm.
FHFA Should Have Oversight of Nonbank Mortgage Servicers: GAO
National Mortgage News, Apr. 11, 2016–Berry, Kate
Congress should consider giving direct authority over nonbank mortgage servicers to the Federal Housing Finance Agency, according to a report released Monday by the Government Accountability Office.
Another Condo Bust Looms in Miami
Wall Street Journal, Mar. 29, 2016–Kusisto, Laura
Miami is facing a condo bust-again. Developers have started canceling projects, slashing prices and offering incentives such as private-jet access to spur sales, an ominous echo of the housing crash that pounded South Florida especially hard.
MetLife Wins Bid to Shed ‘Systemically Important’ Label
Wall Street Journal, Mar. 30, 2016–Tracy, Ryan
A federal judge overturned U.S. regulators’ determination that MetLife Inc. poses a threat to the financial system, granting the insurer a victory in its quest to avoid stricter rules and potentially undermining a central part of the 2010 Dodd-Frank law.
Mortgage Portfolios at National Banks Continue to Dissipate
HousingWire, Mar. 30, 2016–Swanson, Brena
The mortgage portfolio of the top banks in the market has steadily dwindled over the past two years, according to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s quarterly report on mortgages.