Mortgage Insurers Pursue Deeper Coverage on GSE Loans

National Mortgage News, Oct. 20, 2015–Collins, Brian
Private mortgage insurers are seeking a larger share of the credit risk on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac-guaranteed loans.

Ginnie to Cater to Current Issuers, Not Add New Ones

National Mortgage News, Oct. 20, 2015–Finkelstein, Brad
Ginnie Mae’s limited resources are going to be focused on working with its existing issuers, especially those that are not creating new securities, according to its president, Ted Tozer.

Need a Home Mortgage? Fannie Says Forget the Pay Stubs

Wall Street Journal, Oct. 20, 2015–Light, Joe
Collecting pay stubs for a home-mortgage application has been a time-honored tradition, barring a few ill-fated years running up to the financial crisis. But if changes announced by mortgage-finance company Fannie Mae catch on, that process could go the way of the dodo.

Regulatory Risk Game Changer for Industry: Black Knight CEO

National Mortgage News, Oct. 19, 2015–Finkelstein, Brad
The big game changer in the mortgage industry is the “unquantifiable and increasing regulatory risk,” said Tom Sanzone, Black Knight Financial Services’ CEO at a press conference Monday at the MBA’s Annual Convention in San Diego.

GSE Leadership No Longer Expecting Reform

HousingWire, Oct. 19, 2015–Garrison, Trey
The government-sponsored enterprises are getting back to their core mission, shaking the idea that a resolution to conservatorship is just around the corner and reshaping their business models to reduce risk to taxpayers while expanding access to credit. That was the message from Timothy Mayopoulos, president and CEO Fannie Mae and Donald Layton, CEO of Freddie Mac.

DBRS Reaches $6 Million Settlement Related to Mortgage Securities

Wall Street Journal, Oct. 26, 2015–Stynes, Tess
DBRS Inc. agreed to pay nearly $6 million to settle Securities and Exchange Commission claims that the credit-ratings firm misrepresented how it monitored ratings of complex real-estate securities over a three-year period.

RMBS Servicers Weather the Storm, Improve Management

National Mortgage News, Oct. 26, 2015–Clozel, Lalita
Residential mortgage-backed securities servicers are improving their processes despite generally adverse market conditions, Fitch Ratings said.

Lawsuit Says Manhattan Real Estate Was Used to Launder Money

Wall Street Journal, Oct. 17, 2015–Karmin, Craig; Brown, Eliot
A banker and a former politician from Kazakhstan tried to launder tens of millions of dollars of stolen money through New York real-estate holdings, a civil lawsuit alleges.

Why the Federal Government Now Holds Nearly 50% of All Residential Mortgages

MarketWatch, Oct. 16, 2015–Goldstein, Daniel
Mortgage lending levels are beginning to recover from the real estate crash of the Great Recession, few outside the government want to buy it. “Many investors don’t believe there is enough protection to make it worthwhile to invest in mortgage-backed securities,” David Stevens, president and CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association.