The Lede

DALLAS--It's the board-game equivalent of a mortgage murder mystery. 

DALLAS--What can risk managers learn from a purple dinosaur?

The Federal Housing Finance Agency yesterday released an update on the Common Securitization Platform to be used for securitization of single-family mortgages by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. 

The Mortgage Bankers Association joined more than two dozen industry trade groups in a letter calling on Congress to refrain from allocating Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac credit risk guaranty fees as a source of funding for highway programs.  

Commercial/multifamily mortgage debt outstanding increased by $38.5 billion in the second quarter as three of the four major investor groups increased their holdings, the Mortgage Bankers Association reported this morning.

National Mortgage Professional, Sept. 17, 2015--Hall, Phil In a bold challenge to what has recently become a widely accepted theory across the housing industry, Zillow is insisting that the record level of student debt carried by recent college graduates is having no impact on one's ability to obtain a mortgage.

The Chattanoogan.com, Sept. 16, 2015 The legislation would prohibit any increase in the guarantee fee--which is required to be charged by government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac--from offsetting other government spending while also prohibiting the sale of Treasury-owned senior preferred shares in the GSEs without congressional approval and structural housing finance reform.

Scotsman Guide, Sept. 16, 2015--Whitman, Victor Housing and banking groups are gearing up for fights this fall over the use of money collected by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to insure mortgage-backed securities.

MarketWatch, Sept. 16, 2015--Sjolin, Sara Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC agreed to pay $129.6 million to settle claims by a U.S. regulator that the British lender sold toxic mortgage-backed securities to now-defunct U.S. credit unions, according to the court filing on Tuesday.

Mortgage Servicing News, Sept. 16, 2015--Peters, Andy Ocwen Financial said it expects to report a loss in its current fiscal year, as it continues to cut costs amid an investigation of its practices.

HousingWire, Sept. 16, 2015 A congressional move to limit the salaries for the CEOs of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac moved a step closer Tuesday night when the Senate unanimously passed a version of the House's Equity in Government Compensation Act of 2015.

First and second lien mortgage defaults both increased in August from July, according to the S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices.

New York Times, Sept. 18, 2015--Prevost, Lisa The share of underwater mortgage holders dropped by more than half since peaking in early 2012, driven by rising home values at the lower end of the market, a turnaround from last year.