The Supreme Court of the United States is expected to announce on Monday, June 17, whether it will grant the petition for certiorari in the disparate impact case of Township of Mount Holly v. Mt. Holly Gardens Citizens in Action, Inc.

The outlook for Federal Reserve policy and any adjustments to its $85 billion per month agency MBS buying spree depends a great deal on how the U.S. housing market evolves during the second quarter through the end of this year, according to analysts from Standard & Poor’s. Robert Keiser, vice president of Global Markets Intelligence at S&P Capital IQ, told attendees of an S&P webinar this week that all the signs point to the Fed specifically targeting housing in the third installment of its quantitative easing policy (QE3) as an instrument to stimulate economic growth. “The Fed recognizes...

The amount of home-equity loans held by depository institutions continued to decline in early 2013, with little sign that banks, thrifts and credit unions are likely to ramp up their lending in the near future, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance analysis and ranking.

The linchpin for a viable and comprehensive National Mortgage Database is to ensure that the identities of both mortgage borrowers and mortgage servicers from whom the statistical information is collected for analysis are protected behind a firm wall of security countermeasures, according to project architects.

Ocwen Financial announced on Thursday that it will purchase the vast majority of OneWest Bank’s servicing portfolio. The special servicer is set to acquire $78 billion in unpaid principal balance of mortgage servicing rights and related servicing advance receivables for $2.53 billion.

Overt acts of housing discrimination may have declined significantly but subtle forms of racial bias continue against minority home purchasers or renters nationwide, according to a new study released by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Urban Institute.

Officials at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau claim that lenders will originate home loans that don’t meet the new qualified mortgage standard, though industry participants have been skeptical due to the liability involved with such loans. Raj Date, the former deputy director of the CFPB, announced last week that his new firm will indeed originate non-QMs, with an initial focus on non-agency jumbo mortgages. “It’s an example of a great market opportunity where we can ...

Bank and thrift holdings of mortgages were higher in the first quarter of 2013 compared to a year ago, driven by originations of nonconforming loans. While two banks have started to securitize jumbo mortgages, the vast majority of jumbo originations remain in portfolio. Bank holdings of first-lien mortgages hit $1.78 trillion at the end of the first quarter of 2013, up 2.2 percent from the first quarter of 2012, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets ... [Includes one data chart]

Redwood Trust’s latest non-agency jumbo mortgage-backed security, its eighth of the year, consisted of originations from 67 lenders. No lender accounts for more than 6.4 percent of the originations in the $460.16 million deal. The non-agency jumbo MBS issued this week received AAA ratings with credit enhancement of 7.10 percent on the top-rated tranche. The top contributors to the deal were George Mason Mortgage, Cole Taylor Mortgage, W.J. Bradley Mortgage Capital and PrimeLending, each accounting for ...

Lenders’ contributions to non-agency mortgage-backed securities could continue to be subjected to high levels of scrutiny as the rating services emphasize upfront due diligence. Standard & Poor’s recently cautioned investors in non-agency jumbo mortgage-backed securities from putting too much faith into the representations and warranties provided on new securities. “The fact remains that we believe loan and borrower quality are the most important factors for evaluating residential MBS ...