The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit has joined four other circuits in raising the bar for arguing government cases under the federal False Claims Act, potentially making it harder for the government or whistleblowers to pursue such claims against FHA lenders.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are ramping up efforts to support the affordable housing market by financing manufactured housing loans titled as personal property and developing new financing to re-habilitate aging properties.

State regulators are increasingly requiring investors in mortgage servicing rights to get servicer li-censes even if they don’t perform any loan administration functions, according to industry lawyers.

New York financial services regulators have ordered PHH Mortgage to pay $119,000 in penalties for failing to maintain a vacant and abandoned property in violation of state’s “zombie” foreclosure law.

Washington Analysis believes the FHFA/Treasury move is a “clear positive for shareholders in the GSEs, particularly holders of junior preferred shares..."

Issuance of prime non-agency mortgage-backed securities will increase next year, according to predictions from various industry analysts. Some see a gradual increase while analysts at Kroll Bond Rating Agency said volume could double when including so-called expanded-prime MBS. Kroll said prime non-agency MBS issuance could hit nearly $20.0 billion in 2018. “Assuming that spread tightening across structured finance remains at or near current levels, execution may continue to favor ...

The correspondent share of jumbo originations has risen in the past year while the retail share declined, according to a new analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets. The survey found that correspondent production accounted for 18.1 percent of jumbo originations in the third quarter of 2017, up from a 14.3 percent share in the third quarter of 2016. During that time, the retail share of the lenders’ jumbo production fell from 81.3 percent to ... [Includes one data chart]

Some 55.2 percent of the loans in JPMorgan Chase’s forthcoming $883.8 million non-agency mortgage-backed security will be eligible for sale to the government-sponsored enterprises. Chase has included conforming mortgages in previous non-agency MBS but usually in smaller amounts. The GSE-eligible mortgages were largely originated by Chase, along with some contributions from loanDepot. The GSE-eligible mortgages have an average balance of $536,992 ...

Holdings of residential first-lien mortgages by banks and thrifts increased again in the third quarter of 2017, according to a new ranking and analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets. Banks and thrifts held first liens with a total unpaid principal balance of $1.99 trillion as of the end of the third quarter, up 1.1 percent from the previous quarter and a 3.3 percent increase from a year ago. First-lien holdings are dominated by three big banks: Wells Fargo ... [Includes one data chart]

Significant investments in new non-agency whole loans are paying off, according to officials at Annaly Capital Management. The real estate investment trust started buying the loans in the second half of 2016 after acquiring Hatteras Financial. As of the end of the third quarter, Annaly held non-agency whole loans with an unpaid principal balance of $896.0 million. Whole loans accounted for 28.0 percent of Annaly’s residential credit portfolio as of the end of September, up from a ...