The Securities and Exchange Commission this week unanimously approved a final rule covering registration and disclosures for asset-backed securities, including new non-agency mortgage-backed securities. The so-called “Reg AB2” measure requires significant changes for new non-agency MBS, including loan-level disclosures and a three-day waiting period before issuing new deals. “The SEC must protect investors in asset-backed securities just as it does investors in any other security ...

A number of real estate investment trusts are increasing their presence in the jumbo mortgage-backed security market with conduit programs as well as purchases of subordinate tranches from new MBS. Two Harbors Investment said its jumbo conduit had a pipeline with an unpaid principal balance of $650 million at the end of the second quarter of 2014, more than four times the REIT’s pipeline at March 31. Two Harbors recently issued a $267.67 million jumbo MBS, the first from the REIT this year ...

The New York AG has secured a temporary restraining order barring the loan mod companies from collecting advance fees. The state's top cop also froze their bank accounts.

Originations of jumbo mortgages increased significantly in the second quarter of 2014 compared with the previous quarter, according to a new ranking and analysis by affiliated publication Inside Mortgage Finance. An estimated $59.0 billion in non-agency jumbos were originated in the second quarter, up 34.1 percent from the previous quarter and reversing two consecutive quarters of declining originations for the jumbo sector. Halfway through the year, jumbo production ... [Includes one data chart]

In 2013, Freddie Mac reimbursed its servicers $1.4 billion but identified and denied $126 million in what the IG calls “erroneous” claims.

The American Bankers Association believes GSE loan limits in much of the nation could be reduced.

It's highly unusual that an entire staff of loan officers would leave on their own accord all at once, especially in a tough origination market.

But if Fannie and Freddie sell their headquarter properties, shouldn’t they move to a low cost state like Wyoming or Montana? I

The comment period on the CFPB’s proposed rule closes Oct. 22, and lenders won’t be subject to the proposed new reporting requirements until 2016.

Back in the 1980s, when Fannie Mae was losing $1 million a day, it contemplated selling the property and came up with a value of $10 million to $15 million. Today, it's worth much more than that.