A group of institutional investors – including BlackRock and Pacific Investment Management Co. – filed suit this week against six banks for their alleged failure as mortgage-bond trustees for over $2 trillion worth of mortgage securities. The suits against the banks – U.S. Bancorp, Citigroup, Deutsche Bank, The Bank of New York Mellon, HSBC Holdings, and Wells Fargo – were filed in New York State Supreme Court, New York County. The plaintiffs seek unspecified damages for losses exceeding $250 billion on nearly 2,220 non-agency MBS trusts issued between 2004 and 2008. The suits allege...

This week, the Federal Reserve, as expected, maintained the current pace of its reduction of support of the housing and mortgage markets, reducing its net purchases of agency MBS to $15 billion per month (down from $20 billion), beginning in July. The Fed Open Market Committee also maintained its forward guidance regarding the federal funds rate target of between zero and 0.25 percent and reaffirmed its view that a highly accommodative stance of monetary policy remains appropriate. “Even after today’s action takes effect, we will continue...

The loans in the deal were largely originated by First Republic Bank and Chase, banks that certainly have the capacity to hold jumbos in portfolio.

The supply of single-family MBS outstanding fell modestly during the first quarter of 2014, reversing three consecutive quarters of modest growth, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis. As of the end of March there was $6.371 trillion of single-family MBS outstanding, down 0.3 percent from the end of 2013. The supply of single-family MBS had been drifting lower since peaking at $7.007 trillion at the end of 2009 as refinance activity – which adds little to outstanding supply – dominated the agency market and non-agency MBS issuance gained little traction. For the last nine months of 2013, the MBS market finally began...[Includes two data charts]

RBS, which is effectively owned by the British government, still faces liability in private label security (PLS) matters tied to Greenwich Capital, a U.S. subsidiary that at one time was the largest nonprime issuer in the nation.

The agency MBS market did grow by a slight 0.1 percent during the first quarter, but all of the credit goes to Ginnie Mae.

Although the FHLB-Chicago will facilitate jumbo purchases with Redwood, any FHLB member across the nation can upstream product to the REIT.

In a few weeks, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will release second quarter results, likely posting positive earnings, but the revenue figures will not include any major boost from legal settlements or the recapture of previously set-aside loan loss reserves. In short, what the two government-sponsored enterprises report in earnings for the second quarter should reflect what their operating profits might look like going forward, given normal market conditions. However, over the past six months, the CEOs of Fannie and Freddie and top officials at the Treasury Department – the owner of its senior preferred shares – have consistently argued...

SunTrust Mortgage has agreed to pay $968 million to the federal government and 49 state attorneys general to resolve allegations of improper FHA origination and servicing practices. The company will pay $418 million to resolve potential liability under the False Claims Act for flawed FHA loans made from January 2006 through March 2012. …

Six months after the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau implemented rules for originations and servicing, it’s too early to tell what impact the rules have had, according to industry participants, consumer advocates and even officials at the CFPB. The CFPB this week convened a meeting of its consumer advisory board, a 19-member panel of consumer advocates and other industry participants. Board members had plenty to say about issues in the mortgage market, but evidence about the impact of the CFPB’s rules – the reason for the meeting – was scant. Abhishek Agarwal, the CFPB’s acting assistant director of mortgage markets, said...