IsZo Capital Management increases stake in Impac Mortgage.

HSBC is planning a large nonperforming mortgage auction that could happen early in the second quarter.

Lenders are looking at guaranty fee hikes of 50 basis points this year - maybe.

The market for nonperforming mortgages could turn white hot in 2013.

Walter Investment is buying the residential origination platform of Ally Bank for next to nothing.

If Wells Fargo sells MSRs more investment vehicles dedicated to servicing rights may spring up.

Banks and Wall Street firms are sticking their toes back in the water when it comes to making loans backed by mortgage servicing rights.

The state of Oregon this week inked a deal with the Treasury Department to use Troubled Asset Relief Program funds to help refinance underwater non-agency mortgages in what’s believed to be the first such initiative under the Obama administration’s Hardest Hit Fund program. The program, which will be tested in Multnomah County, OR, will roughly parallel the Home Affordable Refinance Program for underwater Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgages. It’s also similar to a proposal developed by Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-OR, that would create a new federal agency to refinance underwater non-agency mortgages using funds generated through a new bond program. Many observers see...

Add this to the mortgage banker worry-list: the FHFA is once again toying with the idea of changing the minimum servicing fee on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans.

Look for lawmakers during the 113th Congress to bring considerable attention and legislative effort to bear regarding the future of housing and mortgage finance, but reform and resolution of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are far from the top of the priority lists of the two major committees with purview over the GSEs. This week, the House Financial Services Committee in the Republican-held House and the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee of the Democrat-majority Senate issued their respective agendas for the 2013-2014 session. Sen. Tim Johnson, D-SD, said the Banking Committee will “continue to seek bipartisan consensus” on a new structure for housing finance.