Exactly one year after it filed for bankruptcy, Residential Capital announced this week it has entered into a “comprehensive plan support agreement” with its parent, Ally Financial, and ResCap’s creditors, who say they are owed some $25 billion in mortgage liabilities. The plan gets Ally out from under the threat of billions of dollars in lawsuits by settling all existing and potential claims between Ally and ResCap and all potential claims held by third parties related to ResCap that could be brought against Ally and subsidiaries that are not Chapter 11 debtors. The settlement, which is subject to approval by a federal bankruptcy court in Manhattan, fully releases...

Since the housing bust, the Federal Reserve has purchased roughly $1.1 trillion of MBS backed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae.

Hedge funds are paying as much as 20 cents on the dollar for preferred stock in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Meanwhile, the GSE buyback war is not over yet.

FHA loans saw an improvement in delinquencies even as the mortgage industry reported an increase in the overall delinquency rate for single-family mortgages at the end of the first quarter of 2013, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s latest national delinquency survey. Among loan types, the FHA saw the largest improvement on a seasonally adjusted basis as its delinquency rate dropped to 10.97 percent in the first quarter, down 20 basis points from the previous quarter. This was good news for an agency that has been battling to reduce losses and stabilize its Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund. However, the refreshing change was ...

All three pistons in the mortgage origination engine slowed down during the first quarter of 2013, but retail production came closest to keeping the pace in a declining market, according to a new analysis and ranking by Inside Mortgage Finance. Lenders produced an estimated $310.0 billion in originations through retail offices, bank branches, call centers and online activities during the first three months of 2013. That was down 0.9 percent from the previous quarter, but because overall production slipped 4.8 percent, the retail share of the market surged to a record 62.0 percent. The wholesale channel – both correspondent and broker – accounted...[Includes four data charts]

The interim final rule authorizes the FHFA to review compensation of an executive officer at any of the GSEs.

Are investors making a big mistake by speculating in Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac common and preferred?

Essent, the number-five player in mortgage insurance, has received ratings from both S&P and Moody's.

One investor paid $100,000 per unit for a special class of Fannie Mae preferred.

Fannie Mae and Bank of America resolved a huge portion of the whopping $19.04 billion in disputed buyback requests facing the mortgage industry at the beginning of 2013, but both government-sponsored enterprises will remain aggressive in hunting for repurchase opportunities. In fact, new repurchase requests increased by a whopping 87.8 percent in the first three months of this year compared to the fourth quarter of 2012, reaching a record $12.14 billion, according to an analysis of GSE quarterly reports by Inside Mortgage Finance. The biggest increase was at Fannie Mae, where new buyback requests soared to $9.91 billion, while Freddie Mac reported a more modest 5.2 percent increase. The jump in new buyback demands occurred...[Includes one data chart]