The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit is apparently on the verge of deciding in which jurisdiction the pending $8.5 billion Bank of America/Countrywide residential MBS representations and warranties settlement with Bank of New York Mellon and investors will be finalized. The final outcome is expected to influence similar disputes involving other large mortgage originators, but probably on a smaller scale. Last week, the appeals court held a hearing to determine if the case should be moved back to New York state court, which would accelerate a conclusion of the settlement. “A final decision from...

State and local housing finance agencies are looking at ways to rekindle investor interest in single-family housing bonds, including the potential use of Ginnie Mae MBS as collateral for mortgage-related municipal bonds, according to the agency’s top executive. More housing finance agencies are considering returning to FHA and Ginnie Mae to take advantage of the government insurance and guarantee to boost their long-term, fixed-rate bonds at rates low enough for HFAs to continue offering affordable rate mortgage products, according to Ginnie Mae President Ted Tozer. As the municipal bond market...

Freddie Mac is reportedly crafting its own plan with institutional mortgage-bond investors to sell off hundreds of distressed homes owned by the government-sponsored enterprise, independent of a current government proposal to unload GSE real estate owned properties. According to Reuters, Freddie’s plan would allow investors to individually choose the properties they want to purchase rather than sell the homes in discounted bulk packages, like the plan that’s spearheaded by the Federal Housing Finance Agency. However, just as with the government’s plan, Freddie would secure a special line of...

The long-anticipated settlement among mortgage servicers, state attorneys general and federal agencies will be a positive for the housing market but have a modest impact on non-agency MBS, according to Moody’s Investors Service. The deal provides $10 billion for principal reduction loan modifications, and coupled with an expansion of the Home Affordable Modification Program, should help up to 1 million homeowners avoid foreclosure, Moody’s said. That may be a relatively small number compared to the 14.6 million households that are underwater, but it will help curb the flow of foreclosed...

The massive legal action initiated by the Federal Housing Finance Agency last year on behalf of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac against many of the nation’s biggest lenders is getting ready to face its first legal challenge, and the federal judge’s ruling will determine the scope and direction of the cases, experts say. The FHFA lawsuits seek tens of billions of dollars in damages for losses incurred by Fannie and Freddie on purchases of approximately $200 billion in residential mortgage-backed securities.

In a mortgage market still dominated by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and government-insured lending, the non-agency jumbo sector stood out as the only one to show year-over-year growth in 2011, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance ranking and analysis. Jumbo mortgage originations rose 13.5 percent from 2010 to 2011, while overall production was down 17.2 percent from the year before. The $118 billion of non-agency jumbo originations in 2011 represented the biggest annual output since the market collapsed in 2008 and agency loan limits were jacked dramatically...(Includes two data charts)

In response to a request from the Federal Trade Commission, a U.S. district court has banned a number of defendants from providing mortgage relief services after the agency cracked down on an alleged scam that caused consumers to lose almost $19 million. According to the FTC’s complaint, the defendants deceptively claimed they were affiliated with or approved by consumers’ lenders, that they could prevent foreclosure, and that they would refund consumers’ money if they failed to deliver promised services. Consumers were allegedly instructed not to contact their lenders and to stop making ...

Activity in the Home Affordable Modification Program’s Principal Reduction Alternative is heavily concentrated, according to an analysis by Inside Nonconforming Markets. Bank of America and Wells Fargo combined account for 51.4 percent of the non-agency principal reduction mods, based on new disclosures by the Treasury Department. The servicers’ PRA activity is outsized even compared with their overall non-agency HAMP activity. BofA and Wells combined account for 33.6 percent of active non-agency HAMP mods ... [Includes one data chart]

The securitization industry told the Securities and Exchange Commission this week that certain rules might be needed to make sure transaction parties are not creating and selling ABS that are intentionally designed to fail or default and profiting from the failure or default of such securities. However, industry representatives urged the regulator to make sure that any such rules not be overly broad or vague or place undue restrictions or prohibitions upon the securitization market and otherwise impair its recovery. The SEC in September proposed a rule to implement provisions...

Observers in MBS and legal circles are closely watching how a federal judge will rule on a pending motion by UBS Americas to dismiss the mortgage securities lawsuit brought last summer by the Federal Housing Finance Agency on statute of limitations grounds and the ruling’s potential impact on other pending FHFA MBS litigation. The FHFA sued UBS in July and then filed a blizzard of 17 lawsuits against some of the industry’s biggest institutions, including Bank of America, Credit Suisse, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and others, seeking tens of billions of dollars in damages incurred by Fannie Mae and Freddie...