Settlement talks between JPMorgan Chase and federal and state negotiators have reportedly focused on a possible $11 billion to resolve a string of investigations into the bank’s mortgage lending and securitization practices. The amount under negotiation has ballooned from JPMorgan’s initial offer of $3 billion to $4 billion, which negotiators rejected. The talks cover federal probes in Philadelphia, Washington and Sacramento. The Department of Justice, Department of Housing and Urban Development and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who co-chairs a presidential task force investigating bank securitization deals, are involved...

Although "legacy" GSE buyback requests are declining, Freddie Mac is paying close attention to more recent production.

Top officials in the Federal Reserve System were making the rounds of the financial and economic intelligentsia this week, shedding some light on the central bank’s decision to prolong its support of the financial and housing markets through its admittedly “unconventional means” of massive asset purchases, accommodative monetary policy and explicit forward guidance. “Several questions have emerged following the meeting” of the Federal Open Market Committee, said FOMC member William Dudley, president and chief executive officer of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, during a speech this week in New York City. “Most noteworthy was – given that market expectations were skewed towards anticipating the beginning of a taper at this meeting – why the committee did not begin to reduce the pace of asset purchases.” Although he was not presuming to speak for the committee, Dudley did provide...

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may take action to recover deficiencies from a defaulting mortgage borrower if permitted by federal or state law.

If the U.S. defaults on its debt payments, will mortgage rates go sky high? Meanwhile, will JPM rescure FHA?

Servicers largely approve of an accounting change for foreclosures proposed by the Financial Accounting Standards Board. However, industry participants differ on particular disclosures that would accompany the proposed change. In July, FASB proposed clarifying when a foreclosure occurs, for accounting purposes. The accounting board said reporting practices for troubled-debt restructurings and residential foreclosures are currently varied due to the lack of an accounting definition for ...

If you're looking for another factor in the red hot MSR market, consider this: housing receivables keep shrinking.

Not only is Citigroup selling $61 billion in legacy MSRs, but the megabank is trying to clear out its legacy buyback exposure.

It’s no secret that Nationstar has been an active bidder on MSRs the past two years, taking down some huge packages of product, including receivables from Bank of America.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will determine new risk ratios for the mortgage insurance industry, not the Federal Housing Finance Agency.