Investors Unite now boasts almost 1,000 members, which include both common and preferred stakeholders in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

An agency spokesman told IMFnews that as a “general matter” the CFPB considers transfers significant if they involve at least 5,000 loans.

A big deal or ho-hum: Fannie Mae in late July said it will allow for shorter waiting periods involving mortgage debt charge-off accounts and mortgage debt that is discharged through a bankruptcy.

Ocwen received a subpoena from the Securities and Exchange Commission and another subpoena from the SEC appears to be on the way.

SIFMA's call for higher guaranty fees might sound like heresy in the mortgage industry, but the trade group clearly wants the non-agency market to revive.

The notion of a common pass-through MBS issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was formally put in play this week, as the Federal Housing Finance Agency solicited comment on a proposed “single security” for the two government-sponsored enterprises. The Mortgage Bankers Association has been pushing the concept for several years, and it made it onto the FHFA’s formal agenda for the GSEs in 2014. Proponents say it would improve liquidity in the market and level out Freddie’s pricing disadvantage. Under the FHFA proposal, the new common MBS would adopt...

Potential investors in non-agency MBS are calling for significant changes to the market before they’re willing to resume investing in new non-agency MBS. Non-agency MBS issuers indicate that they are willing to make some changes to attract investors, while other adjustments will require action by federal regulators or Congress. In June, the Treasury Department requested comments on how to increase non-agency activity and decrease the agency MBS share of mortgage financing. The comment period closed late last week, with about 25 industry participants submitting feedback. John Gidman, president of the Association of Institutional Investors, said...

MBS investors have been enjoying a nice little rally of late thanks to what analysts call “geopolitical” concerns, namely the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East. But how much further will bond prices rise and rates fall? It all depends on whom you ask. “We’ll see 2 percent on the long bond before 3 percent,” said Christopher Whalen, senior managing director of Kroll Bond Rating Agency. Over the past few weeks, MBS prices – based on the Fannie Mae 3.5 percent coupon – have neared...

The gradual slowdown in agency MBS purchases by the Federal Reserve helped real estate investment trusts grow their MBS portfolios during the second quarter of 2014. A new Inside MBS & ABS analysis of REIT earnings reports found that the industry held $286.3 billion of MBS as of the end of June. That was up 9.7 percent from the previous quarter and marked the first increase in REIT MBS holdings since the third quarter of 2012, when the aggregate industry portfolio was $374.2 billion. At the top of the sector, Annaly Capital Management reported...

The Federal Housing Finance Agency should act now to slowly increase Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s guaranty fees, according to the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association. SIFMA’s tempered support of a proposed government-sponsored enterprise g-fee increase runs contrary to the position held by much of the rest of the industry – that now is not the time. “We encourage...