Oregon Supreme Court hears key foreclosure case Businessweek SALEM, Ore. (AP) - The Oregon Supreme Court is hearing arguments Tuesday about an electronic mortgage registry that's become central to the banking industry's lending and foreclosure practices. Foreclosures have slowed significantly as the legal ...

Goldman Sachs Said to Be Part of Fed-Led Foreclosure Settlement Bloomberg Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS), Morgan Stanley (MS) and two other banks may agree as soon as this week to settle claims over botched foreclosures in an accord similar to one reached with 10 loan servicers yesterday, two people briefed on the discussions ...

Federal rules to be released this week are expected to remodel the U.S. mortgage market, with regulators aiming to protect consumers, while also establishing new legal protections for lenders.

Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac Sued by Maryland County for Unpaid Taxes Bloomberg Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were sued by a Maryland county for unpaid transfer taxes. The county said in its filing in federal court that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac aren't exempt from county property fees. To contact the reporter on this story: Andrew Zajac ... and more »

Tim Ryan to Depart SIFMA<br/>http://www.sifma.org/news/news.aspx?id=8589941396

"What's happened? Dead simple. The money tsunami has arrived." Or so proclaims Bill Blain of Mint Partners, as equities book a record start to the year, fixed-income rallies through key levels like 6 percent for average high-yield securities, and safe-haven Treasurys suffer. "The wall of money overhanging the market for months took the 'resolution' of the first part of the US fiscal cliff 'resolution' as the buy signal, and all the cash longs find themselves desperately trying to buy returns in bonds," says Mr. Blain, adding: "No one, absolutely no one, is a seller."

Fresh from launching a rebranding campaign to try to rechristen itself as a paragon of patriotism, the giant insurer American International Group is reportedly weighing a step that would remind America just why everyone got so darn mad in the first place. Read full article >>

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Bank of America Corp is looking to sell collection rights on at least another $100 billion of mortgages in the wake of announcing a sale of $300 billion in mortgage servicing rights on Monday, according to two sources familiar with the situation.

What GAO FoundAs of September 30, 2012, the Department of the Treasury (Treasury) was managing assets totaling $63.2 billion in nonmortgage-related Troubled Asset Relief Programs (TARP). As of this date, Treasury had exited 4 of the 10 nonmortgage-related programs, and in December 2012 Treasury announced the exit from a fifth program--the American International Group (AIG) Investment Program. Exactly when Treasury will exit the remaining five programs remains uncertain. Treasury has identified several factors that will affect its decisions. For example,for the Capital Purchase Program (CPP, created to provide capital to financial institutions), the financial condition of the participating institutions and the success of auctions;for the Community Development Capital Initiative (CDCI, created to provide capital to credit unions and financial institutions in underserved communities), which Treasury has not yet decided to exit, the financial condition of the participating institutions and the rate at which the institutions repay Treasury; andfor the Automotive Industry Financing Program (AIFP, created to prevent a significant disruption of the American automotive industry).Some programs, such as CPP, have yielded returns that exceed the original investments. Others, such as CDCI and AIFP, have not.Unlike the nonmortgage-related TARP programs, TARP-funded mortgage programs, which focus on mitigating foreclosures, are ongoing, and Treasury's oversight of new requirements designed to improve servicers' interactions with borrowers showed both challenges and improvements. Treasury allocated $45.6 billion in TARP funds to three programs, including Making Home Affordable (MHA), but more than $40 billion of the funding has not yet been disbursed, and the programs have not reached the expected number of borrowers. The centerpiece of MHA is the Home Affordable Modification Program, which has provided about 1.1 million permanent modifications to borrowers. To help ensure that...

Nevada AG outlines aid for distressed homeowners Businessweek LAS VEGAS (AP) - Nevada's state attorney general and the head of a Las Vegas nonprofit consumer counseling agency unveiled a program and an advertising campaign Monday aimed at giving distressed homeowners facing foreclosure a free one-stop ... and more »

Andreas M Fuster and James Vickery. Securitization and the Fixed-Rate Mortgage. Federal Reserve Bank of New York Staff Reports Staff Report Number 594, January 2013.

Five years after the housing bubble burst, roughly a million other U.S. homeowners trying to save their homes from foreclosure are stuck in the limbo.

Surge in big loans last year fueled by falling interest rates