According to Bloomberg.com, sources are telling them that Citigroup (C) and Bank of America (BAC) are selling soured U.S. mortgages to satisfy the demand from investment firms that are raising the prices. For example, say the individuals who asked not to be named, Bank of America recently placed approximately $1 billion of beleaguered debt, including nonperforming loans. Meantime, Citigroup purportedly sold around $1 billion of re-performing and nonperforming mortgages.
Lenders are reportedly selling more defaulted mortgages to avoid the cost of holding the debt. Meantime, private-equity firms and hedge funds are trying to make money off of increasing home values. The number of firms looking to acquire debt that has soured is growing.
According to some critics, that housing regulators and other agencies have recently announced rulings that would decrease credit and lending standard for home mortgages is a sign that the government is making the kinds of errors that led to the 2008 housing crisis. With housing giants Freddie Mac (FMCC) and Fannie Mae (FNMA), handing over the majority of their earning to the Treasury Department, government-sponsored enterprises are now lacking the capital buffer they would need in the event there are losses. If the economy gets into trouble again, it may be up to taxpayers once more to bail these GSEs out. It was the U.S. Treasury that helped save Freddie and Fannie with $180 million as the government seized them, placing both under conservatorship.
Last month, the Federal Housing Finance Agency announced that even though sellers of certain asset-backed securities have to keep a minimum of 5% of the asset’s credit risks, securities backed by qualified residential mortgages are exempt from this requirement.
Our mortgage-backed securities fraud lawyers are here to help investors recoup their losses.
Bank of America, Citigroup Said to Sell Soured Home Loans, Bloomberg, November 12, 2014
Feds to Back Risky Home Loans Again, The Washington Free Beacon, November 10, 2014
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