Reuters - Defaults on privately insured U.S. mortgages rose 35 percent in October, and topped 80,000 for the first time, as the troubled economy caused more homeowners to fall behind on payments.

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Reuters - President-elect Barack Obama said on Wednesday he is reviewing whether taxpayers are getting maximum bang for the buck from a $700 billion government financial rescue package and indicated particular interest in helping prevent mortgage foreclosures.

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AP - Russia’s government pledged a mortgage buyout Wednesday and announced more aid for major airlines and other companies beyond an existing $200 billion financial rescue package, Russian news agencies reported.
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AP - Northern Rock, the nationalized mortgage lender, said Wednesday it would wait at least six months before moving to repossess homes when payments fall behind.
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Reuters - Former American International Group Inc executive Joseph Cassano is under investigation by U.S. prosecutors for possibly misleading auditors and investors about subprime mortgage-related losses, according to a Bloomberg report citing people familiar with the probe.

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BusinessWeek Online - As if they haven’t done enough damage. Thousands of subprime mortgage lenders and brokers — many of them the very sorts of firms that helped create the current financial crisis — are going strong. Their new strategy: taking advantage of a long-standing federal program designed to encourage homeownership by insuring mortgages for […]

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BusinessWeek Online - 1. The Shift
When the subprime market began to collapse in 2006, many lenders and brokers shifted their business to loans guaranteed by the Federal Housing Administration
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AP - Mortgage application volume fell 6.2 percent during the week ended Nov. 14, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s weekly application survey.

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