Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley are backing the first commercial mortgage-backed securities activity in two months, through two deals that exclude hotel or department store retail assets that are most exposed to pandemic-related stresses.

The other parts of the Day 1 Certainty program regarding income and asset verifications remain in effect.

Purchase mortgage activity rose for the third consecutive week, although the total volume was flat compared with the previous seven-day period, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

The agency is scrutinizing recent deals involving credit-card receivables from private specialty finance companies that issue general-purpose and private-label retail cards to a near-prime/non-prime customer base.

Some benefits are materializing from Fannie Mae's pledge to limit servicers' exposure to principal-and-interest advances the way Freddie Mac does, but counterparties of both GSEs remain exposed to other concerns.

The agencies issued a rule to better enable banks to participate in two of the Federal Reserve’s lending facilities and “support the flow of credit to households and businesses.”

Ford Motor Credit has emerged with a new issuance of auto-loan backed securities, joining a select group of prime auto ABS issuers confident in drawing in investors despite a gloomy, pandemic-afflicted outlook for the automotive industry.

About $474M in bonds backed by aircraft leases managed by GE Capital Aviation Services (GECAS) has been downgraded, tied to the increasingly poor financial health of several foreign airlines from the COVID-19 shutdown in global air traffic.

The total coronavirus-related mortgages in forbearance grew by 55 basis points, in lockstep with rising unemployment claims, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Mortgage lenders have imposed steep pricing adjustments for cash-out refinancing as more borrowers seek forbearance.

Over 236,000 prime and subprime vehicle-loan borrowers received payment deferrals of between 30 and 120 days during the early economic turmoil of the coronavirus pandemic, according to the ratings agency.

The Fed has tweaked its Main Street Lending Program to stir more enthusiasm, including the creation of a third financing option for larger companies. Will it make a difference?