One-time Salomon Brothers star bond trader and Renieri Partners founder Lewis Ranieri is revisiting subprime lending, according to the Wall Street Journal. 

As lawsuits against Wall Street firms continue to make their way through the courts, Ranieri believes the time is right for nontraditional lenders to enter the market. Bank lending standards have gone from one extreme to the other, he said, from too loose, to too tight. The limited availability of mortgages for the average borrower has provided that opportunity for his recently formed company, New York City-based lender Shellpoint Partners. [more]

A dicey start to the spring housing season has raised the prospect that the government will remain dominant in the mortgage market for longer than intended, the Wall Street Journal reported. The fragility of the market, falling prices and reduced consumer confidence are making it difficult for Washington to pull back its support.

Government-sponsored organizations Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac must try to return to sound lending standards without cutting off access to mortgages completely, according to the Journal. Taxpayers are on the hook for $138 billion since Washington took over control of the organizations in 2008, a loss that it cannot walk away from.

“We’re not going to get a recovery in housing until the average borrower can get a mortgage,” said Kenneth Rosen, a California-based economist. [more]

Sam Suzuki, a Bronx landlord who allegedly failed to make court-ordered repairs to his building at 1585 East 172nd Street, has turned himself into court following the filing of a warrant for his arrest, according to the Village Voice. Although a Housing Court judge ruled in July 2009 that Suzuki had to make improvements on his 49-unit Soundview apartment building, which currently has 662 open violations, including for vermin, mold, lead paint and leaking ceilings, tenants allege that Suzuki has yet to make any renovations. After tenants at the building once again brought their case to court — and Suzuki’s attorney Kenneth Rosen quit — a housing court judge granted a warrant for the landlord’s arrest. No word yet on which specific charges Suzuki faces or what penalties he could face. [Village Voice]

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