Feds seeking mortgage data from Ally Financial

6/30/2011

DETROIT — Federal investigators have subpoenaed mortgage records from Ally Financial Inc., signaling that a probe into troubled mortgages that helped cause the financial meltdown is turning toward original underwriters of home loans that went bad.

Ally, the former finance arm of General Motors that was bailed out by the U.S. government, disclosed the subpoenas Wednesday in a filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The filing is another step in Ally’s bid to sell stock in a yet-unscheduled initial public offering.

The subpoenas indicate that investigators are looking at mortgage originators, companies that signed up borrowers and approved home loans that were bundled into securities and sold to investors.

Many of the loans went bad after the housing market collapsed, costing investors billions.