Item 1. Business.
	 Omitted pursuant to the no action letter to the registrant from 	 the Office of Chief Counsel of the Division of Corporation 	 Finance, Securities and Exchange Commission dated December 17, 	 1996 (the "No Action Letter") with respect to series of mortgage 	 pass-through certificates (collectively, the "Mortgage Pass- 	 Through Certificates"), each series being issued pursuant to a 	 Pooling and Servicing Agreement (collectively, the "Pooling and 	 Servicing Agreements") between the registrant, a servicer (the 	 "Servicer"),or master servicer(the Master "Servicer") and a 	 trustee (the "Trustee").
Item 2.
Item 2. Properties.
	 See Item 14(a), Exhibits 99.1, 99.2, and 99.3, for information 	 provided in lieu of information required by Item 102 of 	 Regulation S-K.
Item 3.
Item 3. Legal Proceedings.
	 The registrant knows of no material pending legal proceedings 	 involving the trusts created under the Pooling and Servicing 	 Agreement (the "Trusts"), the Trustee, the Servicer or the 	 registrant with respect to the Trusts other than routine 	 litigation incidental to the duties of the respective parties 	 under the Pooling and Servicing Agreements.
Item 4.
Item 4. Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders.
	 None.
				 PART II
Item 5.
Item 5. Market for Registrant's Common Equity and Related 	 Stockholder Matters. (Subsection references herin refer to 	 Section 201 of Regulation S-K.)
	 (a) No established public trading market for the Certificates 	 exists.
	 (b) As of December 31, 1996, the number of holders of the 	 publicly offered Certificates was 26.
	 (c) Omitted pursuant to the No Action Letter.
Item 6.
Item 6. Selected Financial Data.
	 Omitted pursuant to the No Action Letter.
Item 7.
Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial 	 Condition and Results of Operations.
	 Omitted pursuant to the No Action Letter.
Item 8.
Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.
	 See Item 14(a), Exhibits 99.1, 99.2, and 99.3, for information 	 provided in lieu of information required by Item 102 of 	 Regulation S-K.
Item 9.
Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on 	 Accounting and Financial Disclosure.
	 None.
				PART III
Item 10.
Item 10. Directors and Executive Officers of the Registrant.
	 Omitted pursuant to the No Action Letter.
Item 11.
Item 11. Executive Compensation.
	 Omitted pursuant to the No Action Letter.
Item 12.
Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management.
	 Omitted pursuant to the No Action Letter.
Item 13.
Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions.
	 Omitted pursuant to the No Action Letter.
				 PART IV
Item 14.
Item 14. Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules and Reports on Form 8-K
(a) Exhibits
	 99.1 Annual Independent Accountants' Servicing Reports 		 concerning servicing activities under the Pooling and 		 Servicing Agreements for the year ended December 31, 1996, 		 in accordance with the No Action Letter.
		 (a) Cimarron Mortgage Corp., as servicer 		 (b) Citicorp Mortgage, Inc., as servicer 		 (c) Countrywide Home Loans, as servicer 		 (d) First Union National Bank, as servicer 		 (e) Home Side Lending, as servicer 		 (f) Norwest Bank Minnesota, N.A., as Master Servicer 		 (g) Norwest Mortgage, as servicer 		 (h) SunTrust Mortgage, Inc. , as servicer
	 99.2 Report of Management as to Compliance with Minimum 		 Servicing Standards for the year ended December 31, 1996, 		 in accordance with the No Action Letter.
		 (a) Cimarron Mortgage Corp., as servicer 		 (b) Citicorp Mortgage, Inc., as servicer 		 (c) Countrywide Home Loans, as servicer 		 (d) First Union National Bank, as servicer 		 (e) Home Side Lending, as servicer 		 (f) Norwest Bank Minnesota, N.A., as Master Servicer 		 (g) Norwest Mortgage, as servicer 		 (h) SunTrust Mortgage, Inc. , as servicer
	 99.3 Annual Statements of Compliance under the Pooling and 		 Servicing Agreements for the year ended December 31, 1996, 		 in accordance with the No Action Letter.
		 (a) Cimarron Mortgage Corp., as servicer 		 (b) Citicorp Mortgage, Inc., as servicer 		 (c) Countrywide Home Loans, as servicer 		 (d) First Union National Bank, as servicer 		 (e) Home Side Lending, as servicer 		 (f) Norwest Bank Minnesota, N.A., as Master Servicer 		 (g) Norwest Mortgage, as servicer 		 (h) SunTrust Mortgage, Inc. , as servicer
	 99.4 Aggregate Statement of Principal and Interest 		 Distributions to Certificate Holders.
(b) On October 9, 1996, a report on Form 8-K was filed in 	 order to provide the Pooling and Servicing Agreement for 	 the Certificates.
	 On November 4, 1996, and December 3, 1996, reports on Form 8-K 	 were filed by the Company in order to provide the statements for 	 the monthly distributions to holders of the Certificates. No 	 other reports on Form 8-K have been filed during the last quarter 	 of the period covered by this report.
(c) Not applicable.
(d) Omitted pursuant to the No Action Letter.
Pursuant to the No Action Letter, such document (i) is not filed herewith since such document was not received by the Reporting Person at least three business days prior to the due date of this report; and (ii) will be included in an amendment to this report on Form 10-K/A to be filed wihtin 30 days of the Reporting Person's receipt of such document.
				SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized:
Norwest Asset Securities Corporation, Mortgage Pass-Through Certificates, Series 1996-4 Trust
Signed Norwest Bank Minnesota, N.A. 	 as Master Servicer By: /s/Sherri J. Sharps Title: Vice president -- Securities Administration Services Dated: March 21, 1997
SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION TO BE FURNISHED WITH REPORTS FILED PURSUANT TO SECTION 15(d) OF THE ACT BY REGISTRANTS WHICH HAVE NOT REGISTERED SECURITIES PURSUANT TO SECTION 12 OF THE ACT
(a)(1) No annual report is provided to the Certificateholders other than with respect to aggregate principal and interest distributions.
(a)(2) No proxy statement, form of proxy or other proxy soliciting material has been sent to any Certificateholder with respect to any annual or other meeting of Certificateholders.