The Federal Housing Finance Agencys lawsuit against UBS Americas and, by extension, more than a dozen other big banks, in connection with non-agency MBS purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will continue after a federal appeals court flatly denied UBS bid to dismiss the case. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling that denied UBS motion to dismiss the FHFAs suit as time barred. In the summer of 2011, the FHFA filed 18 lawsuits in Manhattan federal court against UBS and other big banks on behalf of the GSEs, alleging violations of the federal Securities Act of 1933 for approximately $200 billion in MBS sold to Fannie and Freddie in the years prior to the mortgage market meltdown. The UBS appeal argument largely revolves...
Closing issues are the most significant concern that makes real estate agents reluctant to recommend lenders to buyers, according to a new survey by Campbell Surveys and Inside Mortgage Finance Publications. Real estate agents control or influence 45 percent of homebuyer decisions on lender choice, according to the survey. Insight from real estate agents could be key as the mortgage market shifts from a focus on refinances to an emphasis on purchase mortgages. Real estate agents prefer...
This past fall the Mortgage Bankers Association was pushing for a housing policy coordinator in the White House to ensure that federal regulations complement one another rather than conflict.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are now earning money hand-over-fist - cash that will wind up in the coffers of Uncle Sam. But is the White House underestimating how much the two GSEs will earn?
Total MBS and ABS issuance rose almost 3 percent from the fourth quarter of 2012 to $515.3 billion during the first three months of 2013, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS analysis and ranking.
The bulk servicing market is beginning to generate heat. The latest offering comes from Interactive Mortgage Advisors, but other deals are in the works as well.
Freddie Mac has a new head of single-family: David Lowman, an industry veteran who in the past headed mortgage operations at JPMorgan Chase and Citigroup.
The four surviving private MIs that are still writing new business after the wreckage of the hous-ing market collapse last week agreed to pay a relatively modest $15.40 million to settle a longstanding dispute over their arrangements with captive reinsurance entities sponsored by lenders. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau alleged that Genworth Financial, United Guaranty, Radian Guaranty and Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp. violated the Real Estate Settlement Proce-dures Act by paying illegal kickbacks in the form of reinsurance premiums to get business from mortgage lenders. The payments made as supposed reinsurance premiums did not correspond to a proportionate transfer of insurance risk between the parties, said CFPB Director Richard Cordray. An Inside Mortgage Finance analysis of MI regulatory filings suggests...
The FHA may need to draw $943 million from the U.S. Treasury to reserve for further unexpected losses in the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund, according to estimates in the Obama administrations fiscal 2014 budget proposal released this week. That is a bit of good news, despite Congress continuing concern about the FHA. Last year, an independent actuarial audit found a projected $16.3 billion shortfall in the MMIF as of the end of fiscal 2012. The audit also revealed that capital reserves for unexpected losses had fallen to negative 1.44 percent. Technically, the FHA has...