Although mortgage bankers are enjoying their strongest profit margins in years, smaller nonbank shops continue to live in fear that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac under the auspices of their regulator may soon unveil higher net-worth minimums. Officially, the net-worth minimum is set at $2.5 million for both government-sponsored enterprises, although Fannie Mae has imposed volume limits on some newly approved seller/servicers that have posted big increases in their sales to the GSE. Several industry executives and their outside advisors fully expect...
Republican critics of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau are maneuvering to take advantage of a sudden opportunity to push for changes to the leadership structure and the finances of the bureau, after a surprise legal ruling breathed new life into their long-running struggle to clip the new agencyfs wings. Last month, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled in Noel Canning v. National Labor Relations Board that three recess appointments President Obama made to the NLRB were unconstitutional because the Senate was technically not in recess at the time they were made. Industry lawyers believe...
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac lenders will be allowed to offer certain additional incentives to encourage more borrowers, particularly those underwater, to refinance under the Home Affordable Refinance Program, according to guidance issued by the two government-sponsored enterprises. The GSEs announced last week that lenders will be allowed to offer a refinancing incentive to underwater borrowers so they may obtain a lower payment or move to a more stable product or a shorter term. As a result of lender inquiries, the Federal Housing Finance Agency has led...
HARP 3.0 Status Update: Democrats in both the Senate and the White House are warming up efforts to expand government-backed refinance programs in order to assist underwater homeowners whose mortgages are packaged into non-agency securities. Repurposed refi proposals from last year are poised to be re-introduced in the 113th Congress with the active and vocal support of the Treasury Department, which may enact its own initiative if lawmakers cant or wont pass a measure. We must expand...
Residential mortgages sourced through the correspondent channel and sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac increased by 26 percent in 2012 compared to the year before.