As the Trump campaign gathers steam, investors seem to believe that means the GSEs are more likely to be released from conservatorship.

Sen. Tim Scott, R-SC, called for stronger flood mitigation efforts by states, more reliable funding for NFIP and more accurate flood maps.

Housing trade groups urged Congress to pass a bill to modernize the IRS’ income verification program.

Five Democrats in the Senate wrote to the Fed this week pushing for a reduction in interest rates. The senators made their case by citing high costs for mortgages and a limited supply of homes for sale.

Fannie Mae issued a report on quality control issues for loans reviewed in 2023, noting instances where lenders lost rep-and-warrant relief.

Mortgage REIT Two Harbors hopes to save a ton of money by servicing its $215 billion-plus MSR portfolio in house. It also wants to be a major player in the subservicing arena and is building an origination platform to protect against a refi wave.

Not every mortgage company can issue unsecured notes at a decent price, but a handful of larger shops can, especially if they own a ton of servicing rights.

Freddie Mac’s pilot program could dramatically reduce the frustrations lenders face due to repurchase requests for performing loans. For now, the initiative covers 15 lenders.

Counterintuitively, the bi-merge will increase the number of credit pulls necessary to complete the average mortgage loan application. Consumers will ultimately pay for those extra pulls.

Over the years, warehouse finance has been a good business for Texas Capital, but the pain suffered by its nonbank clients over the past year has affected the bank as well. Relief could come when the Fed starts cutting rates.