The “near-term efforts” that the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s 2013 Conservatorship Scorecard take aim at include an update of mortgage insurance master policies and formulating eligibility standards, as well as developing a set of “aligned standards” for force-placed insurance, the FHFA announced last week. The announcement comes a month after the Finance Agency abruptly overruled a plan pushed by Fannie to buy force-placed insurance directly from a number of insurance companies at an estimated 30
Banks and thrifts reported a sharp increase in the volume of home loans sold in their mortgage banking operations last year, hitting the highest level since 2009, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of bank call report data. Mortgage banking units generated $1.553 trillion in loan sales during 2012, a 36.9 percent jump from the previous year. Activity peaked at $417.1 billion in the fourth quarter, a 3.9 percent increase over the third quarter. Some double counting ... [Includes one data chart]
Fannie Mae is having internal discussions regarding how it might change the way it holds mortgage seller/servicers responsible for losses when a deficiency is discovered on a delivered loan. A spokesman for Fannie told Inside The GSEs that under one scenario, a lender might take the credit loss on a mortgage with Fannie agreeing to keep the loan as opposed to forcing a buyback. A deficiency might include a mistake made during the underwriting process, such as borrower information being incorrectly punched into a computer. If data were punched in wrong, there might be a pricing change, said the spokesman.
Freddie Macs real estate sales unit is looking to bring in more lending partners to widen the reach of its financing program implemented last year specifically to move the GSEs real-estate owned properties. Since the company rolled out its Homesteps Financing program during the second half of 2012 in four select states, the new financing option for both owner-occupied and investor purchase of REO properties has yielded promising enough results to prompt expansion, says a Freddie
Contrary to what critics claim or what other studies purport to say, the majority of appraisals support the home-sale contract price, thanks to appraisers due diligence in developing a market-value opinion on the underlying collateral, according to the American Enterprise Institute. Citing data from a 2012 study by FNC, Inc., on how appraisal valuations respond to stressful local market conditions, the AEI said that a separate real-estate industry study claiming that low appraisal values are ...
Freddie Mac is still owed $1.2 billion from the bankrupt Lehman Brothers and likely will not be reimbursed anytime soon due to the fact that the GSE is an unsecured creditor, according to a new report by the Federal Housing Finance Agencys Office of Inspector General. The report notes that the loan was made in August of 2008, not long before Lehman went bust and Freddie was placed into government conservatorship. The loan was described by Freddie officials as a Fed Funds transaction available to Lehman on an overnight basis. However, the limit on such transactions was $250 million, according to the OIG Report.