The new director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency wants to set a path for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with less emphasis on shrinking the two GSEs and a greater focus on “the present.” In his first major policy speech, FHFA Director Mel Watt told a packed room at the Brookings Institution how he seeks to “reformulate” the agency’s past conservatorship goals for the GSEs. “Our task is to continue to fulfill our statutory mandates, to execute our strategic plan and to manage the present status of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac,” said Watt.

Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, D, is calling on the Federal Housing Finance Agency to allow the GSEs to participate in a state-sponsored buyback initiative, as well as to allow principal reductions to keep Bay State residents in their homes “or face legal action.” In a letter dispatched this week to FHFA Director Mel Watt, Coakley said her office is reviewing “all legal options” regarding Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s refusal to comply with an August 2012 state law.

Lenders selling loans to the GSEs will get buyback relief for mortgages that go through Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s quality-control review processes, according to a new policy the companies announced this week. The new policy, issued in conjunction with the unveiling of the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s updated strategic plan and conservatorship scorecard, tinkers at the edges of the buyback safe harbor for loans with acceptable payment history.

Expect eligibility standards for mortgage insurance firms that rely on the GSEs later this year, according to MI executives’ reading of the long-awaited strategic plan released this week by the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Although the plan didn’t say much about MI eligibility, it does carry the veiled promise that pending standards, including risk-to-capital rules – are forthcoming. “FHFA hasn’t dropped the ball on the issue,” said one MI consultant who has met with the agency over the topic. “They now know that the [GSE reform bill] is dead and they want to make sure they get it right.”

Fannie: Single Point of Contact Lessens Foreclosure Risks. Offering a single point of contact who is plugged into the case of a distressed borrower greatly lessens the chance of that mortgage reaching foreclosure, according to a new study from Fannie Mae. During a press call with reporters last week, Leslie Peeler of Fannie’s National Servicing Organization noted that the research conducted by the GSE involving five large – but unnamed – mortgage servicers using the SPOC model concluded that homeowners dealing with the same individual were twice as likely to receive and accept a modification.

All seven active mortgage insurance companies reported a total of $31.34 billion of new primary insurance written during the first quarter, according to calculations from Inside Mortgage Finance.

One Stonegate Mortgage watcher we know called the company an “absolute no-brainer short,” noting that when the lender went public “it was overvalued."

Under new management, the agency in charge of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is tacking their conservatorship in a different direction: focusing on preserving the two government-sponsored enterprises rather than driving them into shallow water. Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mel Watt this week emphasized a focus on “the present” as he explained how he seeks to “reformulate” the agency’s past conservatorship goals to suit the housing finance market in the here and now. “I am...

The new Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac policy on loan-seller representations and warranties will likely burn off some of the fog that’s made mortgage lenders skittish about the product they deliver to the two government-sponsored enterprises, but it won’t eliminate industry buyback concerns. The new policy tinkers at the edges of the buyback safe harbor for loans with acceptable payment history. Loans with two 30-day late payments in the first three years can get a buyback waiver if they are current at the 36-month mark; until now such loans would only get a waiver if they performed for five years. More significant is...

In case you didn’t notice, the price of Fannie and Freddie common rose about 5 percent Tuesday, after Watt spoke. In trading Wednesday, they were up again...