The mortgage and housing sectors know that lower loan limits for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are coming – but they would like to forestall the day of reckoning for as long as possible, especially in light of looming implementation deadlines tied to a slew of new rules from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Industry lobbyists close to the issue said the Federal Housing Finance Agency was expected to make an announcement by the month’s end on what exactly those loan limits might be. However, some sources said the FHFA was weighing heavily the fact that mortgage lenders are already crunching on technology and compliance upgrades tied to CFPB rules, in particular, the ability-to-repay measure. One official said...

Although Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s regulator has previously telegraphed additional increases in the government-sponsored enterprises’ guaranty fees sometime this year, it remains to be seen when or whether the Federal Housing Finance Agency will follow through on its 12-month-old proposal to charge higher g-fees on loans in states with slow foreclosure processes. One year ago this week, the FHFA solicited public comments on a proposal to adjust the single-family g-fee that the GSEs charge in five states with unusually slow foreclosure times. The five states – Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey and New York – would be subject to an additional upfront fee of between 15 and 30 basis points charged to lenders. The FHFA has said...

Fannie Mae has yet to implement a red flag system to identify trends and data anomalies for servicer reimbursements, according to a new report from the FHFA Inspector General.

If FHFA lowers the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac loan limit, will that business shift over to the FHA?

Brokers and others who do business with Nationstar Mortgage said they’ve been hearing stories about two-week delays on funds being delivered. Meanwhile, FHA has run out of multifamily money.

Who better than a former Wall Street executive to manage Fannie Mae's role in the common securitization platform project?

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will not earn a ton of money forever. Or will they?

Mortgage buybacks can vary significantly among seller/servicers because it’s driven by business and legal processes rather than current market dynamics.

Despite growth in the non-agency jumbo market, primary market lenders remain focused on production that they can safely securitize through the GSEs and Ginnie Mae.

Terry Edwards has received high marks for his accomplishments at Fannie Mae. But can he get the CSP off the ground?