The worst kept secret in the mortgage industry is that a guaranty fee hike is coming. But no one knows when.

About 14.1 percent of the mortgages securitized by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during the first quarter of 2013 had private mortgage insurance coverage, but those loans were sold by some 1,631 different lenders, according to a new analysis by Inside Mortgage Finance. Although Wells Fargo ranked as the top seller of MI-insured loans to the government-sponsored enterprises, with $9.85 billion in volume, over half of those mortgages were originated by correspondent lenders that may have played a role in deciding which private MI to use. Looking only at retail originations, Quicken Loans was...[Includes one data chart]

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau late last week issued a proposed rule to clarify a number of issues about qualified mortgages and other aspects of its ability-to-repay final rule promulgated in January that is set to take effect in early 2014. The agency proposed to clarify a key issue regarding the QM status of loans originally securitized by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, or insured by the FHA or VA, that are later subject to repurchase demands. Lenders have been concerned that such loans might lose their automatic QM status as agency loans, but the CFPB said they will not. “The fact that a [government-sponsored enterprise] or agency demands...

Bank of America earlier this year finally settled its long-running dispute with Fannie Mae over buyback demands, an agreement that may help open a window to the government-sponsored enterprise that has been limited to refinance loans. During the first quarter of 2013, BofA sold $6.52 billion of mortgages to Fannie – all of them refinance loans. The company hasn’t sold purchase-money mortgages to the GSE since early 2012, when the two broke off new transactions that didn’t involve refinancing of existing Fannie loans serviced by the bank. In fact, BofA only sold...

Look for Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s cadre of approved mortgage insurance companies to soon be required to adapt to new policies and eligibility standards in order to continue insuring loans purchased by the two government-sponsored enterprises, the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency told lawmakers last week. Testifying before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, FHFA Acting Director Edward DeMarco said that among the Finance Agency’s priorities for 2013 will be to update its MI master policies “by clarifying the role and responsibilities of insurance carriers,” particularly when servicers pursue loss mitigation to help delinquent borrowers. To better protect the interests of Fannie and Freddie, DeMarco said...

Mortgage lending firms that want to do business directly with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as approved seller/servicers are encouraged to apply with one or both of the government-sponsored enterprises but only if they are prepared to go the distance to demonstrate they are a good, risk-free fit for the agencies, GSE executives and experts noted during an Inside Mortgage Finance webinar last week. Would-be applicants should not confuse the agencies’ “somewhat conservative” posture under conservatorship for disinterest in taking on new seller/servicers, explained National Union Mortgage President and CEO Bill Cosgrove. “They are open for new business,” he told...

“We need the light hand of government to set standards and systems for the market to move forward and private capital to return,” said Chris Katopis, executive director of the Association of Mortgage Investors, in testifying at a hearing this week in the House Financial Services Committee. While members of the committee appear to be nowhere near agreement on how to resolve the ongoing conservatorships of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – or how they might be replaced – lawmakers, non-agency MBS issuers and investors all agreed on the need for new standards to increase non-agency MBS activity. The AMI called...

Stearns Lending, one of the fastest growing servicers in the U.S., has hired a new manager to help it with servicing acquisitions.

Residential lenders can rest easy: the GSEs aren't about to hike their net worth minimums. Also: the CFPB shows some love to banks.

ASF suggests that one way to reduce the market share of the GSEs is to hike guaranty fees once again.