Former Freddie CEO Don Layton said the pilot’s only connection to housing is that some of the homeowner’s equity is used as collateral for the new second.

S&P Global Ratings gives the Freddie asset management and operations team an “above average” ranking and a stable outlook.

Supporters of the program say the expanded use of second mortgages is a less costly way for homeowners to access their home equity when interest rates are high. But they worry about the pilot’s restrictions.

Two of the new proposed rules are directed at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The other three relate to the Federal Home Loan Banks.

The data release is a critical step in the enterprises’ long-awaited and controversial transition to a new credit score model.

A new advisory bulletin from FHFA spells out how the enterprises must respond to a “high-severity operational loss event.”

Ironically, providers of attorney opinion letters — an alternative to title insurance — may need insurance to compete with title insurers.

Despite thousands of responses to its RFI, FHFA has settled on a list of protections that is unlikely to make tenants feel much safer.

The FHLBank of Chicago followed the FHLBank of San Francisco in accepting mortgage collateral that uses the new credit score model.

FHFA Director Sandra Thompson said the first test of its recently instituted new products rule went well, despite the relatively short timelines. But critics of Freddie’s new pilot also asked the agency to find ways to stretch out the opportunity to comment.