A key executive at Freddie Mac tried to put the best face possible on what is now a multi-billion-dollar “put back” issue for GSE sellers (perhaps $9.0 billion) and the GSEs themselves ($13.3 billion outstanding) during an appearance before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee hearing last week. “At what rate are these repurchase requests growing?...[Includes one data chart]
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Most top bank and thrift users of Federal Home Loan Bank advances kept cutting back on their use of the lending instrument during the third quarter, with two of the three largest users showing a drop-off larger than the overall industry’s year-over-year rate of decline, according to the Inside Mortgage Finance Bank Mortgage Database. Top-ranked Bank of America cut...[Includes one data chart]
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Riskier single-family mortgages securitized by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in recent years continued to drag down earnings in the third quarter of 2010 and force the GSEs to go deeper in debt to the federal government. The two companies lost a combined $8.6 billion on their single-family MBS guarantee programs during the third quarter, a modest improvement over the $9.6 billion they lost during the previous quarter, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s latest…
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The foreclosure documentation debacle and efforts by critics of Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems have already spawned legislation that seeks to drive Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from doing business with MERS. H.R. 6460, the Transparency and Security in Mortgage Registration Act of 2010, introduced Nov. 30 by Rep. Marcy Kaptur, D-OH, would prohibit...
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Industry insiders and political observers expect to see President Obama’s nomination of North Carolina Commissioner of Banks Joseph Smith to head up the Federal Housing Finance Agency cruise through the Senate with little, if any, opposition later this week. But some are concerned that rumored staff cuts at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could hamstring...
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The Obama administration had been roundly and routinely criticized by members of the loyal opposition for not nominating someone to be the first official inspector general at the Federal Housing Finance Agency in a timelier manner. But now that Steve Linick has been approved for that position by the Senate, little time is being wasted...
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Some of the big thinkers in the public policy debate over reforming the housing market and restructuring Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are looking at the larger picture and wondering just how different things might be in that new world of mortgage finance. “Advanced GSE legislation faces...
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The Federal Home Loan Banks are generally behind the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s proposal to increase information sharing among all 12 of the Banks, but most are asking their regulator for stronger provisions to enhance confidentiality. “Depending on the source or nature of information, its disclosure may be subject...
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Big elections always produce ripples of personnel departures and arrivals, and the “tea party” wave of 2010 is proving to be no exception. Among the officials that are now out the door is Michael Barr, one of Treasury’s point men on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Barr left...
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