Joseph Otting’s dual role as acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency and head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency puts him in a position to push hard for changes that will help create a “healthy” non-agency mortgage market, according to the Structured Finance Industry Group.

President Trump earlier this week unleashed his fiscal year 2020 budget on Washington, chockful of implications for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

At a hearing on Capitol Hill Tuesday, Kathy Kraninger, director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, assured lawmakers that she will not disrupt the mortgage industry by abruptly terminating the so-called GSE patch.

JPMorgan Chase is apparently warming up to the idea of financing non-qualified loan originators, according to at least two industry officials who claim to have knowledge of the matter.

In just over two weeks, the first quarter will come to an end with many conventional lenders closing the books on what likely was a trying three months — one shaped by lower originations, tight profit margins and worries about the future.

Home-equity lending weakened in late 2018 but remained a relatively bright spot in the mortgage business, according to an exclusive Inside Mortgage Finance market analysis. [Includes three data charts.]

GSE Reform Hearings, Already?; The UMBS is Coming; NAR Pushes ‘Utility’ Plan…

The Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association last week voted “by a substantial majority” to approve the uniform MBS for delivery into the crucial to-be-announced market. The announcement followed months of uncertainty about whether the influential trade group would endorse the single security.

With more retailers announcing store closures and bankruptcies, commercial MBS is expected to continue experiencing turbulence this year.

The difference between the weighted average coupon on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac MBS soared to an average of 10 basis points in January, with Fannie pools showing consistently higher spreads. According to a report by Wells Fargo Securities last month, the wide gap may be because Fannie is offering sweeter guarantee-fee buy-up/buy-down deals to some issuers.