Mortgage lenders sold a total of $121.87 billion of loans that were originated by mortgage brokers and correspondents to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae during the first quarter of 2015, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of loan-level mortgage-backed securities disclosures by the agencies. Third-party originated volume was up just 1.7 percent from the fourth quarter, while total issuance of agency MBS rose slightly more, by 3.7 percent ... [Includes one data chart]

D. Steve Boland, Bank of America’s home loans originations executive, says retail mortgage lending is the perfect way to connect with the bank’s customers. In an interview for a special report published by Inside Mortgage Finance Publications, Boland noted that BofA serves one out of every two banking customers in the country. “We have a tremendous footprint and franchise, from our financial centers to the mortgage loan officers and all of the other associates that serve our customers,” he said ...

Federal regulators issued a document this month clarifying Basel III capital requirements that apply to banks. Among other issues, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., Federal Reserve and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency addressed the treatment of certain loan modifications and FHA loans. The capital rules took effect Jan. 1 for most banks, with a phase-in period for many aspects of the rules. The federal regulators said that when a mortgage isn’t in default and ...

The news that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac won’t be changing their base guaranty fees and will no longer charge a 25 basis point “adverse market” fee hit late last week when the Federal Housing Finance Agency released its decision on the issue that many have speculated about for weeks.The adverse market fee was eliminated for all loans but loan-level pricing adjustments were raised for certain mortgages. The changes will become effective for all loans purchased by Fannie and Freddie beginning Sept. 1, 2015. The base guaranty fee announcement came as no surprise as most expected there wouldn’t be a change. “The FHFA finds no compelling economic reason to change the general level of fees,” the agency said.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency announced new changes to private mortgage insurer eligibility rules on April 17 and the GSEs said the revisions will play a role in helping to reduce the risk to taxpayers by making sure the MIs are financially and operationally strong. During the financial crisis, some MIs couldn’t fully pay their claims, resulting in losses to the GSEs and taxpayers. The FHFA hopes the revised requirements will help lessen the chances of falling back into the same boat should there be another crisis. United Guaranty, the highest-rated GSE-approved mortgage insurer, said PMIER revisions are “a critical and necessary step that will allow the entire mortgage insurance industry to move forward by incorporating lessons learned during the financial crisis.”

Freddie Mac, announced this week its first non-performing loan auction this week that primarily caters to smaller investors. The Extended Timeline Pool Offering of deeply delinquent NPLs gives investors who may need more time to secure funds for bidding a longer timeframe to do so. The loans for sale, all based in Miami-Dade County, FL, have an aggregate unpaid principal balance of $35 million.Having smaller pool sizes and a longer marketing timeframe differentiates the EXPO initiative from Freddie’s standard pool auctions. “This is intended to provide smaller investors extra time to secure funds to participate in Freddie Mac NPL auctions,” said the GSE. Qualified buyers have until June 2, 2015, to bid on the loans and the...

In an ongoing attempt to offer lenders more clarity and reduce buybacks, Fannie Mae has taken its new Collateral Underwriter program to the next phase and integrated it with other loan-processing systems.After introducing Collateral Underwriter in January, Fannie announced on April 20 that it incorporated the tool with Desktop Underwriter, an automated underwriting system, and Early Check, the company’s pre-delivery loan eligibility and data evaluation tool. The GSE said this will provide a better view of risk on a loan across multiple applications, allowing lenders to address potential issues prior to loan delivery. CU, Fannie’s proprietary appraisal analysis application that gives lenders access to analytics, public records and other data when...

Fannie Mae recently launched a new program to help first-time homebuyers purchase a home while alleviating any possible confusion surrounding the buying process. As part of the HomePath Ready Buyer Education Program, qualified buyers could receive up to three percent closing cost assistance once they complete an online education course. The class is an important component of the program, according to Fannie. “Purchasing your first home can be an overwhelming process,” said Fannie’s Jay Ryan, vice president of REO Sales. “We developed the HomePath Ready Buyer program to provide first-time homebuyers with the knowledge to make informed decisions as they navigate the complexities of the homebuying process.”

The outstanding supply of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac single-family servicing contracted slightly during the first quarter of 2015, but that didn’t stop a number of nonbank servicers from continuing to grow.The two GSEs had a total of $4.015 trillion of servicing attached to mortgage-backed securities at the end of March, according to a new Inside The GSEs analysis of MBS disclosures.That was down 0.1 percent from the fourth quarter of last year, although the MBS data usually don’t match aggregate disclosures made by the GSEs themselves and they don’t include non-securitized loans. The top five GSE servicers all saw their portfolios decline in early 2015. The biggest drops in percentage terms were by Chase Home Finance, down...(includes one data chart)

In response to a letter from Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-IA, that questioned some of the decisions surrounding the Preferred Stock Purchase Agreements, the Treasury fired back a response defending the PSPAs. The Treasury’s letter began by addressing “misconceptions” that Treasury and taxpayers have been repaid for the commitment of public funds to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. “Treasury did not make an ordinary loan to the enterprises; instead, it committed and continues to make available, hundreds of billions of dollars of capital, an amount that far exceeds the $187.5 billion in funding drawn by the enterprises to date,” the letter said.