The private mortgage-insurance industry said it is pleased that the bipartisan agreement between Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Johnson, D-SD, and Ranking Minority Member Michael Crapo, R-ID, on housing finance reform recognizes the important role of private MI. The newly launched U.S. Mortgage Insurers said it supports Congress’ efforts to achieve housing finance reform, all of which recognize the importance of and the need for standard MI coverage on loans sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Privately, MIs say...

The economic feasibility and perhaps the successful winding down of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may come down to how the government accounts for the federal budget impact of shuttering the two government-sponsored enterprises, noted experts this week at a Bipartisan Policy Center forum. In light of Fannie’s and Freddie’s federal conservatorship status and the resulting control by the Treasury Department, the two GSEs are “effectively part of the government” and their operations should be reflected in the federal budget, according to the Congressional Budget Office. The CBO has concluded...

The top Democrat and Republican of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee this week delivered their long-awaited mortgage reform bill which aims to put Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac out of business within a half-decade window, but with a couple potential leases on the lives of the two government-sponsored enterprises. In a rare Sunday filing, the legislation authored by Senate Banking Chairman Tim Johnson, D-SD, and Ranking Member Mike Crapo, R-ID, would set up a powerful new agency, the Federal Mortgage Insurance Corp., which could assume control of the GSEs within six months of enactment and begin writing new “catastrophic” mortgage-securities guaranties. Based on the bipartisan legislation introduced by Sens. Bob Corker, R-TN, and Mark Warner, D-VA last summer, the new bill adds...

Top Democrats on Capitol Hill are peeved that the Justice Department is not making the prosecution of mortgage lender and servicer abuses much of a priority, and they are pressing Attorney General Eric Holder for a meeting to discuss what to do about it. Their ire was raised by a recent report from the DOJ’s Inspector General that found, among other things, that the department had not prioritized the investigation of mortgage fraud and that it reported unreliable, inflated statistics about the scope of its prosecutorial efforts. In a letter to the DOJ, Reps. Elijah Cummings, D-MD, and Maxine Waters, D-CA, and Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-MA, focused...

The Johnson-Crapo bill would subject Quicken and all the other nonbanks to FDIC-like examinations.

The total amount of principal reduction and refinancing provided by banks for consumer relief under the landmark $25 billion national servicing agreement far exceeded what was required in the agreement, according to final credit reports filed by settlement monitor Joseph Smith. Filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia this week, the reports confirmed that Wells Fargo, Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, CitiBank and Ally have met their consumer relief and restructuring obligations under the settlement. In total, the five companies provided...

One source close to Wornow said he was especially displeased with Morgan’s lack of enthusiasm for non-agency products.

Some 73 lenders contributed to the security. Also, a portion of First Republic’s loans weren’t subject to due diligence reviews, a relative rarity in the new era of jumbo MBS.

W.J. Bradley Mortgage Capital announced a number of new jumbo mortgage products this week. Among the offerings is a loan with a 10 percent downpayment requirement for balances of up to $850,000.

There has been talk in the market that JPM would unload some of its “high touch” MSRs this year, but so far brokers that play in the space have reported no scheduled auctions.