Under the proposed rule, participating states would require that an AMC register in the state and be subject to its supervision. Only state-certified or licensed appraisers would be allowed to participate in federally related transactions, such as the closing of a home mortgage.

The agency debuted its scorecard in early March 2012 under then FHFA Acting Director Edward DeMarco as a means to implement in fuller detail the Finance Agency’s “strategic plan” for a post-Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac secondary market.

Nonbanks owned servicing rights on $1.136 trillion of securitized mortgages at the beginning of 2010, a figure that has swelled to $1.906 trillion as of the end of last year.

According to exclusive figures compiled by Inside Mortgage Finance, almost 85 different lenders made FHA mortgages in 2013 that had FICOs of less than 550.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2013 wrapped up most of the massive amount of repurchase demands they made on legacy loans originated before 2008, but the GSEs are looking more closely at new production and, increasingly, servicer performance. Together, Fannie and Freddie reported a total of $37.87 billion in mortgage repurchases and other settlements of buyback claims, which typically means the lender indemnified the GSE for its losses.

A continued decline in GSE refinances, in concert with faltering purchase activity midway through the first quarter, helped contribute to an overall drop in the volume of single-family mortgages securitized by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in February. Fannie and Freddie issued $44.6 billion in single-family mortgage-backed securities in February, a 5.1 percent decline from January and a steeper 62.0 percent drop for the first two months of 2014 compared to the same period in the previous year.

Fannie, Freddie Helped by Special Servicers. While nonbank servicers are under scrutiny from a number of different parties, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac said special servicers reduce credit losses compared with traditional bank servicers. In its latest earnings report, Freddie said it facilitated the transfer of servicing for $55.6 billion in unpaid principal balance to special servicers in 2013. “Some of these specialty servicers have grown rapidly in the last two years and now service a large share of our loans,” the GSE said.

GSE profits are poised to remain the multi-billion dollar gift that keeps on giving to Uncle Sam over the next decade, according to a White House analysis. The analysis, which is part of the Obama administration’s 2015 budget, assumes Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac remain in operation and continue to pay dividends to the government under the current “net worth sweep” arrangement promulgated by the Treasury Department in the summer of 2012. As part of the President’s Fiscal Year 2015 budget request, the White House Office of Management and Budget released projections that the GSEs could return an additional $179.2 billion to the Treasury through 2024.

Lawmakers and industry groups are strongly suggesting that the Federal Housing Finance Agency think twice then forget about its proposal to set GSE conforming purchase limits. The conforming loan limit is currently $417,000 and the high-cost conforming loan limit is $625,500. Last December, the FHFA proposed to establish “loan purchase” limits for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac which wouldn’t occur until October at the earliest.

Mortgage lenders repurchased $3.05 billion of home loans from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during the fourth quarter of 2013, a 91.0 percent increase from the previous quarter, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of repurchase disclosures. As “securitizers,” the two government-sponsored enterprises are required to file repurchase activity reports with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Fannie and Freddie have ... [Includes one data chart]