A series of housing finance reform proposals by a faction of House Democrats that calls for winding down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, preserving access to affordable mortgage loans and accurately pricing risk. among other things has received...

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston said it’s going to court to rescind the purchase of more than 100 mortgage securities for which the bank originally paid nearly $6 billion. FHLB Boston filed a complaint last week in the Department of Business Litigation Session of Suffolk County Superior Court based on the bank’s investments in certain private-label mortgage-backed securities issued by 115 securitization trusts for which the bank paid approximately $5.8 billion. “The Bank is…

The watchdog agency charged with overseeing the regulator of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks said it has numerous audits and evaluations of the Federal Housing Finance Agency in the pipeline.According to two separate but related reports by the Office of the Inspector General of the FHFA issued late last month, the FHFA-OIG is in the midst of a total of 17 ongoing or planned reviews of the Finance Agency.

Riskier single-family mortgages securitized by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in recent years remained a drag on earnings in the fourth quarter of 2010, forcing the two GSEs to go deeper in debt to the federal government. Fannie and Freddie lost...

The Mortgage Bankers Association has asked the FHA to allow the use of electronic signatures on all FHA loan origination forms to help reduce fraud and other procedural issues in the home buying process. E-signatures are already acceptable under federal law and by the FHA under certain circumstances, the MBA noted in a letter to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. The use of e-signatures helps reduce the time required to close a mortgage loan, which may lead to...

Both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac retained their ample role in mortgage-backed security market share during the first quarter of 2011, according to a new Inside The GSEs analysis. Both GSEs issued...[Includes one data chart]

The Federal Home Loan Banks should be transformed into a “wholly private structure” in order to defuse the potential systemic risk of incompatible public and private goals, the same conflict that helped usher the downfall of fellow GSEs Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, argue...

Both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have put their foot down regarding certain agreements between servicers and mortgage insurers, reminding them in no uncertain terms that any deals that might compromise the mortgage insurance of GSE loans are prohibited. Fannie published...

Fannie Mae is tightening its loan modification requirements and calling on servicers to consider a loan modification only when a repayment plan is not appropriate to cure the delinquency. According to Announcement SVC-2011-03, issued April 4, the GSE has updated...

The proposal pushed by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) to end government support of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is a “huge step in the right direction” toward housing recovery, according to a Heritage Foundation senior research fellow. A paper by Heritage’s David John supports...