COO held liable for fraud scheme; companies offering negative option subscriptions on alert; NY law firm settles with CFPB; court says CFPB enforcement authority extends to scholarship assistance marketing.

The new pricing matrices for Fannie and Freddie may create modest net increases in the cost of a mortgage, but FHFA says that will support more lending for low-income borrowers.

Industry protests convinced FHFA to reverse course and almost eliminate the fee Fannie and Freddie charge to guarantee one another’s securities.

Former MBA President David Stevens believes the idea that the GSEs should assess the MSR valuations of their seller/servicers may have come from Fannie and Freddie themselves.

Residential MBS investors say that, rather than publish a social index for their MBS, the GSEs should just disclose the data that goes into making that index.

Spreads on the latest Connecticut Avenue Securities tightened — a sign, perhaps, that Fannie won’t have to pay investors such a high premium to share credit risk.

FHFA expands the radon mitigation responsibilities of Fannie and Freddie, but doesn’t go as far as HUD.

The delinquency rate on loans in agency MBS increased gradually between March and September, then spiked during the fourth quarter. (Includes data chart.)

Last year was a barn-burner for MSR sales. But so many nonbanks need to sell this year that too much supply has resulted in weaker pricing. What’s a mortgage banker to do?

Fannie and Freddie will institute their own models for assessing the values of MSRs held by seller/servicers, even if those MSRs are for mortgages not owned or guaranteed by the GSEs.