House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-TX, unveiled long-awaited legislation on government-sponsored enterprise reform that would enhance Ginnie Mae’s role in the secondary mortgage market. Hensarling referred to the bill – the Bipartisan Housing Reform Act of 2018 – as a “bipartisan compromise housing-reform plan” that preserves the government guarantee in the secondary mortgage market. The chairman collaborated with Rep. John Delaney, D-MD, in crafting the bill, which calls for the repeal of the federal charters of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The bill would shift the secondary market to a system that allows pooling of qualified conventional mortgages backed by government-approved private guarantors with regulated capital. These loans could be pooled in mortgage-backed securities with explicit government guarantees provided by Ginnie. The new MBS program would be ...
The Rural Housing Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture has proposed changes to its single-family housing guaranteed loan program to help certain lenders navigate the loss-claim process. Specifically, the RHS proposes to streamline the loss-claim process for lenders that have acquired title to property through voluntary liquidation or foreclosure. Under current rules, when a lender acquires title to a real estate-owned property, the RHS requires the lender to submit a plan to maintain and market the property. Any change to the plan must be approved by RHS. RHS also provides the lender two opportunities to file a loss claim on an REO property: When the property sells during the permissible marketing period, or after the period (typically from nine to 12 months) if the REO property does not sell. The agency proposes to make changes to the loss-claim payment process when a lender acquires ...
RSS