The Supreme Court of the U.S. heard oral arguments this week in a case involving novel lawsuits filed by the city of Miami seeking to recover damages from lenders. Questions and comments by Supreme Court justices indicated some disagreement but perhaps a willingness to let the city pursue its controversial lawsuit. In Bank of America v. City of Miami, BofA and Wells Fargo are challenging lawsuits brought by Miami under the Fair Housing Act. The city is seeking millions of dollars in damages, claiming that mortgages originated by the banks in the run-up to the financial crisis were predatory and counteracted the city’s efforts on fair housing, causing the city to lose the benefits of social, professional and business opportunities that come with an integrated community free from housing discrimination. Neal Katyal, a partner at the law firm of Hogan Lovells and former acting solicitor general of the U.S., argued...

The question of whether FHA should do another mortgage insurance premium reduction is pretty much on stakeholders’ minds as they anticipate the release of the annual actuarial review of the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund next week. Analysts, however, are not ready to change their opinion that further MIP cuts are unlikely. Some analysts said they would reconsider their views if the upcoming report showed strong growth in the MMI Fund, while others believe FHA’s priorities today are different than they were in early 2015, when the agency cut the annual premium for forward mortgages to 0.85 percent. The FHA’s decision to lower the annual MIP was spurred...

Walter also agreed to sell $5 billion in servicing rights to New Residential Mortgage LLC.

Don’t expect any rapid changes to the charters of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. After all, GSE reform is hard. At least that’s the message of some market watchers.

In a Trump administration it's possible Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would would face more competition and have less of an economic edge over non-GSE rivals, said Cowen & Co.

One item they’re asking for is confirmation that servicers may send bankruptcy statements before the regulation’s effective date...

The attorney for the lenders faced scrutiny from some of the liberal-leaning justices on the Supreme Court, including Justices Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor

Thanks to Trump, speculators who bought GSE shares on Tuesday are cleaning up today...

EverBank – which is in the process of being sold to TIAA – originated $869.8 million of jumbos in 3Q16, a 1.5 percent sequential decline, and down 28.7 percent from the third quarter of 2015.

Under the current terms of their conservatorship, Fannie and Freddie are required to reduce their mortgage portfolios by at least 15 percent a year…