Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac processed a huge increase in single-family business through their mortgage-backed securities platforms in July, according to a new Inside The GSEs analysis and ranking.Total single-family MBS issuance hit $83.27 billion in July, a solid 9.3 percent increase from the June. It was the biggest monthly output for the two GSEs since August 2013, when they had a combined $98.83 billion in single-family MBS issuance. Most of the gain came from a 15.3 percent jump in purchase-mortgage business in July. But the flow of refinance loans also increased, by a more modest 3.6 percent, from the previous month.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency is well along on planning a replacement program for underwater mortgages with an announcement coming “relatively soon,” Freddie Mac CEO Donald Layton said this week. The successor program will be a “relief refinance” initiative, he said in an interview with Inside The GSEs, noting the borrower will be able to refinance “without going through a full new regular credit process.” Layton added that mortgage professionals should think of the new effort as a cousin to the Home Affordable Refinance Program, which is set to expire at the end of the year. There are approximately 325,290 borrowers still eligible for a refinance under the HARP initiative, according to FHFA’s figures.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s Office of Inspector General disagreed with lawmakers’ allegations that organizational changes within the oversight agency have led to inefficiency.In June, Sens. Charles Grassley, R-IA, and Ron Johnson, R-WI, asked the Council of Inspectors General on Integrity and Efficiency to review the FHFA OIG. The senators said that staff cuts in the Office of Audits over the past two years, combined with money spent to hire outside employees, has led to decreased production since FHFA IG Laura Wertheimer took reign in 2014. They complained that the agency produced less audit reports in 2015 and said some reports that were completed were not published.
More unsealed documents were released this week during the discovery process in a GSE shareholder case in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. The eight documents ranged from an excerpt of former White House housing policy expert Jim Parrott’s deposition from January,to presentations from the Federal Housing Finance Agency in 2008 to several memos dating back to 2008 and 2012. In the two-page Parrott deposition excerpt, he said that the net worth sweep was a “Treasury-driven process,” when asked why he didn’t reach out to anyone on Capitol Hill about the plan. He added that to the degree there was outreach to Congress, it would have come from Treasury, not him.
Corona Asset Management XVIII won Fannie Mae’s fourth Community Impact Pool of nonperforming loans. Last week’s announcement represented the first time that the pool was sold to a private equity firm instead of a nonprofit group. The Community Impact Pool is structured to encourage nonprofits, as well as smaller investors and minority- and women-owned businesses. It’s designed to include geographically focused, high-occupancy collateral where bidders have a longer than usual time to participate in hopes of attracting diverse participation. Fannie began marketing this particular pool to possible bidders back in June with Bank of America Merrill Lynch and CastleOak Securities, L.P.
The Democratic Party released its 2016 platform and its priorities range from expanding foreclosure prevention programs to increasing access to affordable housing and preserving the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage. Dave Stevens, president and CEO of the Mortgage Bankers Association, said that when it comes to housing, the Democratic and Republican platforms are starkly different. “The Republican platform is almost solely about removing burdens on financial institutions and others who build homes, and the Democratic platform deals with both the demand and supply side in their policies,” he said during one of several real estate panels held at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia Democrats specifically mentioned...
OPERS Lawsuit Reinstated Over Freddie Subprime Loans. The Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals overturned a lower court decision that had cleared Freddie Mac of charges that it misled investors about its involvement in the subprime mortgage market. The lawsuit was filed in 2008 by the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System, which claimed Freddie made false public financial statements that hid its exposure to risky loans. The fund alleged that it lost more than $27.2 million as the value of Freddie stock plummeted. OPERS said the 29 percent drop in stock price in 2007 followed Freddie’s disclosure of a $2 billion loss. The pension fund claimed...
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