In an effort to aggressively expand the recently retooled Home Affordable Refinance Program, Fannie Mae is encouraging lenders to make the most of HARP 2.0’s looser rules on marketing directly to eligible borrowers. The government-sponsored enterprise created “outreach materials” to help jump-start lenders’ marketing efforts to would-be borrowers who aren’t aware they may qualify for a HARP refinance. “Fannie Mae developed these model ‘HARP Materials’ to facilitate borrower consideration of HARP refinancing options that may be available through participating lenders and servicers...

The volume of commercial mortgages in special servicing has continued to decrease since its peak, with more loans getting transferred out than loans transferred in, thanks in great part to a large number of loan resolutions, says a new report on commercial MBS by Fitch Ratings. Special servicers decide whether to liquidate loans or modify them, with all active special servicers ultimately liquidating a larger proportion of loans than returning them to master servicing, according to the Fitch report. In total, 71 percent, or 4,160 loans, were liquidated while 1,672 were returned to master servicing. Of...

Western Asset Management, a real estate investment trust, has announced a $160 million initial public offering to finance purchases of agency MBS. The Pasadena, CA-based company, a fixed-income subsidiary of Legg Mason, plans to raise cash by offering 8.0 million shares to investors at a price of $20. It also plans to offer 2.2 million units, consisting of a share and a warrant to half a share, and 46,043 shares in concurrent private placements. According to Renaissance Capital, the REIT will command a market value of $207 million after the offering. JPMorgan Chase, Deutsche Bank...

Participants in the startup of the new central counterparty for agency MBS trades realized a sharp reduction in costs and operational risks, according to the CCP’s sponsor, the Depository Trust & Clearing Corp. The first settlement cycle run through the CCP resulted in a 70 percent reduction in the volume of pools and payments needed to settle all the trades, said the DTCC. The central counterparty began operation on April 2. In the first trade cycle, the CCP was able to reduce some 43,000 pool allocations to fewer than 13,000 through netting, the sponsor reported. As the month went along and...

Bank of America’s pending $8.5 billion settlement with non-agency MBS investors appeared to gather some momentum last week following a BofA-favorable ruling by a New York state court. New York State Supreme Court Justice Barbara Kapnick ruled the case will move forward under Article 77 rather than a broader plenary action sought by investors opposed to the amount of the settlement. The proposed settlement reached last June with 22 institutional investors would resolve BofA’s liability related to non-agency MBS issued by Countrywide. Supporters of the settlement, including the trustee, Bank of New York Mellon...

Fitch Ratings has combined its criteria for rating residential mortgage originators and third-party due diligence involved in non-agency MBS issuance. The company said the move does not involve any material changes to its rating methodology. All originators contributing loans to non-agency MBS rated by Fitch are subject to periodic reviews by the rating service that can lead to adjustments in loss estimates for the deals or even cause the company not to rate a transaction at all. The rating service will look at the performance history of the loan originator, including repurchase requests...

The Federal Housing Finance Agency is still mulling over accepting principal reduction payments from the Treasury Department even as the debate between the factions for and against GSE loan writedowns is quickly dissolving into a partisan food fight. This week, two ranking House Republicans urged FHFA Acting Director Edward DeMarco to stand fast against mounting political pressure directed at him by the Congressional allies of the Obama administration as House Democrats took the gloves off, accusing the Finance Agency of falsely withholding pertinent information about the agency’s principal reduction analysis.

Dividend payments paid by Freddie Mac to the U.S. Treasury for its continued financial support held down the GSE during the first quarter of 2012 as Freddie would have otherwise posted a profit. Freddie, which posted its first quarter results late this week, actually reported $577 million in net income during the first three months of this year before having to repay $1.8 billion in preferred stock dividends to the government. Under the terms of the GSEs’ purchase agreement, the Treasury is entitled to a dividend of 10 percent per year on a quarterly basis. Freddie’s first quarter dividend payment more than offset the company’s comprehensive income of $1.79 billion, prompting the GSE to seek another $19 million from taxpayers.

Don’t expect the long-awaited White House plan to wind down Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac “anytime soon,” an Obama administration official told lawmakers last week. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan told members of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee that the administration has made “significant” strides toward bringing private capital back into the housing market without help from Congress. However, the GSE overhaul promised for the first of the year needs more work, he said.

The GSE executive exodus continued last week with the announcement that the executive who oversees Freddie Mac’s single-family mortgage business has resigned. Anthony Renzi, Freddie’s executive vice president of single-family business, operations and information technology, will leave the company effective May 11, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Renzi, who came to Freddie after being forced out of GMAC Mortgage in April 2010, will join Citigroup Inc. as its new chief operating officer. The company said Paul Mullings, senior vice president of single-family sourcing and securitization, will take over Renzi’s duties on an interim basis.