The Federal Housing Finance Agency needs to tweak its proposed eligibility certification form for prospective directors of the 12 Federal Home Loan Banks, according to comments received by the Finance Agency.

The Federal Home Loan Bank system has requested that federal regulators clearly and unambiguously exempt the FHLBanks’ long-standing mortgage purchase programs from the government’s emerging risk-retention rule on securitization.In comments submitted to regulators last month on the interagency proposed rule, the 12 FHLBanks signed a joint letter to ensure the Banks’ Acquired Member Assets programs will be exempt under the final rule.

The spread between the average and lowest mortgage rates being offered in the primary market is continuing to widen as lenders try to get customers to take advantage of the record-low rates either for purchasing a home or refinancing. While the average mortgage rates remained in the 4.22 percent to 4.28 percent range for a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage across the country, the most aggressive lenders are offering rates as low as 3.88 percent, according to mortgage brokers. The Lending Tree Weekly Mortgage Rate Pulse, which tracks the lowest and average mortgage rates offered by lenders on the company’s network, recently reported...

The Federal Housing Finance Agency this week became among the latest, most influential parties to legally weigh in on the proposed $8.5 billion Bank of America settlement over non-agency mortgage-backed securities.On Aug. 30, the deadline to file objections to the deal, the Finance Agency filed a “Notice of Appearance and Conditional Objection” with the U.S. District Court in Manhattan on behalf of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Flagstar Bancorp, the parent of Flagstar Bank, one of the top wholesale and correspondent channels through the first half of this year, continued to suffer under the weight of a problematic legacy balance sheet, despite some decent mortgage banking revenue during the second quarter of the year. Flagstar reported an overall second quarter 2011 net loss of $74.9 million, more than twice as poor a performance as its first quarter 2011 net loss of $31.7 million. For the six months of 2011, the company lost $106.6 million and faced growing lack of confidence among investors. The company’s stock faces delisting on the New York Stock Exchange after...

The financial crisis and the housing meltdown have cast unprecedented doubt about the virtue of homeownership, and many experts at a conference sponsored this week by the Federal Reserve acknowledged that homeownership has lost its universal appeal. “For low-income households I do think it’s more risky because it’s such a large share of their assets, such a large share of the wealth, so a price decline has a disproportionate effect,” explained Karen Pence, assistant director of the division of research and statistics for the Fed. “I think it’s more risky for low-income households just because it’s such a big part of their portfolio. I think it’s...

The average mortgage banking firm reported increased production earnings in the second quarter of 2011 and higher loan production compared to the first three months of the year, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association quarterly performance report. The report, which collected data from 167 companies including many smaller mortgage bankers, found average pretax income fell 60.5 percent to $451,000 during the second quarter. That was the lowest level of profitability since the fourth quarter of 2008, when the average mortgage banking company lost $206,000. The MBA survey suggested that...

Commercial banks and their holding companies reported a combined $3.22 billion in income on their mortgage banking operations during the second quarter, the weakest performance for the industry since the depth of the financial crisis in late 2008. Mortgage banking income fell 23.7 percent from the first quarter of 2011, according to a new analysis of bank call-report data by Inside Mortgage Trends. The story is less clear on the production side of the business because of the mammoth loss reported by Bank of America. Through the first six months of the year – a troubling period of declining loan production levels and persistent buyback pressure from... [Includes one data chart]

Fannie Mae made its second foray of 2011 into the non-agency MBS market by providing a guarantee wrap on a $690.6 billion deal backed by previously modified FHA and VA mortgages. Government Loan Securitization Trust 2011-FV1 is comprised of government loans originated by Wells Fargo and Wachovia. All the loans were previously securitized in non-agency MBS backed by Fannie wraps, including some that date back to 2001. The average age of the loans since modification is 132 months, and 91.2 percent of them are insured by the FHA. According to the prospectus, 19.8 percent of the loans were 30-days delinquent and 35.9 percent were more than...

Any modified FHA or VA loan can now be repurchased from a Ginnie Mae MBS if the borrower successfully completes a three-month trial period under a policy shift to align with the FHA version of the Home Affordable Modification Program. Ginnie made the announcement on Aug. 26, effective immediately. Before the policy change, loans had to have missed three full payments before qualifying for a repurchase. Issuers can buy out loans that have remained in pools while borrowers made partial payments for at least three consecutive months under an FHA or VA trial payment plan that is a condition to a permanent modification, Ginnie explained. “Until the loan has been...