Acknowledging problems with independent foreclosure reviews established in 2011, federal regulators this week agreed to a settlement with 10 bank servicers for $8.5 billion in borrower relief. The settlement applies to a portion of the 14 servicers under related consent orders from the Federal Reserve and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. “The OCC and the Federal Reserve accepted this agreement because it provides the greatest benefit to consumers subject to unsafe and unsound mortgage servicing and foreclosure practices during the relevant period in a more timely manner than would have occurred under the review process,” the regulators said. The agreement in principle includes...

Expect the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Federal Housing Finance Agency to roll out a national mortgage database this year, but experts say it remains to be seen how comprehensive or how secure the first-of-its-kind mega electronic information storehouse will be. This week, during a webinar sponsored by the Ballard Spahr law firm, experts from Ballard and Navigant Consulting agreed that the government’s commitment to develop an origination-to-foreclosure repository of mortgage data is a “daunting” task that will take much longer than a single calendar year to implement and refine. “I absolutely believe...

Three important mortgage-related tax provisions worth an estimated $600 billion over five years survived Washington policymakers’ chopping block in the final agreement that averted the “fiscal cliff” of massive automatic tax hikes and spending cuts. However, a new fight between Republicans and Democrats is around the corner over increasing the nation’s debt limit again, and the industry fears it is not out of the woods yet. H.R. 8, the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, which was passed by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama, includes...

Now that Bank of America has inked a long-rumored deal to sell mortgage servicing rights on some $308 billion of distressed mortgages to Nationstar and Walter Investment Management, the question becomes how much more the bank may unload. The answer may be quite a lot. Paul Miller, an analyst with FBR Capital Markets, said that he anticipates the megabank will sell between $300 billion and $400 billion of MSRs by the time 2013 ends. According to Miller, the “to be sold” product includes $100 billion of Ginnie Mae servicing, $150 billion of Fannie Mae MSRs and $100 billion to $200 billion of Freddie Mac servicing. A BofA spokesman declined...[Includes one data chart]

Eighteen Republicans gave Carol Galante the benefit of the doubt by helping to confirm her nomination as FHA Commissioner on a 69-24 vote after she promised a series of changes for the beleaguered FHA program. Galante, who had been serving as acting FHA commissioner, garnered enough Republican support to surpass the 60 votes needed to secure Senate approval of her nomination in late December. President Obama nominated her in June 2011 to replace FHA Commissioner David Stevens. In December 2011, the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs approved...

Bank of America and Fannie Mae this week announced a multibillion dollar settlement of their longstanding dispute over outstanding and potential repurchase claims from the government-sponsored enterprise dating back through much of the last decade. The “comprehensive resolution” covers current and future repurchase obligations related to loans with an outstanding balance of $297 billion, as of Nov. 30, 2012, that were originated by Countrywide Financial and Bank of America and sold to Fannie from Jan. 1, 2000, through Dec. 31, 2008. BofA will make...

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau this week spread a huge safety net under the agency mortgage market, ruling that loans deemed suitable for Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the FHA and the Veterans Administration will be “qualified mortgages” that provide strong protection against litigation for mortgage lenders. The CFPB’s long-awaited ability-to-repay final rule provides a safe harbor for loans that meet its QM definition and also are not considered “higher-priced mortgages” under an older Truth in Lending Act regulation promulgated by the Federal Reserve back in 2008. That rule classifies first mortgages as higher-priced if the annual percentage rate exceeds the average offered rate for comparable loans by 1.5 percentage points or more. Generally, the CFPB final rule defines...

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in 2012 combined for the third biggest year ever in single-family mortgage-backed securities issuance, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance market analysis and ranking. Together, the two government-sponsored enterprises pumped out a whopping $1.266 trillion in new single-family MBS last year, a 48.2 percent increase over their total production back in 2011. It marked the biggest annual output by the two GSEs since they set the all-time record of $1.912 trillion back in 2003. Last year’s total came up just short of the second biggest annual issuance on record – $1.270 trillion – set in 2002. Heavy refinance activity was...[Includes three data charts]

Principal reduction is on the rise. Sixty-six percent of Home Affordable Modification Program mods made by banks on mortgages in their own portfolios included principal reduction in the third quarter, according to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.This compares with 57.7 percent for the second quarter of 2012.Overall, there were 136,316 new loan mods made during the third quarter, with servicers reducing interest rates in 77.2 percent of cases. Term extensions were used in ...

Fannie, Freddie ReformThe Mortgage Bankers Association has formed a special working group tasked with divining an approach to implement comprehensive reform of the GSEs, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Rolled out in late December, MBA’s 17-member GSE Single Family Task Force will re-examine and add to the association’s 2009 proposal on the future of the secondary mortgage market, according to Task Force Chairman Tim Dale, executive vice president of mortgage lending at BB&T.Dale said the key focus of the task force will be on “transition.”