Following contentious debate at times with Democrats, House Republicans last week advanced another installment of six narrow bills that would further curtail GSE activities or increase oversight while in conservatorship.The mark-up by the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets and GSEs brings the total number of GOP-backed bills to reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac awaiting the full committee’s consideration up to 14 so far.

Freddie Mac’s top lawyer is leaving the GSE after five years to join the law firm of SRN Denton as co-chair of the firm’s global Financial Institutions and Funds sector.

Bank of America’s staggering $13.2 billion net loss on its mortgage banking operations overwhelmed fairly stable performance by the rest of the industry during the second quarter, according to a new analysis of earnings reports from 13 lenders by Inside Mortgage Trends. Including BofA’s huge loss, the group posted an aggregate loss of $9.8 billion for the second quarter, drowning out a modest $2.9 billion profit during the first three months of the year. The landmine in BofA’s second quarter results was a $14.0 billion provision for ... [includes one data chart and one graph]

A bill that would limit the payment of legal fees for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac executives accused of fraud has been sent back to the drawing board for some additional tweaking.

Loan servicers must deal with increasing paperwork and time demands, and they are often unequipped for new reporting requirements resulting from the Dodd-Frank Act. Firms such as SourceHOV say they can provide servicers with a strategy for dealing with the additional work new regulations are creating. One of the more onerous requirements is the need to handle qualified written requests. Servicers are also required to acknowledge receipt of any request. “Servicers really have two options when it comes to compliance,” said Michael Zwall, the director of mortgage services for SourceHOV, a consulting firm. “First, a servicer can decide to develop ...

A trio of House lawmakers from both parties rolled out legislation this week designed to prevent Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and their regulator from blocking state and local clean energy initiatives that allow homeowners to install green upgrades.PACE, or property-assessed clean energy, programs enable local governments to finance renewable energy and energy efficiency projects such as solar panels, insulation and water conservation systems for their homes and commercial buildings. The financing is paid for by raising the individual homeowner’s tax.

Illinois Governor Pat Quinn (D) announced late last week the creation of a special fund that will use the state’s allocation of federal Hardest Hit Fund dollars to purchase distressed loans in the Chicago area and permanently modify them to affordable levels. The Mortgage Resolution Fund will extract $100 million of Illinois’ $445.7 million of HHF resources for the cause. The MRF will buy delinquent loans from lenders and capital markets trading desks at net present value, and each qualifying debt will be “brought into alignment with current values.” Chicago has suffered a ...

Purchase-mortgage lending has been in a slump since the housing market crashed three years ago, but a downturn in refinance activity is pushing lenders across the country to push financing for homebuyers with special deals and incentives. Last week, Fifth Third Mortgage Company, a subsidiary of Fifth Third Bank and the 13th largest mortgage originator according to Inside Mortgage Finance, announced reduced interest rates for purchase-money borrowers. During the first quarter, only 22 percent of the company’s production came from purchase mortgages, below ...

More borrowers who have remained current on their mortgage are choosing strategic defaults, raising fears of a renewed increase of underwater borrowers with higher origination balances walking away from their mortgage obligations, according to a recent report by Moody’s Investors Service. Moody’s analysts found that between 12 to 24 percent of performing mortgage loans, depending on the asset type, have loan-to-value ratios that are higher than those of defaulted mortgages. They also have risen more steeply compared to other ...

Closing and origination costs on a sample $200,000 purchase mortgage rose by almost 9 percent in 2011 nationwide, according to a survey by Bankrate, an online aggregator of financial rate information. In its annual closing cost survey, the group found that nationwide closing costs averaged $4,070, up from $3,741 last year. New York’s closing costs were highest at $6,183, followed by Texas at $4,944 and Utah at $4,906 on the same size mortgage. Arkansas had the lowest closing costs with $3,378, followed by ...