The Federal Housing Finance Agency is drawing flak after asking Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac CEOs to submit executive compensation analyses that could significantly boost pay for top management at the government-sponsored enterprises. The FHFA capped Fannie and Freddie CEO salaries at $600,000 in 2012, but FHFA Director Mel Watt wants to change that. In its first-quarter earnings statement, Freddie revealed that the regulator asked the GSEs’ boards to review CEO compensation. Rep. Ed Royce, R-CA, doesn’t...
Since late February, Ocwen Financial has struck four different deals to sell $89.4 billion in Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac servicing rights. Although buyer interest in the high-quality receivables was strong, getting those transactions past the Federal Housing Finance Agency has been a different matter. Industry advisors note that in general Fannie and Freddie promise their seller/servicers they will approve MSR transfers within 60 days unless there’s a problem. Last summer, the approval time was increased from 30 days, a change that did not receive much publicity. The FHFA, on the other hand, offers...
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Director Richard Cordray continues to tell the mortgage industry and its allies in Congress that the CFPB will not look the other way while the industry grapples with implementation of the integrated mortgage disclosure rule. The director’s latest official rebuff was delivered in a recent letter to Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-MO, who has been pressing the director for some kind of an enforcement grace period. Cordray historically has been...
Underwriting standards, not a lack of income or significant student loan debt, have held back originations of mortgages to first-time homebuyers in recent years, according to industry analysts. As lenders gradually loosen their underwriting standards, originations of mortgages for first-time homebuyers are expected to increase in the coming years. In a recent brief, analysts at Capital Economics stressed that there doesn’t appear to have been a fundamental shift in homeownership aspirations, even though housing is currently slightly over-valued compared with renting. “There is...
Realtors want Congress to tackle reform of the government-sponsored enterprises, but they are keenly aware of the huge difficulties facing the effort, according to participants at this week’s annual legislative conference held by the National Association of Realtors. “I think what we want to get through to people in Congress is that these [GSE] programs were designed to be around and to be effective in times of a recession and prosperity in every single section of the country. That’s what they were there to do,” said Jerry Giovaniello, NAR’s senior vice president of government affairs. He said...
FHA volume in Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities rebounded in April because of the agency’s price cut in late January and improvements in the economy, according to industry participants. Recent data from the FHA show a sharp uptick in refinance business, which jumped from $2.29 billion in endorsements in February to $8.15 billion in March. Total FHA forward-mortgage business rose by 83.8 percent from February. The surge came...
State regulators are seeking comments regarding a number of potential changes to the Nationwide Multistate Licensing System and Registry licensing forms and the mortgage call report. Among other issues, state regulators are working to continue state adoption of the MCR as the sole activity reporting requirement for state-regulated lenders. About 14,500 companies fill out the MCR each quarter, detailing originations and other metrics. The State Regulatory Registry, which operates nationwide systems for state regulators, said compliance with the MCR remains a concern. “Compliance has steadily improved...
In a recent 10-K filing Ocwen disclosed that on April 30, 2015 it announced agreements with the GSEs to sell portfolios of non-performing loan servicing rights.
Watt said GSE pay should be brought more in line with comparable private sector jobs, but no higher than what CEOs in the 25th percentile of the market make, which is roughly $7.26 million a year.
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