Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced this that week that they will rely on mortgage sellers to make sure all the loans sold to the government-sponsored enterprises starting next year will be “qualified mortgages” that meet the controversial limit on points and fees. Some aspects of the QM standard will be easy to quantify and meet, such as maximum loan terms of 30 years and no interest-only payment plans. The 43 percent cap on debt-to-income ratio that’s part of the ability-to-repay rule issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will be waived for the GSEs. The stickiest wicket is...

Mortgage banking and brokerage firms are about to start laying off production workers as refi applications continue to decline, but industry executives say the heaviest layoffs are unlikely to come until the end of summer. That’s when lenders begin closing mortgages that first entered the pipeline in May, when the application picture was brighter. According to figures compiled by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the mortgage banking and brokerage sectors employed 293,800 full-time workers in May, compared to 295,500 in April, a loss of 1,700 positions. Compared to a year ago, employment is up 10 percent. The brokerage sector alone employed...

New mortgage reform legislation expected soon to be dropped by a senior House Republican is all but certain to go nowhere this year, but having a bill on file and in hand is a necessity in order for GOP hawks to keep their voice in the conversation on government-sponsored enterprise reform, say industry observers. By the end of next week, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-TX, will introduce his long-awaited housing reform legislation, sources say. Details of the bill remain sketchy, but it’s to include a complete wind-down of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, with only a limited federal support for the mortgage market going forward, most likely housed within the FHA. Hensarling’s legislative effort has been overshadowed...

The jumbo MBS market has another new issuer: Nomura. But the credit enhancement on its first deal was increased due to geographic concentration risk.

Just as with the Perry GSE litigation, Fairholme’s suit demands that the Treasury amendment to the preferred stock purchase agreement be voided.

A year ago, only two to four bidders would show up for an MSR auction. But those days are long over.

The FHA is considering whether to establish a maximum limit for “unacceptable” loans as well as a process to make post-endorsement reviews more efficient.

As reported by Inside MBS & ABS earlier in the year, the two GSEs are sitting on large unrealized gains on some of their MBS holdings, including non-agency.

Need a zero-down mortgage for $650,000? Another Washington-area credit union steps up to the plate.

Agency MBS accounted for 98 percent of credit union investments in mortgage securities, according to Inside MBS & ABS.