Freddie Mac this week issued the first in a series of planned transactions from the government-sponsored enterprises to share risk with the non-agency market. Industry analysts suggest that while the transaction represents a good value for investors, the audience for the transactions structured like a synthetic collateralized debt obligation is limited. The Structured Agency Credit Risk Debt Notes 2013-DN1 included a total of $500 million in two non-guaranteed tranches sold to investors with 10-year terms, according to non-agency market participants. The STACR reference pool consists...

When it comes to guaranty fees, FHFA has taken "meaningful steps" to level the playing field for community lenders, one agency official testified this week.

The Federal Reserve expects to take further action on mortgage risk retention rules in September.

In particular, mortgage industry professionals are focused on third-party-paid charges and seller-paid points in the QM rule.

Flagstar Bank is reportedly working on a deal to sell a large chunk of its mortgage servicing rights while retaining a subservicing contract to continue administering the loans. The bank declined to talk about its plans, but during an earnings call this week officials gave more clues that it’s contemplating such a maneuver. They told analysts that Flagstar has taken a close look at how it services mortgages, discovering that it’s quite good at servicing performing loans, but not so good with high-touch product. Sondro DiNello, president and chief executive of the bank, also declared...

Although Wells Fargo promised some JVs that everything was "fine" earlier in the year, the megabank is now exiting the joint venture space.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency considers community-based lenders a “critical” component for lawmakers to consider as they move to lay the foundation for a new housing finance system, an FHFA official said during a hearing this week of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Subcommittee on Securities, Insurance and Investment. “As we move to reform our nation’s housing system, it is important to ensure that community-based lenders are able to fully participate in the new system,” said Sandra Thompson, the FHFA’s deputy director for the Division of Housing Mission Goals. “There should not be a significant difference between how large and small lenders are treated when securitizing residential mortgage loans.” Thompson said...

With six months left before a host of rules from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau kick in, mortgage industry representatives continue to ask for changes and clarifications – including some related to the components of the pending “qualified mortgage” points-and-fees calculation. Early this month, the CFPB formally proposed for public comment amendments to rules issued in January under the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act and the Truth in Lending Act. Much of the focus of the proposed amendments relates to loan originator compensation and mortgage servicing issues. Industry commenters focused...

FHA Commissioner Carol Galante this week expressed support for bipartisan reform legislation in the Senate that would provide the agency with tools it had requested to strengthen its finances and operation. Further discussion and clarification, however, may be needed with regard to certain provisions as well as issues that were not addressed in the draft bill, she said. Galante appeared as the sole witness at a hearing called by the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs to consider a draft of the FHA Solvency Act of 2013. The Senate bill is significantly narrower in scope than the FHA provisions included in a broader mortgage finance reform bill approved by the House Financial Services Committee this week. The Senate bill would help...

Voting largely along party lines, the Republican-held Housing Financial Services Committee this week approved H.R. 2767, the Protecting American Taxpayers and Homeowners Act, by a 30-27 margin, advancing the measure to the House floor for consideration a mere two weeks after it was filed. The focal point of the committee’s debate was the conspicuous absence of a government mortgage guaranty to replace the backing provided for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage-backed securities over the years. Democrats such as Massachusetts Rep. Stephen Lynch painted the GOP measure as an “ideologically extreme and dangerous bill” that would destroy the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage if signed into law as is. The bill by Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-TX, would end conservatorship of the GSEs within five years and put them into receivership, eliminate their government charter and liquidate any remaining assets...