Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac buyback demands on Countrywide mortgages were more than double the amount sought on any other lender, but the key reason is that Countrywide securitized a lot more loans than anyone else from 2006 through 2008. A new Inside Mortgage Finance analysis of representation and warranties disclosures made by the two government-sponsored enterprises shows that some $16.22 billion of Countrywide mortgages were subject to buyback demands, both before and after the company was acquired by Bank of America in 2008. In a distant second place was Wells Fargo...(Includes one data chart)

The Department of Housing and Urban Development and Flagstar Bank have agreed on a structured payment scheme to ease the financial impact of a $133 million settlement of a lawsuit alleging fraudulent mortgage lending practices and improper approval of FHA home loans. The settlement occurred on the same day the civil fraud lawsuit was filed under the False Claims Act by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. The suit alleged that Flagstar, the ninth largest lender in 2011, issued false certifications that the loans met all FHA requirements for insurance even though the due diligence...

Despite historically low mortgage rates, tough underwriting standards and mortgage hassles are continuing to drive homebuyers towards all cash transactions in 2012. According to new numbers released this week from the Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey, cash transactions accounted for a record-high 34.1 percent of home purchases tracked in January. That was up from 29.4 percent a year ago and just 22.8 percent in January of 2010, based on a three-month moving average. Importantly, the large share of home purchases funded with cash instead of mortgages highlights a serious problem...

There was agreement this week during a hearing of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee that recent efforts to expand the government’s refinance program are slowly having the desired effect, but the direction of refi policy to come remains an open dispute among officials. Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan said the Obama administration is “encouraged thus far” by the 50,000 homeowners who have already refinanced their mortgages under HARP 2.0, the revamped Home Affordable Refinance Program. “These changes have met with a very positive response from homeowners....

Bank of America is challenging new federal charges that it discriminated against loan applicants with disabilities, arguing that it applied conservative FHA underwriting standards in three cases covered by a lawsuit brought by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. HUD accused BofA of imposing unnecessary and burdensome requirements on borrowers who depended on disability income to qualify for their mortgages. The bank also allegedly required some disabled borrowers to provide physician statements to qualify for their mortgage financing. The charges are based on a HUD-initiated...

The Federal Housing Finance Agency wants to use parts of the existing MBS programs at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to build a new mortgage securitization platform that could be used by a variety of issuers under a new plan to wind down the government-sponsored enterprises. The FHFA this week submitted to Congress a strategic plan to “update and extend the goals and directions” of the GSEs, which have been under government conservatorship since September 2008 with “no near-term resolution in sight.” Many of the initiatives are already underway. “This plan envisions actions by the enterprises that will...

State and local housing finance agencies are looking at ways to rekindle investor interest in single-family housing bonds, including the potential use of Ginnie Mae MBS as collateral for mortgage-related municipal bonds, according to the agency’s top executive. More housing finance agencies are considering returning to FHA and Ginnie Mae to take advantage of the government insurance and guarantee to boost their long-term, fixed-rate bonds at rates low enough for HFAs to continue offering affordable rate mortgage products, according to Ginnie Mae President Ted Tozer. As the municipal bond market...

Freddie Mac is reportedly crafting its own plan with institutional mortgage-bond investors to sell off hundreds of distressed homes owned by the government-sponsored enterprise, independent of a current government proposal to unload GSE real estate owned properties. According to Reuters, Freddie’s plan would allow investors to individually choose the properties they want to purchase rather than sell the homes in discounted bulk packages, like the plan that’s spearheaded by the Federal Housing Finance Agency. However, just as with the government’s plan, Freddie would secure a special line of...

Some 42 months into the government conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac “with no end in sight,” the GSEs’ regulator has planned out the two companies’ next steps but it says Congress needs to have the last word as to the final fate of Fannie and Freddie. Federal Housing Finance Agency Acting Director Edward DeMarco this week dispatched his “strategic plan” to House and Senate leaders in which the Finance Agency outlines the next phase of conservatorship for the GSEs while issuing a call to action to lawmakers.

Bank of America late this week announced it would stop selling new mortgages to Fannie Mae in the wake of an ongoing dispute with the GSE over repurchases.In its quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, BofA said starting this month, it will no longer place non-Making Home Affordable program refinance first-lien mortgage products into Fannie mortgage-backed securities.BofA cited both the GSEs’ “increasingly inconsistent” repurchase requests compared to Fannie and Freddie Mac’s past conduct and the bank’s interpretation of its own contractual obligations, which BofA said has resulted in an increase in claims outstanding from the GSEs.