Fannie’s Eighth RPL Sale. Fannie Mae began marketing its eighth sale of reperforming loans this week. It consists of approximately 18,400 loans, having an unpaid principal balance of $3.59 billion, and is available for purchase by qualified bidders. Reperforming loans are mortgages that were previously delinquent, but are performing again because payments ....

Fannie Mae issued its second fraud alert of the summer, warning lenders about borrowers using fake companies as their employers on loan applications. This time the fake companies seemed to have expanded their reach from southern California to Northern California.Ten more possibly fictitious companies have been found to be included on mortgage documents. The original alert included ....

As the GSEs’ share of the multifamily market continues to grow, the Federal Housing Finance Agency wants them to take more precautions when selecting and monitoring their multifamily seller/servicers. The regulator issued an advisory bulletin this week outlining expectations for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to institute proper controls and perform monitoring to identify and manage risks associated with ....

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s recent stress test results show that the GSEs could need up to $77.6 billion in a severe economic crisis. But quarterly earnings continue to show a profitability that cancels out the need for a bailout. Required annually by the Dodd-Frank Act, the test of severely adverse scenario is based on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac portfolios as of Dec. 31, 2017....

With the launch of the single security less than a year away, there are some uncertainties that Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the industry expect to have cleared up before making the switch next June. They range from ensuring fungibility between Fannie and Freddie securities, to creating more regulatory clarity, preparing third parties and determining how the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association will consider the new security in the to-be-announced market....

Freddie Mac launched a new pilot program geared toward keeping rents affordable for low-income and working families.The Mezzanine Loan program is different from other affordable housing efforts because it’s strictly voluntary and will offer lower cost financing to multifamily borrowers who agree to cap their rent increases for the life of the loan....

California, the largest mortgage market in the U.S., appears to provide more than enough business for loan officers, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis that compares the number of registered and licensed LOs in each state to the volume of home loans and mortgage applications. [Includes one data chart.]

The foreclosure rate returned to pre-crisis levels this year, though industry analysts note that foreclosure rates remain somewhat elevated in states with a judicial foreclosure process.

Secondary market trading for home-equity loans has increased across most market segments, thanks to greater available supply driven by higher prices, according to a new report from MountainView Financial Solutions, a Denver-based provider of financial services analytics and advisory services.

Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mel Watt has been under a lot of scrutiny as his tenure winds down by yearend. Some observers claim the FHFA is allowing the GSEs to introduce pilot programs that conflict with the primary market. There is a sexual harassment allegation against Watt. And he is reportedly being investigated for intimidating the agency’s inspector general....