House Fires Shot Across CFPB’s Bow, Passes Financial CHOICE Act. The GOP-controlled House of Representatives followed through on the majority’s often expressed intention to largely eviscerate the CFPB, passing H.R. 10, the Financial CHOICE Act, the Republican alternative to the Dodd-Frank Act. The measure passed on a vote of 233-186. All eyes now turn to the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, where Mike Crapo, R-ID, will play a pivotal role in Republican efforts to roll back the bureau. “Today’s passage of the Financial CHOICE Act is a significant and thoughtful effort to improve our financial regulatory system,” Crapo said after the vote. “Many of the provisions in this legislation are responses to the failures and consequences of Dodd-...

Counterparty risk appears to be on the mind of the FHFA…

There will likely be more buyback demands on the 2015 book of business in the future, but the total may not ever get to even 0.1 percent of issuance.

CFPB Director Cordray has responded with a detailed account that differs with the committee staff report in a number of ways...

Deal agent compensation likely would include additional fees for less common, more intensive work…

The Fannie Mae portion of the MSR sale is expected to close sometime in the third quarter.

Fairholme is scheduled to talk about its investment in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac...

Mortgage repurchases and indemnifications on loans sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac surged higher in the first quarter of 2017, according to a new Inside The GSEs analysis of disclosure reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Sellers repurchased or indemnified the GSEs for losses on $238.6 million of home loans during the first three months of the year. That was up 15.1 percent from the fourth quarter of 2016. But it’s a drop in the bucket compared to the amount of single-family business Fannie and Freddie do. In 2015, for example, the two GSEs issued $824.76 billion of single-family mortgage-backed securities.

In an unusual twist, the Federal Housing Finance Agency included legislative recommendations in its annual report to Congress submitted this week. First, the agency urged lawmakers to take up housing-finance reform legislation, a call FHFA Director Mel Watt has made numerous times, including in a recent hearing on Capitol Hill. The regulator declined to address any of the major policy issues that would arise from comprehensive reform, as it has in the past.The FHFA also reiterated suggestions that Congress address statutory provisions that inhibit the ability of certain investors, such as real estate investment trusts, from participating in credit-risk transfer transactions.

Eight national housing and civil rights groups joined forces and penned a letter to lawmakers urging them to oppose any legislative efforts that would do away with the GSEs’ affordable housing goals. The letter was sent to Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee Chair Mike Crapo, R-ID, and ranking member Sherrod Brown, D-OH, last week, in response to recent recommendations to eliminate affordable housing goals as part of moving housing finance reform legislation forward.“This misguided attempt is not new and it would harm creditworthy borrowers who cannot access the mortgage credit they desire,” said the organizations, which include the Center for Responsible Lending, National Fair Housing Alliance and National Urban League.