Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac continued to whittle away at their retained mortgage portfolios during the second quarter, keeping up a focus on shedding less-liquid assets. The two government-sponsored enterprises held a combined $637.0 billion of mortgage loans and mortgage securities at June 30, down 17.6 percent from a year ago. Under the current terms of their conservatorship, Fannie and Freddie are required to reduce their mortgage portfolios by at least 15.0 percent a year. By the beginning of 2018, each GSE portfolio is expected...[Includes one data table]

Many lenders were concerned about the privacy implications of giving the borrower's closing disclosure to the real estate agent.

The GSEs have reduced their holdings of subprime MBS to just $17.5 billion.

Before the financial crisis, it wasn’t unusual for a bank to value its MSR asset at 150 bps or even higher.

Some investors believe servicing prices now look enticing.

Homebuyer counseling classes should expand and evolve, according to some in the industry who said such programs are critical to promoting successful homeownership. And there have been a few changes this year that speak to the growing importance of borrower education. Studies show that borrowers participating in homebuyer counseling classes are more likely to sustain homeownership than those who haven’t been counseled. But a newly published paper from the Urban Institute said...

Fairway Independent Mortgage, Madison, WI, has been quietly giving control of the company away to a group of investors who are key to its growth: its own employees. The nation’s 22nd largest lender – as ranked by Inside Mortgage Finance – has been issuing stock to some of its senior executives since late last year, but recently rolled out an employee stock ownership plan to anyone, provided they work there for at least a year. For employees, the best part is...

In the event of a severe economic crisis, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could need a bailout of up to $125.8 billion, according to a Federal Housing Finance Agency stress test released this week. The test of severely adverse scenarios, required by the Dodd-Frank Act for companies with total consolidated assets of more than $10 billion, took place in March and is based on Fannie and Freddie portfolios as of Dec. 31, 2015. The bailout would be needed on an incremental basis and would also depend on the treatment of the government-sponsored enterprises’ deferred tax assets. Under this hypothetical economic scenario, situations include...

Among three nonbank servicers that grew significantly after the financial crisis, Nationstar Mortgage has managed to continue to acquire mortgage servicing rights and subservicing while Walter Investment Management and Ocwen Financial have recently sold MSRs and taken huge losses. Officials at Nationstar said the nonbank is on track to board servicing with an unpaid principal balance of $130.0 billion between August and the end of the year. The new servicing includes acquisitions of MSRs and subservicing agreements. Nationstar handled a $369.0 billion servicing portfolio at June 30, down from $386.0 billion in servicing at the end of March. “I don’t think...

A handful of investors, including Caliber Home Loans, are kicking the tires at PHH Corp., taking a close look at the company’s mortgage assets and platforms, investment banking sources told Inside Mortgage Finance this week. At this point in time, a sale of the company through a stock transaction is highly unlikely, but the disposal of some of its key assets – in particular, its $231.74 billion servicing portfolio – could finally materialize before yearend. It’s...