DBRS, which reports its ratings on re-securitizations, actually was involved in more transactions than S&P and ranked second in dollar volume with $6.47 billion.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency continues to analyze the issue of principal reductions for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans, but Director Mel Watt made it clear recently that unless it’s a “win-win” for both the borrower and the GSEs, the issue is a non-starter with him. Moreover, in a press briefing, he made it clear that at some point the FHFA may take the issue off the table entirely. “We’re doing a lot of work on this,” Watt said, suggesting that if a program ever sees the light of day, principal reductions would be done “in a responsible way.” The FHFA has come under political pressure from left-leaning members of the Democratic Party, including Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts ...
Bulletin 2015-1. Jan. 29. Freddie Mac announced its participation in an expanded Home Affordable Modification Program “Pay for Performance” incentive program. The program was developed in conjunction with Fannie Mae at the direction of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The expanded program will include HAMP’s “Year Six Pay for Performance” incentive, which provides a $5,000 lump-sum payment to help eligible borrowers with first-lien Freddie Mac loans modified under HAMP reduce their principal balance. The HAMP incentive is effective April 1, 2015. Servicing Update. Feb. 9. Freddie introduced a bulk appeal template for late foreclosure sale reporting compensatory fees. Servicers can use this template to submit multiple compensatory fee appeals at a time through Freddie’s Default Fee Appeal System. The system ...
Department of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julian Castro faced the wrath of the GOP majority during a House Financial Services Committee hearing this week on the state of the FHA, focusing on the agency’s recent decision to cut annual mortgage insurance premiums. While Castro may have been warned about stepping into the lion’s den, he appeared ill-prepared for the confrontation with Republicans, unable to answer basic questions such as FHA’s net income, overall delinquency rate and the serious delinquency rate for 2014. Democrats, on the other hand, helped the embattled secretary regain his footing by expressing support for FHA’s efforts and putting perspective on some of FHA’s actions to strengthen the Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund and help qualify more borrowers for FHA credit. Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-TX, set...