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.
The extended deadline for input on the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s GSE ‘duty-to-serve plans closed last week with about a dozen comments, including one from the Mortgage Bankers Association. Some commenters were concerned that the evaluation guidance may be too light when it comes to promoting real impact. The proposed guidance was released in January to communicate the FHFA’s expectations on developing and evaluating the GSEs’ three-year underserved market plans. The Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac regulator issued an RFI to get feedback from the industry on how the agencies will evaluate the plans. One of the methods is to annually produce a rating for each GSE’s implementation and impact on each of the three underserved markets, including...
The Missouri Court of Appeals recently reversed a judgment that was in favor of Fannie Mae in a case the GSE brought against a couple who purchased a foreclosed property. The disagreement about the property, purchased by Harvey and Christine Pace in 2002, centers on who owns the title to the home. At the time of the home purchase, the property’s seller lived out of state and executed a special warranty deed conveying the property to the Paces. But the promissory note to purchase the home only identified the husband as borrower because the wife did not sign the note or the deed of trust.
A new lawsuit arguing the merits of the Treasury net worth sweep was filed in Michigan, while other cases continue to hang in the balance in various phases of discovery. Michael Rop, Stewart Knoepp and Alvin Wilson v. the Federal Housing Finance Agency was filed this month by three shareholders who want the court to vacate the third amendment to the preferred stock purchase agreement and declare the structure of the Federal Housing Finance Agency unconstitutional.According to court documents, the trio is looking to challenge “both past and ongoing abuses of power by a federal agency that operates wholly outside of the system of limited and divided government established by the constitution.”
Treasury Rumored to Appoint Fannie Counsel as Deputy. Brian Brooks, Fannie Mae’s general counsel and former colleague of Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, is reportedly being tapped as deputy secretary of the Treasury Department, according to Axios. The Trump administration has not confirmed the appointment. Brooks worked with Mnuchin at OneWest Bank. Freddie Mac Prices First Tax-Exempt ML Certificates Offering. Freddie Mac expanded its support for affordable housing with a new series of credit-risk transfer securities backed by Tax-Exempt Loans (TELs) made by state or local housing agencies and secured by affordable rental housing. The company recently priced approximately...
Ginnie Mae hit a milestone in the MBS market during the first quarter of 2017, edging past Freddie Mac to become the second-largest supplier of single-family MBS in the world. A new Inside MBS & ABS analysis reveals $1.705 trillion of Ginnie 1-4 family MBS outstanding at the end of March, a 2.2 percent increase in just three months. Meanwhile, outstanding single-family Freddie MBS rose 0.7 percent to $1.703 trillion. Both Ginnie and Freddie accounted...[Includes two data tables]
Fannie Mae General Counsel Brian Brooks is rumored to be up for a top post at the Treasury Department, a development that if consummated would add yet another seasoned industry veteran familiar with the government-sponsored enterprises to the agency. What that might mean for “administrative” reform of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is another question. As Inside MBS & ABS went to press this week, Brooks – who joined Fannie from OneWest Bank in November 2014 – had not been...
The Federal Housing Finance Agency is backing recommendations for additional authority that would allow it to examine third parties that do business with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. In its 2016 Annual Report to Congress released this week, the FHFA said it concurs with recommendations made by both the Government Accountability Office and the Financial Stability Oversight Council that Congress grant the agency authority to oversee the entities that provide critical services to the government-sponsored enterprises. While counterparty oversight is critical to the safety and soundness of the GSEs, it is...
“By limiting the volume of securities that private investors will have to absorb as we reduce our holdings, the caps should guard against outsized moves in interest rates and other potential market strains,” said Fed Chairman Janet Yellen.
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