The Federal Housing Finance Agency this week announced a limited principal reduction option for certain nonperforming, underwater borrowers with Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac home mortgages. The agency characterized the program as the “final crisis-era modification program [and] a last chance for seriously delinquent underwater borrowers to avoid foreclosure.” The program is limited...

With Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac doing only surface checks for TRID regulatory compliance and not complete reviews, future credit-risk transfer deals from the two government-sponsored enterprises could be at risk from lender compliance violations, according to Moody’s Investors Service. Numerous challenges have arisen in the non-agency secondary market because of concerns about liability for errors in the new mortgage disclosures. But since TRID became effective on Oct. 3, 2015, Fannie and Freddie are only checking to make sure that the correct forms are being used. This lack of diligence for TRID violations may amount...

So, in other words, a consumer who’s having trouble making his/her mortgage payment soon will have to give Uncle Sam more money in taxes...

Freddie Mac wants to help more borrowers sustain homeownership through counseling. Last week, the GSE invested in a modernized platform to streamline the process and partnered with Hope Loan Port, a nonprofit aimed at sustaining homeownership through its technology solutions. The new platform, available now, will automate several key processes, including collecting, analyzing and reporting client data, assessing client readiness to buy a home, and referring clients who are ready for successful homeownership to lenders, seamlessly. A dedicated software-as-a-service (SaaS) based platform highlights the modernization initiative and will provide the participating Borrower Help Centers with the tools to work with consumers, connect with lenders and share sensitive data securely.

Servicers must round up eligible customers and present offers by October 15 of this year.

Private mortgage insurance firms adjusted their pricing in early 2016…

The flow of home loans covered by private mortgage insurance into new Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage-backed securities fell by 11.5 percent during the first quarter of 2016, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance analysis and ranking. That decline mirrored the 11.6 percent drop in purchase-mortgage securitization from the fourth quarter by the two government-sponsored enterprises. A slight uptick in refinance activity partly offset the slide in purchase-mortgage business. Private MIs do...[Includes two data tables]

The source continued: “Fannie and Freddie have the right to put non-compliant loans back to the originator. Eventually, someone will ask whether they knowingly bought loans that had TRID violations…"

If Jamie Dimon really cares about the pain suffered by his customers, he may want to keep his default management servicing inhouse…

“I would say that [MSR] prices are reasonable now,” said one advisor who spoke under the condition his name not be used. “The bid/ask spread has come down a little bit.”