Independent mortgage bankers heaved a sigh of relief after the Federal Housing Finance Agency said it will re-propose the minimum financial eligibility requirements for single-family seller/servicers.

The GSEs and non-agency lenders are asking self-employed borrowers to submit more documents than what was required earlier this year.

Industry stakeholders believe this is a sign the GSEs are on track to undergo their long-expected public offerings.

While overall agency delinquency rates remained significantly elevated, the number of new loans entering the 30-day late category fell sharply from April to May.

Oklahoma-based First Mortgage’s former President Ron McCord faces 24 counts of bank fraud, money laundering and making a false statement to a financial institution.

Lawmakers questioned Federal Housing Finance Agency Director Mark Calabria on a wide range of issues, including extending the timeline, and expanding the scope, of the eviction moratorium.

Forbearance requests leveled off near the end of May but the share of borrowers missing payments while in forbearance increased.

The GSEs won’t accept LIBOR-based loan applications after Sept. 15. They expect all purchases linked to the London rate to cease by yearend.

The FHFA has adopted bank-like capital standards for Fannie and Freddie, but the result won’t be bank-like returns on equity, making a public stock offering for the two entities more difficult.

With combined assets worth about $6.1 trillion, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will need to set aside roughly $250 billion in leveraged capital in order to comply with the new rule.