The Federal Housing Finance Agency has yet to show its hand on 2014 conforming loan limits for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, but that isn’t stopping elected officials from sticking their noses in the issue. In particular, a recent letter sent by 13 senators – 11 Democrats and two Republicans – addressed to FHFA Acting Director Edward DeMarco puts pressure on the agency to show what legal authority it has to declare new loan limits and requests a “quantitative analysis” on what impact it will have on “the economy and national and regional housing markets.” The 13 senators want...

The FHA raised red flags late last week when it announced it will need to draw $1.7 billion from the Treasury, not because the agency’s claims-paying ability is at risk, but rather to comply with federal law requiring it to have reserves to cover anticipated future losses and mandatory capital reserves. The mandatory appropriation is an accounting transfer and does not reflect an up-to-date view of the FHA’s Mutual Mortgage Insurance Fund, its long-term fiscal health or its current cash position, said FHA Commissioner Carol Galante in a letter to Sen. Tim Johnson, D-SD, chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs, and Sen. Mike Crapo, R-ID, ranking minority member. The calculation used...

Policymakers at Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the FHA need to work with lenders to identify and resolve sources of buyback risk uncertainty in order to loosen the market’s grip on tight credit conditions, according to a white paper issued this week by Moody’s Analytics and the Urban Institute. Disagreements over lender judgment calls, post-underwriting chances in circumstances and nitpicking over trivial mistakes by the two government-sponsored enterprises and the FHA have stepped up put-backs “in ways lenders cannot adequately address through better underwriting or pricing,” note paper co-authors Mark Zandi and Jim Parrott. In 2011 and 2012, Fannie and Freddie together required...

The U.S. homeownership rate fell to 63.9 percent in 2012, according to figures compiled by the Census Bureau through its “American Community Survey.” In case you’re keeping tabs, it’s the fifth year in a row that the rate has gone south.

According to interviews with investors in Freddie Mac’s $500 million Structured Agency Credit Risk bond, 50 different companies bought into the deal.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Connecticut, on behalf of the RMBS Working Group, is seeking an order to compel Clayton to cooperate with a subpoena issued in early July.

Wells Fargo is the latest megabank to settle buyback claims with a GSE. Who might be next?

Is refi specialist CashCall still on the auction block? It’s hard to say since the company doesn’t return telephone calls about the matter.

Critics of program contend that the strings attached by Fannie Mae require too much oversight of REO investors, driving away potential top bidders.

The much anticipated announcement on lower GSE loan limits could be pushed back to mid-October.