It looks like Fannie Mae is taking advantage of an opening in the marketplace to unload some of its legacy non-agency residential MBS. Fannie is moving to divest itself of $1.1 billion in a transaction that was listed this week and expected to trade by week’s end, according to multiple market sources. After the Federal Housing Finance Agency told the government-sponsored enterprises in March to begin selling off at least 5 percent of their illiquid assets, the first round of liquidations took place in mid-May, as Freddie got rid of about $1.0 billion in seasoned non-agency RMBS, with Fannie subsequently selling approximately $2 billion of its multi-family commercial MBS. Round two began...

Over the past two years, Ginnie Mae has made a concerted effort to improve the speed at which it approves lenders to issue MBS, but certain factions of the industry continue to complain that the process is terribly slow. “Let’s face it. It takes a long time to get approved by Ginnie Mae,” said one advisor who works with the agency. Just how long? The answer depends on the shop and how good an applicant/lender is at filling out paperwork and answering follow-up questions from the agency. In general, it can take...

The Senate Banking Committee is expected to advance Rep. Watt’s nomination to the Senate floor, strictly along party lines.

Hedge funds continue to salivate over mortgage servicing rights. Meanwhile, the Hensarling GSE bill goes down like a Led Zeppelin.

The two GSEs securitized $56 billion of home loans that included private MI coverage during the second quarter, a 12 percent jump from 1Q.

The changes also clarify which mortgages will be considered for purposes of determining “small servicer” status.

Two different groups holding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac stock filed suit against the government this week claiming that the Treasury Department and the Federal Housing Finance Agency are illegally poaching the profits from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that should go to shareholders. The FHFA and Treasury illegally implemented the so-called sweep amendment last summer that altered Fannie’s and Freddie’s preferred stock purchase agreements, according to the suits. The amended agreement allows the government to seize nearly all the profits of the two government-sponsored enterprises. This is a direct violation of the 2008 conservatorship legislation, according to the lawsuit filed by hedge fund Perry Capital in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Less than two days later, Fairholme Capital Management filed...

In general, mortgage applications are off 25 percent from their peak. Meanwhile, a Wells Fargo employee with an NMLS number has been arrested.

Private mortgage insurers may be gaining momentum as the mortgage market steers toward a greater focus on purchase-mortgage lending, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance analysis of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac data. The two government-sponsored enterprises securitized a total of $56.11 billion of home loans that included private MI coverage during the second quarter of 2013. That was up 12.1 percent from the first three months of the year, compared to a 5.1 percent decline in total GSE business over that period. Private MI activity is...[Includes one data chart]

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac announced this that week that they will rely on mortgage sellers to make sure all the loans sold to the government-sponsored enterprises starting next year will be “qualified mortgages” that meet the controversial limit on points and fees. Some aspects of the QM standard will be easy to quantify and meet, such as maximum loan terms of 30 years and no interest-only payment plans. The 43 percent cap on debt-to-income ratio that’s part of the ability-to-repay rule issued by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau will be waived for the GSEs. The stickiest wicket is...