The uphill climb for the Congressman who would be the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency got a little steeper last week following a lackluster confirmation performance that did not appear to win over Republican critics. Both in his prepared testimony and during questioning by members of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, Rep. Mel Watt, D-NC, placed a heavy emphasis on his biographical details, but he was light on mortgage-finance policy specifics. Republicans pressed hard on his technical qualifications for the job of FHFA director. “The Housing and Economic Recovery Act clearly defines...

Japanese investors increased their holdings of agency MBS by $32 billion and even boosted their non-agency MBS investments by $1.4 billion.

When rates shot up quickly, were some MBS investors caught behind the eight-ball?

A former federal prosecutor, Linick is credited with creating the agency’s Office of Inspector General from the ground up.

According to exclusive figures compiled by Inside Mortgage Trends, Citigroup had $748 million of disputed buybacks with the GSEs at March 31.

On Tuesday the Fed will hold an open meeting to discuss final rule-making tied to the Basel III accords, which affects the value of mortgage servicing rights.

The recent rapid rise in interest rates has some market participants talking about margin calls on MBS investors, but so far all the chatter appears to be speculative – although there still could be red ink out there, somewhere. At press time, the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury had stabilized at 2.54 percent. In mid-May the rate was 1.70 percent. That’s a run-up of 84 basis points. One secondary market official told...

Secondary market reform legislation formally introduced in the Senate this week provides more detail on key elements of an ambitious proposal to replace Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with a new government MBS program, but it’s still widely seen as a starting point in a long process. The Housing Finance Reform and Taxpayer Protection Act of 2013, introduced by Sens. Bob Corker, R-TN, and Mark Warner, D-VA, includes a new section that would protect investors in MBS that carry guaranties from the Federal Mortgage Insurance Corp. from civil liability under federal and state law. Under the bill, S. 1217, the FMIC would sell...

The City Council of North Las Vegas, NV, is the latest local jurisdiction to be drawn by the eminent domain siren song of Mortgage Resolution Partners, despite the near-certain prospects of eventually crashing upon the rocks of opposition from federal agencies. Last week, the city council voted four-to-one in favor to approve a two-month advisory services agreement with MRP to advise the city on the seizure of mortgage loans through the use of eminent domain. Under the parameters of the agreement, MRP is to inventory potential loans in North Las Vegas that could be affected by its program, at no cost to the city, and to design a program for those loans that are inventoried. That program is to be brought back before the city council within 60 days at its Aug. 21, 2013, meeting. Also, the agreement prohibits...

The veteran Congressman who would be the first permanent, Senate-confirmed director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency was vague and at times on the defensive during his confirmation hearing this week as Republican senators repeatedly questioned what in his resume makes him qualified to preside as regulator and conservator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Rep. Mel Watt, President Obama’s nominee to succeed FHFA Acting Director Edward DeMarco, told members of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee that the Finance Agency under his leadership would “rigorously follow” the agency’s statutory role in an “open and transparent manner working with all stakeholders.” “You can also be assured...