Over the past few weeks, speculators have been driving up the price of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac common stock and “trust” preferred shares in the hope of a payoff somewhere down the line. But according to interviews conducted by Inside Mortgage Finance, the only payoff might come if they can find someone else willing to pay more than they did for stock that is considered virtually worthless. Industry lobbyists, former government-sponsored enterprise executives and some investors say...

The ability-to-repay rule promulgated by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is perhaps the single most important mortgage-related regulation the CFPB will produce under the Dodd-Frank Act, and mortgage lenders will need a vigorous and comprehensive strategy if they are going to make qualified mortgages profitably while maintaining the desired level of legal protection. But before lenders get to the compliance pieces of the QM puzzle, they’ve got to figure out “how to get to QM” and what types of loans they want to make. “We’re assuming...

Efforts by the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York to use the False Claims Act to recoup $1 billion in losses suffered by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have suffered a big setback. Last week, U.S. District Court Judge Jed Rakoff dismissed claims for treble damages and penalties the federal government brought under the FCA against Bank of America as successor to Countrywide Financial for allegedly selling defective loans to the two government-sponsored enterprises while representing that the mortgages complied with their requirements. The government asserted...

Guaranty fees need to be raised by roughly 10 basis points in order for the pricing between agency and non-agency deals to be comparable, according to a new report.

Why is the share price of Fannie Mae's junior preferred stock rising so much? Also, send Freddie Mac "back to the future"?

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are continuing to shrink their retained portfolios as mandated by their regulator.

One mortgage expert warns that lowering GSE loan limits one step at a time to $417,000 could leave parts of the residential market underserved.

A new modification program from Freddie Mac also will pay mortgage servicers $1,400 per unit for each successful loan restructuring.

If. Sen. Franken has his way, the MBS rating system will change. Meanwhile, top executives at Impac Mortgage clean up.

Investors have stepped up to the plate, buying new large bulk MSRs put out for auction by Interactive Mortgage Advisors.