One of the most speculative stock bets out there – buying shares in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – is looking more like a sure thing these days, thanks to the recent pick of Mick Mulvaney, R-SC, to head the Office of Management and Budget in the new Trump administration. At least that’s how some industry officials and market watchers view it, including the Washington-based research firm Cowen & Co. In a report issued earlier this week, Cowen analyst Jaret Seiberg called the choice of Mulvaney for OMB chief “the most bullish sign yet that the Donald Trump administration will favor a solution to housing finance reform that includes a continued role for Fannie and Freddie.”
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are expected to closely examine the mortgage servicing business model and wrap up their analysis of alternative credit scoring options in 2017, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s “scorecard” for the GSEs, which outlines specific priorities for the duo.Access to credit has been a much-debated topic of late, and many have called for the GSEs to explore alternative models to the traditional FICO scoring system. Industry insiders argue that the GSE credit profile has remained elevated even though there’s been a significant drop in seller repurchase risk and the housing market has recovered. Under its goals of increasing access to credit, which include access for underserved...
In its much anticipated duty-to-serve final rule issued last week, the Federal Housing Finance Agency gave the green light for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to begin pilot programs for manufactured housing “chattel loans.” Although duty-to-serve was mandated eight years ago to make sure the GSEs support three underserved markets, (such as manufactured housing,) it was never implemented. The other markets are affordable housing preservation and rural housing. A proposed rule was issued in December 2015 and it’s taken a year to issue the final rule. The FHFA sifted through hundreds of comments on the proposed rule earlier this year, most focusing on the need for greater GSE support when it comes to manufactured housing lending.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency came up short when it comes to supervising the GSEs to ensure a “safe and sound operation,” according to a Federal Housing Finance Agency Office of Inspector General report released late last week. The IG also suggested that the FHFA follow the lead of other federal financial regulators with stronger supervisory standards including the Federal Reserve System and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. “Among our findings was that FHFA had difficulty completing its planned targeted examinations over four supervisory cycles from 2012 through 2015 and that the number of targeted examinations planned and completed during each supervisory cycle has fallen since 2012 for Freddie Mac and has diminished significantly for Fannie Mae,” said the IG.
With the Home Affordable Modification Program expiring in about a week, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac recently introduced the Flex Modification foreclosure prevention program to take its place in helping delinquent borrowers get back on their feet. The Federal Housing Finance Agency said that the new program is based on lessons learned from loan modification programs created during the housing crisis. The Flex Modification is a hybrid of three different types of programs, including HAMP. “The Flex Modification program also reflects input received over the course of extensive engagement with lenders, mortgage insurers, consumer advocates, and other stakeholders,” said FHFA Deputy Director Sandra Thompson, adding that by avoiding...
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