Michael Stegman, a counselor to the Treasury on housing finance policy, said the exercise aims to solve the “chicken-and-egg” issue that some see as holding back non-agency MBS activity.

New issuance of single-family MBS by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae fell 4.6 percent from December to January, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS ranking and analysis. The three agencies produced $85.18 billion of new single-family MBS last month. The good news is that was up a hefty 24.3 percent from January 2014; the bad news is January 2014 came toward the end of a nine-month swoon in agency MBS production. All of the decline in monthly MBS issuance resulted...[Includes two data charts]

With Ocwen about to unload a massive amount of servicing rights will the company still need to have such a large back-office operation in India?

Reverse mortgage lenders now have the option to delay calling a Home Equity Conversion Mortgage due and payable where there is an eligible non-borrowing spouse and a case number assigned prior to Aug. 4, 2014. A delay would postpone foreclosure triggered by the death of the HECM borrower or the last surviving borrower and allow the qualified, non-borrowing spouse to stay in the house for a certain period until the HECM is resolved. Under revised FHA guidance, reverse mortgage lenders are allowed to assign eligible HECMs to the Department of Housing and Urban Development upon the death of the borrower. They have the option of foreclosing in accordance with the contract as endorsed or choose the “mortgagee optional election assignment (MOE).” MOE means the optional assignment selected by a lender for a HECM loan with an assigned FHA case number prior to ...

The nation’s largest nonbank servicer revealed that during 2014, state regulators commenced 46 examinations “of one or more of our areas of operation…”

Two Harbors, a REIT, has been aggregating, on average, $300 million of jumbo mortgages per month.

A long-awaited proposal from the Federal Housing Finance Agency that would codify minimum net worth and liquidity requirements for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac seller/servicers received mostly good reviews from the industry, but there are concerns about some of the details. For the Mortgage Bankers Association, the chief worry centers around the agency’s liquidity requirements. Released late last week, the FHFA is asking...[Includes one data chart]

The Federal Housing Finance Agency is giving no hints on where it’s headed regarding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac guaranty fees and may not make a final decision until after March 31. But industry observers predict changes in loan-level pricing adjustments and an overall reduction in g-fees. During a press briefing this week, FHFA Director Mel Watt said, “We don’t want to charge excessive g-fees.” He added: “We can’t set them so low” that the government-sponsored enterprises are not compensated for the risk they’re taking on. “People are going to know...

Pingora Asset Management is trying to raise $500 million of additional capital to buy mortgage servicing rights from eager sellers. If successful, it will bring the young company’s investment in residential receivables up to $1 billion. According to new figures compiled by Inside Mortgage Finance, Pingora owned $25.38 billion of Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac residential servicing rights at yearend, ranking 24th among all servicers. Three years ago, it didn’t even exist. Company founder and Chief Executive Michael Lau was said...

FHFA chief Mel Watt noted: “In Treasury’s view, it’s a legislative decision” to change the terms of the bailout agreement.