The Mortgage Bankers Association has formally called upon the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s official watchdog to reconsider some of its proposals meant to prevent the next multi-billion dollar fraud scheme against Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. In a letter dispatched to the FHFA’s Inspector General late last week, the MBA cited its opposition to certain recommendations the IG made to the Finance Agency in its August post-mortem on the swindle perpetrated by the now-defunct Taylor, Bean & Whitaker Mortgage.

Modified Freddie Mac mortgages performed better than Fannie Mae loans more than two years after modification as the performance gap between the two GSE closed slowly, according to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The OCC’s latest Mortgage Metrics Report noted that Freddie loans had a 15.5 percent re-default rate six months after modification, while Fannie mods saw a 16.2 percent rate.At the 12-month mark, Freddie stood at 21.9 percent compared to Fannie’s 23.2 percent.

FHFA’s Watt Promises a CEO for the CSP by Year-end. After a year of searching for a chief executive to lead Common Securitization Solutions, the Federal Housing Finance Agency is getting closer to picking a candidate for the job. Speaking at the annual convention of the Mortgage Bankers Association in Las Vegas last week, FHFA Director Mel Watt promised the industry that a CEO would be named by Dec. 31. The FHFA’s search firm is Spencer Stuart.

Together, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in September posted a combined increase in the volume of single-family mortgages securitized, according to a new Inside The GSEs analysis. Fannie and Freddie issued $64.1 billion in single-family mortgage-backed securities in September, a 4.9 percent increase from August. However, September’s MBS issuance was down 56.7 percent on a year-to-date basis.

An administrative solution is already possible within the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, which grants the FHFA authority to bring the GSEs out of conservatorship.

The Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee brought the latest installment in its quantitative easing programs to a conclusion this week, but the central bank will continue to reinvest principal payments back into agency MBS. The FOMC also reaffirmed the current 0 to 0.25 percent target range for the federal funds rate. “The committee anticipates … that it likely will be appropriate to maintain the 0 to 0.25 percent target range for the federal funds rate for a considerable time following the end of its asset purchase program this month, especially if projected inflation continues to run below the committee’s 2 percent longer-run goal, and provided that longer-term inflation expectations remain well anchored.” And as usual, the Fed left...

A total of $51.18 billion of commercial mortgages were securitized during the third quarter of 2014 as the sector reached a new post-crisis high in new issuance, according to a new market analysis by Inside MBS & ABS. Commercial mortgage securitization rose 38.4 percent from the second quarter and represented the biggest three-month period in new issuance since the third quarter of 2007. For the first nine months of 2014, commercial mortgage securitization totaled $119.76 billion, down 24.4 percent from the same period last year. New issuance was off on a year-to-date basis because of the slump in production during the first half of 2014. Both sides of the market posted...[Includes one data chart]

Fannie Mae and JPMorgan Chase announced this week they are partnering in a new risk-sharing vehicle that features recourse provided to the government-sponsored enterprise on nearly $1 billion of new Chase originations. Separately, Freddie Mac has priced two more Structured Agency Credit Risk Transactions. JPMorgan Madison Avenue Securities Trust 2014-1 will simulate the behavior of a $989 million pool of JPMorgan-originated mortgages delivered into Fannie-guaranteed MBS. While similar to Fannie’s Connecticut Avenue Securities program, there are...

An internal conflict within the Securities and Exchange Commission is reportedly holding up final resolution of Bank of America’s record $16.65 billion settlement with government agencies. The settlement, announced last August, is stalled due to a partisan dispute among the five SEC commissioners over granting a waiver on additional sanctions that would take hold when the settlement is entered into court. The sanctions, if enacted, could adversely affect...

One veteran mortgage trade group official, a staunch Republican no less, told us that Lawsky is an “honest and bright guy,” adding that he understands the issues.