Freddie Mac reported new buyback demands on $3.3 billion of mortgages during the third quarter, a stunning 31 percent increase from the previous period.

It's not every day that a REIT gains access to a Federal Home Loan Bank. This REIT, of course, likes to buy mortgage servicing rights.

The GSEs’ common industry dataset that supports the CFPB’s new disclosure form is called the Uniform Closing Dataset, and is one component of the Uniform Mortgage Data Program, an ongoing effort being directed by the FHFA.

The mortgage insurance industry is anxiously waiting on new risk-to-capital rules being worked on by the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

One former regulator told us that HUD is relying too heavily on foreclosure sales, which can drive down median values.

Mel Watt said he will formally announce the delay in higher LLPAs and g-fees after he is sworn in on Jan. 6, the same day he will resign his House seat.

Will departing FHFA chief Ed DeMarco go work for a hedge fund? Stranger things have happened.

A long running class-action fraud lawsuit on behalf of Fannie Mae investors and accounting firm KPMG was settled.

The Aug. 28, 2013, release of the re-proposed credit risk-retention rule by federal banking and housing regulators was eagerly awaited by investors and the mortgage industry. But it’s also raised some new questions for securitizers and investors, according to a new white paper from CoreLogic. The proposed rule sets out the risk-retention provisions for securitizers that underwrite ABS, but it also exempts from those provisions all securities issued by the housing agencies, which is to say, MBS generated by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae. “Given that exemption, what are the incentives for private securitization where there is capital relief in the alternative?” the white paper asked. CoreLogic notes...

This year’s prolonged and bitter political fight to install Rep. Mel Watt, D-NC, as the new director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency may turn out to have been the easy part, say industry observers, as he prepares to assume his place as arguably the most powerful mortgage regulator in the U.S. Last week’s 57-41 vote was the second successful confirmation under new Senate rules that essentially eliminated the filibuster for presidential appointments. In November, Senate Democrats muscled through a procedural change that replaced the 60-vote supermajority on nominations with a simple majority vote, shutting down GOP efforts to block Watt’s advance to the Finance Agency’s corner office.