The Republican leadership of the House Financial Services Committee this week unveiled a comprehensive housing finance reform bill, including a series of proposals to “right size” the FHA, redefine its mission and reestablish it as a stand-alone agency. At the same time, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Johnson, D-SD, and Ranking Member Mike Crapo, R-ID, announced they have reached a bipartisan agreement on legislation that would ensure the solvency of the FHA. Both lawmakers expect to introduce a bill next week. The House FHA reform measures were introduced in tandem with reform proposals for ...

New mortgage reform legislation expected soon to be dropped by a senior House Republican is all but certain to go nowhere this year, but having a bill on file and in hand is a necessity in order for GOP hawks to keep their voice in the conversation on government-sponsored enterprise reform, say industry observers. By the end of next week, House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-TX, will introduce his long-awaited housing reform legislation, sources say. Details of the bill remain sketchy, but it’s to include a complete wind-down of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, with only a limited federal support for the mortgage market going forward, most likely housed within the FHA. Hensarling’s legislative effort has been overshadowed...

Sponsors of the highly anticipated, bipartisan Senate legislation intended to reform the mortgage-finance system without Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac unveiled their final proposal last week.But with reform of the FHA more politically urgent and a more radical House bill waiting in the wings, even the Senate bill’s most avid industry supporters don’t expect the measure to gain much political traction in the near term.

Citigroup this week unveiled a $968 million legal settlement with Fannie Mae to cover current “potential future repurchase claims” for breaches of representations and warranties on 3.7 million first liens originated between 2000 and 2012. According to a statement issued by the nation’s sixth largest home lender, almost all of the money that will be paid to the GSE is “covered by Citi's existing mortgage repurchase reserves.”

Legislation filed in the House two weeks ago would require the Treasury Department to once again amend its agreement with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to allow the GSEs to pay down the billions of taxpayer dollars the companies received while in government conservatorship.Under the Let the GSEs Pay US Back Act of 2013, H.R. 2435, – sponsored by Rep. Michael Capuano, D-MA – the GSE senior preferred stock purchased by the Treasury would no longer accrue dividends, as is the current practice.

The uphill climb for the Congressman who would be the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency got a little steeper last week following a lackluster confirmation performance that did not appear to win over Republican critics. Both in his prepared testimony and during questioning by members of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, Rep. Mel Watt, D-NC, placed a heavy emphasis on his biographical details, but he was light on mortgage-finance policy specifics. Republicans pressed hard on his technical qualifications for the job of FHFA director. “The Housing and Economic Recovery Act clearly defines...

An FHA proposal for new legislative authority to transfer servicing has raised concerns among industry participants, particularly in the Ginnie Mae market. Authorizing the FHA to shift mortgage-servicing rights from one servicer to another could have a ripple effect on Ginnie Mae servicing rights and also adversely impact state mortgage servicing and origination licenses, some say. The bottom line is that Congress should consider FHA’s request for new statutory authority with great care, said Larry Platt, a compliance attorney and a partner at the Washington law firm K&L Gates. “We would hope that ...

Reverse mortgage lenders, consumer groups and certain advocates for the elderly are urging Congress to enact legislation passed recently by the House of Representatives granting the FHA additional authority to govern its reverse mortgage program. Testifying before the Senate Banking Subcommittee on Housing, Transportation and Community Development, the groups said the most productive action Congress can take is to pass H.R. 2167 to allow HUD to make expeditious changes to the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage program through mortgagee letters. The bill, which the House approved on June 12, would ...

Secondary market reform legislation formally introduced in the Senate this week provides more detail on key elements of an ambitious proposal to replace Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with a new government MBS program, but it’s still widely seen as a starting point in a long process. The Housing Finance Reform and Taxpayer Protection Act of 2013, introduced by Sens. Bob Corker, R-TN, and Mark Warner, D-VA, includes a new section that would protect investors in MBS that carry guaranties from the Federal Mortgage Insurance Corp. from civil liability under federal and state law. Under the bill, S. 1217, the FMIC would sell...

The veteran Congressman who would be the first permanent, Senate-confirmed director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency was vague and at times on the defensive during his confirmation hearing this week as Republican senators repeatedly questioned what in his resume makes him qualified to preside as regulator and conservator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Rep. Mel Watt, President Obama’s nominee to succeed FHFA Acting Director Edward DeMarco, told members of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee that the Finance Agency under his leadership would “rigorously follow” the agency’s statutory role in an “open and transparent manner working with all stakeholders.” “You can also be assured...