Bipartisan legislation was introduced recently in the House to addresse problems arising from the use of the False Claims Act and the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery, and Enforcement Act in the context of mortgage insurance claims. Co-sponsored by Reps. Josh Gottheimer, D-NJ, and Lee Zeldin, R-NY, the bill would provide certain restrictions and clarifications on false claims and civil actions related to loans with FHA, VA or U.S. Department of Agriculture guarantee. H.R. 5993, the Fixing Access to Credit Act of 2018, has been sent to the House Financial Services Committee and to the House Committee on the Judiciary. A Civil War statute, FCA seeks to deter fraud against the government by providing hefty penalties for violations and establishing a 10-year statute of limitations to file civil claims. Enacted in the wake of the savings and loan debacle in the 1980s, FIRREA outlawed abusive lending and ...

One policy issue that could land on FHA Commissioner Brian Montgomery’s desk soon is whether potential borrowers who were granted temporary status under the Obama-era Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals are eligible for FHA-insured loans. Mortgage lenders are divided on the issue and may soon ask the newly installed head of the FHA for guidance, said Brian Chappelle, a mortgage industry consultant. President Obama created the DACA program in 2012 to allow undocumented immigrant children to stay temporarily in the U.S. for two years without fear of deportation. They have an opportunity to renew their DACA status towards the end of their second year. To qualify for DACA, the undocumented child must have arrived in the country before they were 16 years old or be younger than 31 on June 15, 2012. They must have lived continuously in the country since June 2007. A person protected under DACA is ...

The Trump administration is likely to play a more active role in reducing the footprint of the government-sponsored enterprises in 2019, according to administration officials and industry analysts. Mel Watt’s term as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency is set to end in January, allowing Trump to appoint a new director. The new director will likely take actions that are aligned with the Treasury Department’s goals for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, according to industry analysts ...

Industry insiders are continuing to play the speculation game regarding who might replace Mel Watt as director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, a position that holds immense power given the role Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac play in the housing market. So far, analysts and lobbyists have identified a handful of potential candidates who might replace the director when his five-year term ends early next year, including Treasury counselor Craig Phillips; Mark Calabria, chief economist to Vice President Mike Pence; and Michael Bright, EVP of Ginnie Mae, among others. Another candidate who has been mentioned is Comptroller of the Currency Joseph Otting, who was sworn into that post in late November of last year.

There are benefits to merging Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, according to one conservative think tank opining on the future of the GSEs.The American Action Forum said because the government-sponsored enterprises are being funded in part by taxpayers, and treated as being on the federal budget, the goal should be to align policy with the budget. “This raises an intriguing possibility. Merge Fannie and Freddie into the Department of Housing and Urban Development,” said Douglas Holtz-Eakin president of the AAF and a former director of the Congressional Budget Office in the early 2000’s.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency plans to propose a new risk-based capital rule for the GSEs based on current operations to replace the old Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight capital regulation.But just like the OFHEO rules, the proposed ones will be suspended as long as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are in conservatorship. Having a capital framework is useful when it comes to evaluating business decisions, according to FHFA Director Mel Watt. But he was quick to emphasize that the proposal is not based on some grand scheme to promote recapitalizing the GSEs. In fact, it’s largely an exercise that Watt said is...

Brookings Encourages Fannie to Expand CRT Market. The Brookings Institute applauds Fannie Mae’s credit-risk transfer program in a paper published this week, but said the GSE should increase the amount of credit it transfers to investors. The think tank also noted that guaranty fees that Fannie mortgage originators chose should be based on the implied g-fee paid to investors. Moreover, Brookings said that Fannie should continue to examine how much risk they should transfer using the Connecticut Avenue Structure program and look at past losses during times of stress. Freddie Prices Largest STACR SPI Deal to Date. Freddie Mac had its second Structured Agency Credit Risk - Securitized Participation Interests (STACR SPI) deal of the year. The $263.5 million STACR 2018 and SPI2 securities are backed by participation...

Ginnie Mae this week warned that VA refinance loans, particularly Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loans, may not be included in any new pool or loan package if they do not comply with the newly enacted law protecting VA borrowers from predatory lending. The agency announced new pooling guidance pursuant to the loan-seasoning provision in the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, which President Trump signed into law last week (See details of the new law below ). The changes affect issuances of Ginnie mortgage-backed securities on or after June 1, 2018, but do not affect MBS issued before that date, according to the guidance. However, lenders seeking a guarantee after June 1 may have to recalibrate their loan-origination platforms to exclude refis that do not meet the new law’s seasoning requirements, said the Structured Finance Industry Group. The ...

Provisions to protect VA borrowers from abusive lending are now in effect after President Trump signed into law a broad regulatory relief package last week. The VA measures are part of S. 2155, the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act of 2018, which the U.S. Senate passed on March 14 and the House approved on May 22. The bipartisan measures became effective for VA loan applications taken on or after May 25, 2018. They were part of the bipartisan Protecting Veterans from Predatory Lending Act, which Sens. Thom Tillis, R-NC, and Elizabeth Warren, D-MA, introduced in January and later incorporated in S. 2155. The bill was designed to protect VA borrowers from loan churning or serial refinancing and specifically targeted the VA’s Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loan program, where the churned VA loans ended up. According to the agency, such practices not ...

The tailored Dodd-Frank reform bill signed into law by President Trump this month should be a boon to investors in Ginnie Mae securities because it will reduce loan churning, but there could be some bumps along the road until all the details are ironed out.