Midterm election results will likely push any housing-finance reform legislation further away, slow deregulatory efforts by Trump appointees, and dash any chances of another regulatory relief bill, according to analyses of the results.

There is widespread consensus about the future role of the government in mortgage finance, but it’s by no means homogenous. The Trump administration gets to name a new director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency who can work with Treasury to steer the GSEs toward a revised, likely narrower, role. The new FHFA chief will have command of the enterprises for five years, with dim prospects of Congress tackling long-term reform. Michael Stegman, senior fellow for housing policy at ...

This week’s midterm election ushered in a sea-change in the House of Representatives but it’s uncertain how it will influence housing finance reform. Now that the Democrats are the majority in the House, Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) is in line to serve as chair of the House Financial Services Committee. Back in July, Waters said fixing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would be a top priority if Democrats take control of the House. She’s been at odds with outgoing chair, Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-TX ...

With Democrats recapturing control of the House of Representatives this week, and Rep. Maxine Waters, D-CA, expected to chair the House Financial Services Committee, the odds of housing-finance reform becoming a reality in 2019 didn’t improve all that much. In short, legislative reform remains a long shot. At least that’s the consensus of industry lobbyists and analysts interviewed this week by Inside Mortgage Trends. “Could Waters get something done?” asked ...

The Department of Housing and Urban Development is working on a memorandum of understanding on the proper use of the False Claims Act in FHA enforcement and considering increased penalties under the Mortgagee Review Board as an alternative to FCA.

Certain potential changes could materially affect origination volume and determine the government-sponsored enterprises’ direction going forward, according to analysts. One of those changes could have a significant impact on the FHA market. Wells Fargo Securities analysts recently looked at three potential developments in the Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac sphere and evaluated their effects on the broader mortgage market. Two of those potential changes – loan limits and guarantee fees – are controlled directly by the Federal Housing Finance Agency, while the third relates to the temporary GSE qualified-mortgage exemption, or “QM patch,” which could affect the FHA market. All three factors loom over the mortgage landscape as the FHFA expects a new director in January 2019, who is likely to be more right leaning and could shift the focus back to shrinking the ...

Close observers of the politics of housing finance generally expect the next director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency to steer Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac toward a smaller market presence without creating a huge disruption in the industry.

During a discussion with Inside The GSEs, Freddie Mac CEO Donald Layton said the credit-risk transfer program is one of the company’s greatest accomplishments.

The Congressional Budget Office found that the choice of accounting treatment for the GSEs has implications on the various options to attract more private capital to the secondary market. It also impacts the transition to alternative structures.

Community mortgage lenders are asking the U.S. Senate to consider with caution before voting on legislative language passed recently by the House of Representatives to address “orphan” VA streamline refinance loans. Specifically, the Community Mortgage Lenders of America asked the Senate to step back and allow some time for substitute language to be presented with input from the industry and the Department of Veterans Affairs. At issue is the wording in H.R. 6737, the Protect Affordable Mortgages for Veterans Act of 2018. The bill fixes a technical issue that prevented VA lenders from pooling certain VA Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loans in Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities pools. Approximately 2,500 VA refi loans were affected by an inconsistency between the loan seasoning guidelines issued by Ginnie in late 2016 and provisions in the ...