Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were improperly prevented from increasing their guaranty fees for years during the GSEs’ conservatorship after the federal government unconstitutionally seized control of the two companies during the 2008 financial crisis and the lower fees cost investors billions of dollars, according to a federal lawsuit filed by GSE shareholders last week. The plaintiffs – including the City of Austin (Texas) Police Retirement System and Washington Federal, a Seattle-based bank – filed a class-action suit in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington, DC. The GSE shareholders seek some $41 billion in damages for what they claim was the government’s violation of their 5th Amendment rights that prohibit taking of private property for public use “without just compensation.”

It’s no secret that speculators wide and far are betting the common and preferred shares of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could rise significantly as their profits continue to stay robust. But according to James Lockhart, who once headed the Federal Housing Finance Agency, these speculators are likely throwing their money away. Speaking at a recent housing forum sponsored by the Bipartisan Policy Center, he noted that the Treasury Department owns the senior preferred of the GSEs and the senior stock “sits above” the junior shares. Lockhart said the government preferred will never be paid back, which means the junior holders are out of luck. Lockhart, who now serves as vice chairman of WL Ross & Co., said he does not own any stock in the two nor does he plan on buying any.

Banks and thrifts continued to push a high volume of home mortgages into the secondary market during the first three months of 2013, but the pace was slowing, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of call report data. The industry reported $395.8 billion in single-family mortgage sales during the first quarter, down 5.1 percent from the previous period. It was a stronger sales volume than during the first quarter of 2012, however, and ranked as the fourth largest ... [Includes one data chart]

The amount of home mortgage debt outstanding continued its post-crisis downward spiral in the early months of 2013, although the agency servicing market grew slightly, according to a new analysis and ranking by Inside Mortgage Finance. The Federal Reserve reported total home mortgage debt outstanding of $9.868 trillion as of the end of March, down 0.6 percent from the previous quarter. Under pressure from falling house prices and the collapse of the non-agency market, the supply of MDO has been in steady decline since peaking at its all-time high of $11.195 trillion at the end of 2007. Single-family servicing associated...[Includes two data charts]

The pool of mortgages in Shellpoint's first deal has a combined loan-to-value ratio of 65 percent, slightly lower than other recent non-agency MBS.

There is still no official word on when the Senate Banking Committee will take up the nomination of Rep. Mel Watt to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

With rates rising and liquidity increasing, more mortgage servicing portfolios are hitting the auction market.

When rates rise, loan officers begin to bite their nails, unless they are heavily reliant on purchase-money loans.

The Corker-Warner GSE bill could see the light of day next Tuesday. Meanwhile, HLSS is selling more shares to the public.

Some industry experts say mortgage executives will not feel safe about originating – or securitizing – more than a miniscule amount of non-agency loans until the government stops taking “retribution” against the housing finance industry for the sins of the housing bust. Lewis Ranieri, who helped launched the mortgage-backed security business, said the biggest victims of the mortgage crisis are minority borrowers and young workers who no longer qualify for credit because of tight underwriting guidelines promulgated by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac since they went into conservatorship back in September 2008. But tight underwriting isn’t the sole problem, Ranieri argued...