Noticeably absent from the letter: the FHLBs of Chicago and San Francisco…

Of course, there are some in the industry who will argue Fannie and Freddie are hardly zombie-like at all...

The judges opined: "Indeed, the GSEs lost more in 2008 ($108 billion) than they had earned in the previous thirty-seven years combined ($95 billion). Yet the GSEs remained solvent.”

Some Wall Street firms are now quietly extending repo lines to originators of non-QMs...

The court said Congress encased the regulator in layers of insulation, which limits the president’s power to remove and replace the FHFA director...

Capital Alpha said its choice to be the next FHFA director is Ed DeMarco, who held the job once before...

Prime jumbo mortgages continue to account for the majority of non-agency MBS issuance…

The Department of Housing and Urban Development has issued an interpretive rule to clear up some of the confusion created by the recently approved Dodd-Frank reform act regarding the eligibility of certain VA refinance loans to serve as Ginnie Mae collateral. Although interpretive rules are exempted from public comment under the Administrative Procedures Act, HUD is seeking public input on its interpretation of the loan-seasoning provision of the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act, which President Trump signed into law on May 24, 2018. Among other things, the statute prohibits Ginnie from guaranteeing payment on a security backed by a mortgage that does not meet its seasoning requirements. The protective measure was designed to deter lenders from encouraging veterans to refinance their loans often and repeatedly. Loan churning led to faster prepayment speeds on the ...

The mortgage industry this week continued to look for ways to resolve the VA streamline refi loan mess, which arose from the implementation of statutory seasoning requirements under the Dodd-Frank reform act, even as Ginnie Mae pointed to Congress to come up with a solution. At issue is approximately $500 million worth of “orphaned” VA Interest Rate Reduction Refinance Loans that are now ineligible for Ginnie Mae securitization. The Mortgage Bankers Association is asking Congress for a legislative fix but is also looking for other forms of relief. Pete Mills, MBA’s senior vice president of residential policy and member management, is trying to drum up investor interest in the orphan loans, which, for now, appear destined for the secondary “scratch and dent” market. More buyers could potentially generate higher bids for the loans and lower losses for nonbanks that could not deliver them ...

MBS and ABS issuers were busy in the second quarter of 2018, generating $435.64 billion in new securities, according to a new analysis by Inside MBS & ABS. [Includes three data charts.]