Ginnie Mae this week announced new guidelines to curb the churning of VA loans and high MBS prepayment speeds – the first in a series of measures developed by a joint Ginnie/VA task force to address the problem.

It appears that Congressional reform of the housing-finance system – and final resolution of Fan-nie Mae and Freddie Mac – is back on track with a key piece of good news for MBS investors: an ex-plicit federal guarantee on conventional product looks likely.

Ginnie Mae has issued expanded guidelines to protect veterans and investors from harmful loan churning and rapid prepayments in mortgage-backed securities. The changes, along with additional measures under consideration by a joint Ginnie Mae/VA refinance task force, are aimed at ensuring continued strength and liquidity of the Ginnie Mae MBS program, said Michael Bright, the agency’s acting president. The latest guidelines expand on an initial measure Ginnie implemented requiring six-months of seasoning of VA loans before they can be refinanced and delivered into Ginnie MBS pools. However, some lenders have found ways around the measure and have continued their questionable lending practices, said Bright during recent testimony before a House Financial Services subcommittee. Churning is both illegal and unethical because it preys on unsuspecting borrowers, who are pressured by ...

Congress on Thursday passed a stopgap-spending bill to prevent a potential government shutdown and to give lawmakers time to negotiate crucial issues. The House voted 235-193 to pass the measure. A short time later, the Senate quickly approved it 81-14. The temporary spending bill will keep the government running through Dec. 22. The continuing resolution or CR, that has kept the government open would have expired on Dec. 8. Both the House and Senate are scheduled to adjourn on Dec. 15. Congress will need to pass a final appropriations bill or another continuing resolution to keep the government operating after Dec. 22. Despite differences over tax reform, FY 2018 budget, immigration, health care and other issues, lawmakers do not want a shutdown, mortgage industry sources said. Republicans, in particular, hope to enact their $1.5 trillion tax package by Christmas. On the other hand, ...

Language in the pending Senate tax bill that could hammer the value of mortgage servicing rights is causing grave concern in the industry and, if the wording remains, nonbank mortgage firms could get hammered financially.

Ginnie Mae will soon announce a series of measures to resolve improper refinancing of VA loans that is causing rapid prepayments in the agency’s MBS, according to Michael Bright, Ginnie’s acting president.

There may be more room for private investors in the secondary mortgage market sooner than ex-pected, if congressional testimony this week from Federal Reserve Gov. Jerome Powell, President Trump’s nominee to replace Fed chief Janet Yellen, is a reliable indicator.

Commercial banks and savings institutions boosted their holdings of residential MBS to a record $1.839 trillion during the third quarter, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS ranking and analysis.

Ginnie Mae has been without a permanent president for roughly 10 months now, but so far inves-tors don’t seem to be balking at buying agency MBS. But that doesn’t mean the market – as well as stakeholders – aren’t getting nervous about the situation.

Consumer debt reached a new high at the end of the third quarter of 2017, surpassing levels seen in the run-up to the financial crisis and prompting concerns about the systemic risk to MBS and ABS investors posed by consumer leverage.