Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac said it’s critical that the mortgage industry prepare now to implement both the Uniform Mortgage Data Program and the single security next year.

A Senate hearing on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac pilot programs is back on the schedule for the lame-duck session of Congress following the elections next month.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency launched a website last week with frequently used mortgage documents and educational materials translated to Spanish to better help borrowers not proficient in English. But some in the industry are still concerned about potential assumptions and legal ramifications.

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.

A trade group representing private mortgage insurers urged the Trump administration to reduce the GSEs’ market power by limiting their activities to those not adequately served by the private market.

Freddie Mac updated its Loan Product Advisor to include a feature for assessing the income of self-employed borrowers in an automated underwriting system, the first such tool in an AUS, officials say.

The Inspector General of the Federal Housing Finance Agency issued another report criticizing the regulator’s oversight of the GSEs and the Federal Home Loan Banks.

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 leadership of both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is in transition. Fannie last week named Hugh Frater as interim CEO following the departure of Tim Mayopoulos.

Nonbanks continued to gain ground in the GSE servicing market during the third quarter of 2018 as a number of mid-size firms posted big gains in their portfolios. [Includes two data charts.]