Freddie Mac is expected to name Sam Khater, a well-regarded industry monetarist, as its new chief economist, Inside The GSEs has learned. Late this week, a Freddie spokesman declined to comment on Khater specifically, but did say the government-sponsored enterprise was in the hunt for a new chief economist after Sean Becketti, last November, vacated the post. Becketti accepted a position as vice president of portfolio analytics in Freddie’s investments and capital markets unit and remains with the GSE. “We are currently in the process of hiring a new chief economist, and will make an announcement at the appropriate time,” said the spokesman.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency Office of Inspector General worries that the GSEs aren’t reporting potential fraud in a timely manner as their statute stipulates.In a recent audit, the IG reviewed the FHFA’s oversight of how Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac report fraud. They found a possible disparity between the fraud- reporting requirement in the statute and the FHFA’s regulation and guidance. The FHFA’s definition of fraud appears to have a higher reporting threshold, meaning it allows for more time before a report must be made. The GSE is expected to make a “timely report” to the...
More Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shareholders have initiated lawsuits against the government for the Treasury sweep of the mortgage giants’ profits. Each of the plaintiffs in the three new cases were owners of the GSEs’ junior preferred stock. The cases, Akanthos v. U.S., CSS v. U.S. and Appaloosa v. U.S., have been assigned to Judge Margaret Sweeney, who is also handling other similar complaints. They were filed in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. According to court documents, Akanthos Opportunity Master Fund owned more than $137 million in junior preferred stock as of Aug. 16, 2016. Akanthos complained of suffering from “severe economic loss” to its holdings.
Fannie Announces Community Impact NPL Winners. Fannie Mae announced this week that the winning bidder for its 11th and 12th Community Impact pools of non-performing loans was VRMTG ACQ, LLC (VWH Capital Management, LP), a minority- and woman-owned business. The transaction is expected to close on May 22, 2018, and includes approximately 182 loans totaling $34.25 million in unpaid principal balance, divided between two pools focused in the Orlando and Tampa areas of Florida. GSE Foreclosure Preventions Surpass 4M. The Federal Housing Finance Agency reported this week that the GSEs completed 67,569 foreclosure prevention actions in the fourth quarter of 2017, bringing the total number of homeowners helped to 4.04 million since 2008. But, thanks to the fall...
Correspondent production programs continued to gain ground in 2017 in all three major mortgage product categories, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis. Acquiring government-insured loans from correspondent lenders has been a huge part of the Ginnie Mae market in recent years, but it’s also picking up market share in conventional-conforming lending and, to a lesser extent, the jumbo arena. Government-insured lending declined by ... [Includes two data charts]
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