Although mortgage delinquency rates are once again at pre-crash levels, servicing costs continue to rise, leading some factions of the industry to ask whether Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should increase the standard 25 basis point fee they pay to their servicers. The issue of higher servicing compensation was raised by an individual lender during the audience Q&A at a panel featuring the top single-family executives of the two government-sponsored enterprises at last week’s secondary market conference sponsored by the Mortgage Bankers Association. Both noted that servicing has changed significantly since the housing crisis, and that the Federal Housing Finance Agency has directed them to review servicing compensation. Subsequent interviews conducted by Inside Mortgage Finance revealed...
Litigation settlements, of course, have played a role in the resurgence in profits at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, though the legal gravy train is just about over for those two.
Last summer, Chase started offering jumbos with credit scores as low as 680 and downpayments as small as 15 percent. Previously, the bank required credit scores of at least 720 and 20 percent down…