The Federal Housing Finance Agency is looking to consolidate four outstanding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shareholder cases into one location and said it expects more cases will be filed soon. This week, the agency filed a request to transfer cases pending in four district courts to the U.S. District Court in Washington to discourage “copycat” claims and ensure consistent outcomes. “The claims and relief sought in each of the four related cases are substantially similar,” the FHFA said in court documents. “As a practical matter, plaintiffs are relitigating the same legal issues over and over in hopes of finding a court that will rule in their favor.” So far, there have been 15 complaints challenging the Treasury sweep and...
With ongoing rate increases, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have been working to address a host of issues concerning the lender-placed insurance business and said they observed a drop in premiums.After the Federal Housing Finance Agency directed the GSEs to help come up with ways to reduce the costs of LPI over the past several years, in 2015 they established a three-tiered minimum deductible for LPI coverage resulting in higher deductibles but lower premium costs, according to the GSEs’ 2015 progress report. This was in correlation with an FHFA directive in 2013 that prohibited Fannie and Freddie servicers from continuing to receive commissions or other similar incentive-based compensation from LPI carriers.
FHLBank Advance Data. JP Morgan Chase took the top spot for having the largest amount of Federal Home Loan Bank advances in the fourth quarter at $71,581. The bank saw a slight drop, 2.7 percent from the previous quarter, according to the latest data from Inside The GSEs (with chart). New number for Fannie. Fannie Mae created an easy to remember phone number to make getting in touch with the GSE simpler. Call 1-800-2-FANNIE (1-800-232-6643), which this week replaced multiple numbers. The GSE said the old phone numbers will remain available for a limited period of time. FHFA Chief FOIA Office Report. The 2016 Federal Housing Finance Agency Freedom of Information Act Officer Report noted that inter-agency emails, director calendar entries, internal memos and internal employee training materials are examples of the types of information the agency released at its discretion.
Appraisals aren’t causing significant closing problems for purchase-mortgage lending, although there are issues as home prices increase, according to responses to the latest Campbell/Inside Mortgage Finance HousingPulse Tracking Survey. “Appraisals are mostly in line with contract prices,” said Tom Popik, research director for Campbell Surveys. “However, appraisals for FHA mortgages and VA mortgages more often miss the contract price than appraisals for conventional mortgages.” Appraised home prices have tended...
John Shrewsberry, a senior vice president at Wells Fargo, said the bank has focused on adding jumbo mortgages to its portfolio. “They are very safe loans,” he said. “I think we’ve got four basis points of loss coming through that portfolio.”
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