Freddie officials estimate that industry wide, multifamily originations could top $250 billion this year...

Two Republican lawmakers in the House have raised questions about the diminishing capital held by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac at a time when the two government-sponsored enterprises are expected to generate huge dividends for the government over the next decade. Reps. Stephen Lee (TN) and Mick Mulvaney (SC) recently asked the Federal Housing Finance Agency and the Treasury to consider the impact on the financial system and taxpayers of the GSEs holding no capital. They argue that Fannie and Freddie are already in violation of their statutory capital reserve requirements, and they will not be able to hold any capital after Jan. 1, 2018. “It is...

A recent amendment by Congress to the Telephone Consumer Protection Act was helpful for mortgage servicers but further action is necessary, according to industry participants. Servicers continue to raise concerns about the TCPA due to an order issued by the Federal Communications Commission in June. The order placed restrictions on auto-dialed calls to cell phones, subjecting servicers and others to penalties of $500 per call with no cap on statutory damages. The TCPA allows...

Most of the decline came among the largest banks, with many regionals turning in stronger results in the fourth quarter…

Falling rates are great for the mortgage industry, right? Yes and no...

The White House still wants to kill Fannie and Freddie, but in the meantime it benefits from the their healthy revenue streams...

MBS issuance rebounded in December, with Fannie/Freddie production rising 17.7 percent. In other words, had TRID not caused a December bump in GSE business, January could have looked better than it did.

In November, Judge Sweeney denied Fannie Mae’s motion to quash or invalidate a subpoena issued by the plaintiff’s counsel…

In the fourth quarter, 20.3 percent of refi loans sold to the GSEs were in the low-score category, the highest level for the year.

Remember the Dec. 29, 2015, “clarifying letter” that CFPB Director Richard Cordray sent to the Mortgage Bankers Association? Initially, the letter relieved industry anxiety regarding TRID errors, at least to some degree. But over the past few weeks, certain lenders have once again grown nervous and are reporting resistance by secondary market investors that are turning down their mortgages because of TRID errors. For loan buyers, the issue is assignee liability. The MBA is believed to be a key player trying to persuade the bureau to publish the letter in the Federal Register. An industry lobbyist noted that one week after the clarifying letter came to light, MBA “applied immediate pressure to get the letter into Register form. The CFPB ...