PIMCO led non-agency MBS investors in the filing of a class-action lawsuit against Citibank last week, alleging that Citi didn’t adequately perform trustee duties on MBS issued before the financial crisis. The lawsuit claims violations of New York’s Streit Act, which has been cited in several other lawsuits against trustees. PIMCO et al v Citibank was filed in New York’s state supreme court. Other investors involved in the filing include AEGON, Kore Advisors, Prudential and Sealink Funding Limited, and the plaintiffs aim to include all that have invested in 25 non-agency MBS where Citi is the trustee. The deals were issued...

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac saw a huge drop in new single-family business in November, according to a new Inside The GSEs analysis of loan-level mortgage-backed securities data. The two companies produced just $50.94 billion of new single-family MBS last month, a 25.2 percent decline from October’s level. November 2015 was the slowest month in GSE MBS issuance since May 2014. MBS issuance was down 30.6 percent at Fannie and off 17.4 percent at Freddie. The sharp drop in monthly production had a distinctly seasonal tone. GSE securitization of purchase mortgages fell a whopping 33.2 percent from October to November, and purchase mortgages accounted for less than half of Fannie/Freddie business last month.

Mortgage lenders repurchased $434.2 million of home loans from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac during the third quarter of 2015, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of securities disclosures made by the two government-sponsored enterprises. That was the lowest quarterly repurchase total since the GSEs, and other “asset securitizers,” began filing disclosures mandated by the Dodd-Frank Act with the Securities and Exchange Commission ... [Includes two data charts]

In the ongoing Fairholme Funds v. The United States case, Judge Margaret Sweeney recently denied Fannie Mae’s motion to quash or invalidate a subpoena issued by the plaintiff’s counsel. As part of the discovery phase, Fairholme Funds asked that Egbert Perry, appointed chairman of the noard of Fannie in 2014 and board member since 2008, be called to testify in the case. In the motion, Fannie and Perry argued that based upon the discovery conducted so far, deposing Perry is “unnecessary and burdensome.” The court rejected that and other arguments made to relieve Perry of testifying. In the November order, Judge Sweeney said that the court permitted discovery in this case to ensure that plaintiffs would have every opportunity to...

Instead of serving as a vehicle to help reform Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the “Jumpstart GSE Reform Act” would only hinder the mortgage giants, some groups say. A handful of fair housing advocates and civil rights groups joined forces to pen a letter urging House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-WI, along with Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-CA, Sens. Mitch McConnell, R-KY and Harry Reid, D-NV, to reject the Jumpstart GSE Reform Act and any attempts to include it in the FY 2016 appropriations agreement. In September, a streamlined version of S. 2038, the Jumpstart Reform Act, sponsored by Sens. Bob Corker, R-TN, Mark Warner, D-VA, and Elizabeth Warren, D-MA, was reintroduced in Congress, then placed on hold and reintroduced again, and...

After the Federal Housing Finance Agency announced last week that the conforming loan limit for GSE mortgages will remain at $417,000 for 2016, and capped at $625,500 in high-cost areas, the California Association of Realtors said it was disappointed that the loan limits weren’t raised across the board, given that home prices in that region are on the upswing and among the highest in the country. The FHFA concluded that the average home value in the third quarter still has not reached the level it was in the third quarter of 2007. According to the expanded-data Home Price Index, national average home prices in the third quarter of 2015 remained...

It’s official. With no fanfare or big news headlines, President Obama signed the salary cap legislation limiting the salaries of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac CEOs to $600,000 each, the day before Thanksgiving. There was strong opposition from many, including White House and Treasury officials, against the new multi-million dollar executive compensation packages proposed by the Federal Housing Finance Agency earlier this year. After a pay hike earlier in the year, salaries are now back at the $600,000 cap, previously set by former FHFA Director Ed DeMarco. The bill by Rep. Ed Royce’s, R-CA, to suspend the CEOs’ $4 million annual compensation packages passed out of the House by a 57-1 vote and was followed by a senate version from...

As the Federal Housing Finance Agency continues to ramp up efforts to get the word out about the Home Affordable Refinance Program, which is officially down to its last 12 months, the agency reported a sharp 18 percent quarterly decline in the number of takers in the third quarter of 2015. There were 25,824 HARP refinances in the third quarter, down from the 31,561 HARP refinances completed in the second quarter, according to new loan-count figures released by the FHFA. HARP activity accounted for about 5 percent of all refinances in the third quarter, mirroring that of the previous quarter. While both GSEs were down in HARP refi volume, Fannie Mae had more activity than Freddie...

After several months of being in the test phase, Fannie Mae officially released its new loan delivery application on Dec. 1. The new platform was designed to be easier to navigate with enhanced reporting capabilities, greater transparency and improved edit management capabilities. Customers have had a chance to get familiar with the program and take advantage of an online tutorial since September. For those ready to fully implement the application, it’s up and running on Fannie’s website as of this week, but there’s still time to ease into it. Both the old and new loan delivery applications will be available during the transition period. Lenders...