Combined net income for the 12 Federal Home Loan Banks dropped 7.4 percent to $514 million in the second quarter of 2014, down from $555 million in the first quarter and a steeper 18.4 percent decrease compared to same period last year, according to the Federal Home Loan Bank Office of Finance. The decrease resulted primarily from a decline in non-interest income and increases in non-interest expense, partially offset by increases in net interest income, according to the Office of Finance.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are expected to pay some $5.6 billion to taxpayers following a “normal” second-quarter earnings period that was largely absent of big-ticket tax breaks or large litigation settlements, the two government-sponsored enterprises announced Thursday morning.

Two of the 12 Federal Home Loan Banks announced last week they are deep into merger talks that, if consummated, would create the largest single entity within the FHLBank system. The proposed merger of the FHLBank of Des Moines and the smaller, troubled FHLBank of Seattle would create an institution with more than 1,500 member financial institutions in 13 states and three U.S. territories in the Pacific Ocean. “A detailed due diligence process is...

JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo have both paid major settlements regarding FHA lending, and both have curtailed their participation in the program, according to a new analysis of Ginnie Mae data by Inside FHA Lending.

Freddie Mac sold a $659 million package of “deeply” delinquent loans from its investment portfolio – a first for the government-sponsored enterprise.

The seller, which IMA would not identify, hopes to close the sale by Sept. 30. Just over 5,050 loans are in portfolio, which is top heavy in California.

A solid increase in non-agency commercial MBS issuance during the second quarter of 2014 provided most of the lift in new income-property securitizations, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS market analysis. A total of $36.69 billion of commercial mortgages were securitized during the second quarter, up 16.1 percent from the first three months of the year. At the midway point in 2014, new CMBS issuance remained 24.7 percent behind the heady levels recorded over the same period last year, which ended up being the market’s highest point since the financial crisis. Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae saw...[Includes two data charts]

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac actually withdrew $881.5 million of buyback demands, more than lenders repurchased during the first quarter.

If consummated, a combined Des Moines-Seattle FHLB would serve more than 1,500 member financial institutions in 13 states.

A Manhattan federal judge on Wednesday ordered Bank of America to pay a $1.27 billion penalty over mortgage fraud related to Countrywide Financial’s “Hustle” program, a little more than half of what the government had said the bank should pay, while the bank and Department of Justice discuss a potential MBS fraud settlement. Last October, the DOJ and the Securities and Exchange Commission successfully proved in court that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac lost some $850 million from thousands of loans acquired through Countrywide’s “high-speed swim lane” program – known as HSSL or “Hustle.” The loan program ran...