It looks like Fannie Mae is taking advantage of an opening in the marketplace to unload some of its legacy non-agency residential MBS. Fannie is moving to divest itself of $1.1 billion in a transaction that was listed this week and expected to trade by week’s end, according to multiple market sources. After the Federal Housing Finance Agency told the government-sponsored enterprises in March to begin selling off at least 5 percent of their illiquid assets, the first round of liquidations took place in mid-May, as Freddie got rid of about $1.0 billion in seasoned non-agency RMBS, with Fannie subsequently selling approximately $2 billion of its multi-family commercial MBS. Round two began...
After long delays, Freddie Mac is close to selling a mortgage-backed security that will include non-agency risk-sharing features. The sale will be part of efforts by the two government-sponsored enterprises to test risk-sharing arrangements on at least $30 billion of business this year, as required by the Federal Housing Finance Agency. A Freddie spokesman said it is “premature” to comment on any deals, but those with knowledge of the pending issuance said the GSE hired Credit Suisse to help market the security ...
Republicans in the House this week detailed their plans for legislation to replace the government-sponsored enterprises with a mortgage securitization system that relies almost entirely on non-agency transactions. The “Protecting American Taxpayers and Homeowners Act” would do away with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and eliminate or delay a number of regulatory reforms in an effort to increase non-agency participation in housing finance. “The current system is a government monopoly run by ...
The Department of Housing and Urban Development is adopting the mortgage banking industry’s data standards format for the FHA’s TOTAL Mortgage Scorecard, which HUD uses to evaluate the credit risk of FHA loans that are submitted through an automated underwriting system. The standards were developed by the Mortgage Industry Standard Maintenance Organization (MISMO), a nonprofit subsidiary of the Mortgage Bankers Association. MISMO is an open data standards group that promotes consistency among mortgage transaction participants to reduce loan processing costs, increase transparency, and ultimately ...
Industry response to a proposal to consolidate Ginnie Mae I and II mortgage-backed securities programs has been positive overall despite certain investor and issuer concerns, according to Ginnie Mae. In an industry update, Terry Carr, Ginnie Mae’s senior advisor of communications and Congressional relations, explained that meetings with stakeholders over the past three months have been productive. “This concept has been well-received,” she said. Ginnie Mae will soon begin developing a blueprint laying out the mechanics for converting ...
Two different groups holding Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac stock filed suit against the government this week claiming that the Treasury Department and the Federal Housing Finance Agency are illegally poaching the profits from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that should go to shareholders. The FHFA and Treasury illegally implemented the so-called sweep amendment last summer that altered Fannie’s and Freddie’s preferred stock purchase agreements, according to the suits. The amended agreement allows the government to seize nearly all the profits of the two government-sponsored enterprises. This is a direct violation of the 2008 conservatorship legislation, according to the lawsuit filed by hedge fund Perry Capital in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. Less than two days later, Fairholme Capital Management filed...
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