Fannie Mae is moving closer to hiring IBM as a technology vendor to handle certain data processing chores for the GSE, according to two former Fannie officials. However, as Inside The GSEs went to press, details about what exactly IBM might do for the secondary market giant was unclear.“It’s a huge contract, involving many employees and facilities,” said one source. “It’s broad-based.” But it’s also unclear whether the contract has anything to do with the single MBS platform, a project being overseen by Fannie’s regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

Over the past year, Fannie Mae has sought to impose higher net worth requirements on seller/servicers but has been rebuffed – at least temporarily – by its regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, industry sources familiar with the matter told Inside The GSEs. These same sources argue that the FHFA is definitely open to the idea of hiking the current net worth minimum of $2.5 million, but it wants to make sure that any change applies equally to originators that sell to both Fannie and Freddie. “Right now this is a process,” cautioned one observer. “It’s not an event. There’s no timeframe on this yet.”

Despite little vocal, organized opposition, expected industry group support and bipartisan praise, industry observers on Capitol Hill say it is far from a given that the White House will follow through and nominate Moody’s Analytics’ Chief Economist Mark Zandi to a five-year term as the director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The buzz has died down considerably since the White House leaked Zandi’s name early last week in the latest trial balloon of potential nominees to replace Edward DeMarco, who has led the FHFA in an acting capacity since September 2009. However, there’s a growing feeling of certainty within the industry that if President Obama does in fact follow through and sends a name to the Senate for confirmation, it would be Zandi.

The commercial MBS market is starting to catch fire. Moreover, a new report from Fitch notes that commercial delinquencies continued to fall last year, a trend that will continue.

The White House wants to change the HARP eligibility date, making more underwater borrowers eligible for the program, Inside Mortgage Finance has learned.

Securitization of income-property mortgages jumped 23.0 percent from already strong levels during the first three months of 2013, according to a new Inside MBS & ABS market analysis. A total of $47.61 billion of commercial MBS were issued during the first quarter, including a variety of non-agency deals as well as multifamily MBS issued by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and Ginnie Mae. That was the strongest level since structured finance markets tanked in 2008. The previous post-crash high was...[Includes one data chart]

Many people in the mortgage lending and securitization sectors thought the controversial eminent domain plan pushed by Mortgage Resolution Partners was graveyard dead after suffering a few high-profile defeats in various locales throughout the country. They were wrong. Now, a number of interested industry parties are back on the defensive, trying to convince city officials in Richmond, CA, to abandon a new advisory arrangement with MRP and to discourage local government representatives in North Las Vegas, NV, to not reach a similar agreement with the firm. In both instances, the plan being advanced by MRP would involve...

“We need the light hand of government to set standards and systems for the market to move forward and private capital to return,” said Chris Katopis, executive director of the Association of Mortgage Investors, in testifying at a hearing this week in the House Financial Services Committee. While members of the committee appear to be nowhere near agreement on how to resolve the ongoing conservatorships of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac – or how they might be replaced – lawmakers, non-agency MBS issuers and investors all agreed on the need for new standards to increase non-agency MBS activity. The AMI called...

Mortgage lending firms that want to do business directly with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as approved seller/servicers are encouraged to apply with one or both of the government-sponsored enterprises but only if they are prepared to go the distance to demonstrate they are a good, risk-free fit for the agencies, GSE executives and experts noted during an Inside Mortgage Finance webinar last week. Would-be applicants should not confuse the agencies’ “somewhat conservative” posture under conservatorship for disinterest in taking on new seller/servicers, explained National Union Mortgage President and CEO Bill Cosgrove. “They are open for new business,” he told...

Look for Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s cadre of approved mortgage insurance companies to soon be required to adapt to new policies and eligibility standards in order to continue insuring loans purchased by the two government-sponsored enterprises, the head of the Federal Housing Finance Agency told lawmakers last week. Testifying before the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, FHFA Acting Director Edward DeMarco said that among the Finance Agency’s priorities for 2013 will be to update its MI master policies “by clarifying the role and responsibilities of insurance carriers,” particularly when servicers pursue loss mitigation to help delinquent borrowers. To better protect the interests of Fannie and Freddie, DeMarco said...