GSE observers say that the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s Office of Inspector General appears to be blurring the line between constructive critic and backseat driver following the OIG’s most recent report which takes the agency to task for deficient oversight of Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s business decisions. In a report issued last week, the OIG determined that the FHFA has not established criteria or policies to ensure a rigorous review of GSE business decisions.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency late this week followed through on its promise to develop a post Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac secondary mortgage market infrastructure by releasing for public comment its proposed new securitization platform that could be used by either GSE, as well as by private issuers. The FHFA’s white paper proposed a framework for both a common securitization platform and a model pooling and servicing agreement. Public input on the proposal is due to the Finance Agency by Dec. 3.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency late this week began the formal process of gathering public input on the MBS platform of the future. The agency had previously indicated that it would push...

The sale of Ally Financial’s bankrupt mortgage unit, Residential Capital, should not proceed unless or until the company provides more information about the deal, specifically whether preexisting contracts will be honored, according to court filings by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The two government-sponsored enterprises objected to the sale via papers filed this week in U.S. District Bankruptcy Court, New York Southern District. The GSEs expressed concern that without changes to the deal as currently proposed, it may threaten the contracts the GSEs have with ResCap to service loans. “The debtors have failed...

There is a clear need to reform the government-sponsored enterprise structure but how aggressively Congress will move on it and whether the next administration can provide much-needed leadership is unclear, according to housing and mortgage industry experts. Panelists in a forum hosted this week by the Progressive Policy Institute and the American Action Forum said they doubt Congress will be able to deal with the complex issue of GSE reform in 2013. Some among the panel of top economists and housing market experts said it may take a while before Congress can act on any reform legislation, much less in a bipartisan manner. Congress will not be...

MGIC Investment announced late last week that it won certain concessions from Freddie Mac and the two are working to resolve a dispute regarding mortgage insurance pool pricing by the end of this month. Freddie cut a required capital contribution by MGIC Investment in half and allowed a significant expansion of the number of areas in which an MGIC subsidiary can write new business. “I am pleased with the spirit of cooperation all parties have shown in moving forward to reach this point,” said Curt Culver, chairman and CEO of MGIC Investment and Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp. “While there can be no guaranty that the open matters that remain can be successfully resolved, I am hopeful we will continue to make progress.” In May, MGIC filed...

The conservator of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac has been lax in its oversight of business decisions made by the two government-sponsored enterprises and lacks a formal verification process to keep the two companies honest, according to a new audit by the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s official watchdog. The FHFA’s Office of Inspector General found numerous instances where the FHFA didn’t ask the companies and the two GSEs didn’t tell the agency about significant business decisions, even when such approval was required. “FHFA-OIG found that FHFA did not require...

Single-family mortgage securitization by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac increased sharply during the third quarter of 2012, according to a new Inside Mortgage Finance ranking and analysis. New production of mortgage-backed securities by the two government-sponsored enterprises rose 22.4 percent from the second quarter, driven by a hefty 19.4 percent increase in refinance business. Refinance loans accounted for 76.9 percent of GSE securitization during the period, and the dollar volume of refi loan sales rose 19.4 percent from the second quarter. Fannie posted...[Includes three data charts]

Fixed-rate mortgages comprised most of August’s FHA production, which totaled $22.1 billion, up 13.2 percent from July and 37.9 percent from a year ago, according to an Inside FHA Lending analysis of FHA data. FRMs accounted for 98.9 percent of new loans with FHA insurance in August. In-house originations made up 79.6 percent of new endorsements while purchase loans accounted for 56.1 percent of FHA originations during the month. Wells Fargo is the only top FHA lender to exceed the billion-dollar mark. In fact, the bank reported $2.2 billion in new FHA originations, 76.0 percent of which were produced in-house. The purchase mortgage share of Well’s total FHA originations was ... [2 charts]

New temporary guidelines for approving FHA financing for condominium projects should boost sales of condo units across the country and improve current housing market conditions, according to industry stakeholders. The Department of Housing and Urban Development announced the guideline changes on Sept. 13 after extensive consultations with industry participants. Effective for all condo project approvals and recertifications, the revised guidelines will apply until Aug. 31, 2014, unless extended by the FHA. Stakeholders are confident that the changes, though temporary, will be ...