Both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have put their foot down regarding certain agreements between servicers and mortgage insurers, reminding them in no uncertain terms that any deals that might compromise the mortgage insurance of GSE loans are prohibited. Fannie published...

Fannie Mae is tightening its loan modification requirements and calling on servicers to consider a loan modification only when a repayment plan is not appropriate to cure the delinquency. According to Announcement SVC-2011-03, issued April 4, the GSE has updated...

The proposal pushed by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) to end government support of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is a “huge step in the right direction” toward housing recovery, according to a Heritage Foundation senior research fellow. A paper by Heritage’s David John supports...

In a move that might bring more certainty to the role of Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems in the foreclosure process, Fannie Mae is requiring lenders to more clearly identify MERS-registered mortgages. The government-sponsored enterprise already requires lenders to report the MERS Mortgage Identification Number for mortgages originated with MERS as the nominee for the mortgagee or assigned to MERS. Then two weeks ago, Fannie announced several updates to its selling guide having to do with MERS-registered mortgages, one of which is...

The Home Affordable Refinance Program generated 8.2 percent less business during the first quarter of 2011 than in the previous three-month period, according to new government data. Although overall HARP activity slowed in early 2011, there was a measurable increase in refinances of performing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans that had current loan-to-value ratios exceed-ing 105 percent. But such loans accounted for only 1.7 percent of total refi activity by the two govern-ment-sponsored enterprises. HARP transactions accounted for...[includes one data chart]

The chairman of the House Budget Committee said this week that a full and transparent accounting of the cost to taxpayers of the federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is the first, best step to determine how to wind down the two government-sponsored enterprises.During a hearing on taxpayer exposure in the housing markets relating to Fannie, Freddie and the FHA, Rep. Paul Ryan, R-WI, took aim at the White House’s plan for a post-GSE mortgage market. “While the Treasury Department has put forward a ‘framework for reform,’ the Obama administration still...

Fannie Mae this week nearly doubled the total output of the non-agency MBS market in 2011 with a new REMIC backed by FHA home-equity conversion mortgages. The government-sponsored enterprise provided a guaranty wrap on Mortgage Equity Conversion Asset Trust 2011-1, a $9.26 billion transaction backed by HECM loans originated and serviced by Bank of America. Through the first four months of the year, total non-agency MBS production came to just $9.98 billion – most of which were re-securitizations. Fannie said it intends to...

The impending overhaul of the government-sponsored enterprises’ servicing guidelines will likely have a negative impact on the servicing of non-agency mortgages, according to industry analysts. The agency servicing overhaul includes financial incentives and penalties, which prompted a warning from Moody’s Investors Service. “Because of the incentives and penalties, servicers will likely shift their focus to loans backing the GSEs’ MBS and away from loans in private-label MBS,” Moody’s said. “This shift will mean that...

The FHA could lose 7 percent, or $2.8 billion, of its current business if loan limits are lowered this year, according to a government analysis of the impact of new lower loan limits going into effect in the fall. Barring congressional action, the temporary FHA loan limits will revert by statute to the lower loan limits determined by the Housing and Economic Recovery Act for loans insured by the FHA on or after Oct. 1. The FHA single-family loan limit, which is tied to the conforming loan limit, continues to start at $271,050 in low-cost areas and goes as high as $729,750 in high-cost areas of the country. On Oct. 1, however...

VA originations fell 10.4 percent during the first quarter, following a downward trend in all four corners of the single-family mortgage originations market during the period. Veteran mortgage originations totaled $18.15 billion in 1Q11, down from $20.26 billion in the fourth quarter of 2010, according to Department of Veterans Affairs data. Interest Rate Refinancing loans accounted for 40.7 percent of total VA loan production during the first three months of the year. The top 25 VA lenders combined for $12.08 billion with a little more than half in refis for a 66.6 percent share of the VA market. They, too, saw their volume drop ... [Includes one graph and one data chart]