Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s home retention activity declined for the most part during the first quarter, according to the latest Federal Housing Finance Agency’s Foreclosure Prevention and Refinance Report.Total home retention efforts dropped to 143,977 during the first three months of the year, down 20 percent from the fourth quarter, while loan modifications in the period also declined to 86,201, down 28 percent.

The sponsor of legislation that would make Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac subject to the Freedom of Information Act’s government transparency provisions told Inside The GSEs this week he is optimistic his bill has a “real fighting chance” of passage in the House.Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-UT, said his bill, H.R. 463, The Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Transparency Act of 2011, has “picked up momentum” following a hearing two weeks ago, and the headlines it produced, in which the GSEs’ regulator panned the bill as potentially harmful to Fannie and Freddie.

Consumer advocate Ralph Nader is calling on the Treasury Department’s Inspector General, as well as the Chairmen of the Senate Banking and the House Financial Services Committees to conduct an investigation and hold hearings about “misleading statements” made...

The increasing return of private capital to the mortgage market that is expected to materialize post Dodd-Frank will provide plenty of opportunity for mortgage real estate investment trusts, with those investing in agency MBS likely to face a particularly low-risk environment, some leading financial services analysts suggest. gWe believe that the increased privatization of the mortgage market combined with the risk retention requirements of the equalified residential mortgagef will create...

Don’t hold your breath waiting for a legislative remedy in Congress to reform and/or replace Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The expectation on the Hill and throughout the industry is that meaningful action on GSE reform won’t occur until 2013 at the earliest, industry sources tell Inside The GSEs.

The use of Federal Home Loan Bank advances among their bank and thrift members fell overall during both the first quarter of 2011 and on a yearly basis, with two of the three largest users showing a drop-off larger than the overall industry’s year-over-year rate of decline, according to the Inside Mortgage Finance Bank Mortgage Database.

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta announced it has appointed Robert Dozier as the Bank’s new executive vice president and chief business officer.

Freddie Mac made a major reshuffle of its executive suite this week with its announcement of new leadership in each of its three lines of businesses and the creation of a new division at the GSE, as well as a number of other senior leadership changes.With the move, Freddie consolidates the previously separate Single-Family Credit Guarantee, Single-Family Portfolio Management and Operations & Technology divisions into the new Single-Family and Operations & Technology division.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency announced late this week it has directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to establish consistent mortgage loan servicing and management requirements for loan servicers acting on behalf of the two GSEs. FHFA’s Servicing Alignment Initiative requires...

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgage-backed securities remained a preferred investment for the Federal Home Loan Banks during the fourth quarter of 2010, though down slightly from the previous quarter, according to a new analysis and ranking by Inside The GSEs based on data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency. Meanwhile, Ginnie Mae securities continued...[Includes one data chart]