Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are well underway preparing to implement the Uniform Closing Dataset that will become mandatory in the second half of 2017. A big part of the change is moving to an electronic process to support the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s closing disclosure.This month, Fannie announced a new collection service that it said offers flexible options for delivering the UCD file in multiple phases of the business process. It includes the ability to verify data and eligibility electronically. Banks can submit either a single file or batch file, get data quality and eligibility feedback messages, and each submission is...

Freddie is busing potential homebuyers to tour affordable housing properties in Chicago as a way to reach low- to moderate income borrowers and unload foreclosed homes in the city.The event, to be held on Sept. 17, is sponsored by the GSE’s HomeSteps real estate unit and the Chicago Urban League. It will include tips on buying foreclosed properties.HomeSteps is the mortgage giant’s program to sell foreclosed properties. While the program is available across the country, it offers special financing for buyers in only 10 states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.

Plaintiffs in a Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac shareholder case challenging the GSEs’ quarterly earnings sweep dropped some of the charges in their original complaint to bypass the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s motion to consolidate all of the cases. The pair, Gary Hindes and David Jacobs, is looking to dismiss counts that allege derivative breach of contract and other similar claims and instead allege “unjust enrichment” against the Treasury Department. The plaintiffs bought the class action suit focusing on Delaware and Virginia corporate law on behalf of themselves and other stockholders. Court documents in David Jacobs and Gary Hindes v. The Federal Housing Finance Agency...

HFSC Continues to Seek Five-Member Commission for FHFA. During a full committee markup this week, the House Financial Services Committee voted to convert regulatory agencies currently headed by single directors, such as the Federal Housing Finance Agency, along with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, into bipartisan, five-member commissions. The HFSC voted to make the Treasury’s one-time GSE privatization study become an annual report/testimony. FHFA Publishes Open Government Plan 2016. The Federal Housing Finance Agency published a document this week highlighting some of the ways it plans to advance the principles of “transparency, participation and collaboration” through open communication and public engagement.

Meanwhile, as home equity originations improve, the outstanding supply of home-equity debt continues to decline.

The third quarter has yet to end and the big question for the industry boils down to this: Will 3Q be better than 2Q?

Among other things, Fannie found that for 3Q16, more lenders expect to sell their mortgages to the GSEs rather than keeping them in portfolio.

Retail lending through brick-and-mortar branches and consumer-direct programs was the biggest production channel in conventional mortgage lending but had a somewhat smaller share in government-insured lending, according to an exclusive analysis by Inside Mortgage Finance. Retail production played a dominant role in the jumbo market, where it accounted for 79.3 percent of originations over the 18-month period ending in June 2016. Correspondent production played a meaningful role, accounting for 16.1 percent of jumbo originations, but brokers (4.6 percent) had a relatively thin share of the jumbo market. Brokers’ strength was...[Includes one data table]

Originations of mortgages to first-time homebuyers in recent years have performed better than other purchase mortgages securitized by the government-sponsored enterprises, according to an analysis by Moody’s Investors Service. The stronger performance of first-time homebuyers occurred even as purchase mortgages for repeat buyers tend to have stronger borrower characteristics. The rating service suggested that tighter underwriting coupled with borrower education and counseling have improved the performance of GSE first-time homebuyer mortgages. Moody’s said...

There is no clear explanation as to why VA rates are lower than the competition, but some industry participants, including Tom Piercy of Incenter Mortgage Advisors, speculate prepayments might be the reason.