More than a year after it was issued under court-ordered duress, the Federal Housing Finance Agency has withdrawn its proposed rule concerning Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac underwriting standards related to mortgages affected by Property Assessed Clean Energy programs. Local governments use the PACE Program, which is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2008, to provide financing secured by a priority lien on the property to homeowners for the purchase of energy-related home improvements. While 27 states and the District of Columbia have legislation in place to permit PACE financing for “green” homes, in July 2010 Fannie and Freddie stopped purchasing PACE-related mortgages that had automatic first-lien priority over previously recorded mortgages.

Standard & Poor’s Rating Services has revised its outlook for the Federal Home Loan Bank of Seattle to “stable” from “negative,” S&P announced two weeks ago. S&P said its revision reflects “significantly reduced losses within the bank’s private-label mortgage-backed securities portfolio and strengthening capital.”

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Jeb Hensarling, R-TX, last week pushed through committee his bill to replace Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with a new securitization “utility” without any government backing, but opponents of the bill warn that the measure will have a much tougher time getting votes on the House floor. The Protecting American Taxpayers and Homeowners Act, H.R. 2767, was approved by a 30-27 margin with all the committee’s Democrats and even two Republicans voting against it. Before last week’s 10-hour bill markup, House Democrats released their principles for housing finance reform. In addition to preserving the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage, Dems aim to establish a system with an explicit government guaranty paid for by the private sector and maintain regulations that the House GOP wants to eliminate.

A pair of newly filed bills by a lone Senate Democrat would see the Home Affordable Refinance Program further expanded as a means to provide underwater homeowners with new refi options. The Rebuilding American Homeownership Act, S. 1375, would modify HARP to allow loans “that lack a government guaranty” to be refinanced through HARP. The bill would also direct Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to price for the risk that the GSEs would be assuming, so that the program has no net costs, as well as establish an automatic sunset for the program after 24 or 36 months.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency announced last week it has reached a settlement with UBS Americas for nearly $900 million to cover claims of alleged violations of federal and state securities laws regarding non-agency residential mortgage-backed securities purchased by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Under the terms of the agreement, the Swiss bank will pay some $885 million divided roughly in half between the two GSEs. UBS will pay Fannie approximately $415 million and $470 million to Freddie to settle claims related to residential MBS offerings between 2004 and 2007. “The satisfactory resolution of this matter provides greater clarity and certainty in the marketplace and is in line with our responsibility for preserving and conserving Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s assets on behalf of taxpayers,” said FHFA Acting Director Edward DeMarco.

A federal district court in Illinois did not err in dismissing a lawsuit by investors against a hedge fund over nearly $7 million lost in Freddie Mac stock before the GSE was forced into conservatorship, according to a recent ruling by the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals. The appeals court agreed with the lower court that the plaintiffs failed to present any valid cause of action.

Preliminary combined net income for the 12 Federal Home Loan Banks jumped 25.9 percent to $730 million in the second quarter of 2013, up from $580 million in the first quarter, according to the Federal Home Loan Bank Office of Finance. The FHLBanks’ net income for the six months ended June 30, 2013, was $1.310 billion, a 1.9 percent increase compared to the same period in 2012. “These increases were driven primarily by improvements in non-interest income and reductions in non-interest expense, partially offset by lower net-interest income,” noted the Office of Finance.

Mortgage lenders saw a noticeable decline in refinancing of underwater Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgages during the second quarter of 2013, according to a new Inside Mortgage Trends analysis of mortgage-backed securities data. Overall refinance volume at the two government-sponsored enterprises declined by 13.6 percent from the first quarter of 2013 to the second, although refi activity continued to make up a huge 75.8 percent of GSE business. Deliveries of Home Affordable Refinance Program ... [Includes two data charts]

Fannie Mae inked a risk-sharing deal with National MI.