California remains the top source of new single-family mortgages for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, even as Fannie remains the dominant GSE in terms of production through the first half of the year, according to an Inside The GSEs analysis. A total of $160.3 billon home loans on Golden State properties were securitized by the two GSEs during the first six months of 2013, accounting for 23.1 percent of their total business for the half year. That was up 21.2 percent from total California production during the first six months of 2012 as the overall GSE market rose 20.2 percent from a year ago.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s official watchdog recommended in a report this week that the agency devise a way to measure how its guaranty fee hikes of the past two years have actually increased the participation of private investment in the mortgage-backed securities sector. As Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s conservator, the Finance Agency directed the GSEs to increase their guaranty fees as a means to encourage greater private-sector investment in mortgage credit risk, reduce their dominant position in housing finance and limit potential taxpayer losses, the FHFA Office of Inspector General report noted. “The enterprises’ average combined guaranty fees have nearly doubled since 2011 – due to legislation and FHFA’s initiative – and FHFA plans further gradual guaranty fee increases to spur private-sector mortgage investment,” said the OIG. “However, it is not yet clear how high FHFA must increase guaranty fees to achieve its objectives.”

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has wrongfully denied Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac permission to uphold their statutory duty under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008 to make contributions to the National Housing Trust Fund, according to a lawsuit filed by the National Low Income Housing Coalition. Fil0ed last week in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, the suit by the NLIHC – along with the Right to City Alliance and four other individual plaintiffs – calls on the FHFA to make good on the GSEs’ obligations to make contributions into the trust fund. The fund was set up under HERA to provide subsidies to rehabilitate and fund low-income housing, but Fannie’s and Freddie’s payment obligations to the trust fund were suspended when the GSEs were placed into government conservatorship in September 2008.

As expected, the president’s nomination of Rep. Mel Watt, D-NC, to head the Federal Housing Finance Agency was approved late this week by the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee. Also as expected, the committee voted 12-10 strictly along party lines to advance Watt’s nomination to the full Senate, where it awaits a vote on confirmation. “As Congress continues to seek consensus on a long-term solution for our housing finance system, we need a Senate-confirmed director in place at the Federal Housing Finance Agency,” said Committee Chairman Sen. Tim Johnson, D-SD. “Congressman Mel Watt is well qualified to lead the FHFA in its conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and he too should be confirmed without delay.”

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are both widely recognized entities in the collective mind of the general public, but more than half of those surveyed hold a “nearly toxic” image of the two GSEs, according to a new poll released this week. Conducted by ONMessage Inc. on behalf of the American Action Forum, the poll noted that 72 percent of respondents knew of or “widely recognized” Fannie and Freddie. The survey consisted of 1,200 likely voters from 18 congressional districts.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency and the Treasury Department illegally implemented the so-called sweep amendment last summer that altered Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s preferred stock purchase agreements to seize nearly all the two GSEs’ profits, in direct violation of the 2008 conservatorship legislation, according to investors’ lawsuits filed in federal court last week. Unlike the initial litigation filed by investors last month that challenges the entire 2008 government takeover of Fannie and Freddie, the separate suits filed by hedge-fund Perry Capital and by Fairholme Capital Management claim that Treasury’s August 2012 amendment to the preferred stock purchase agreements violated the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, which placed the GSEs in conservatorship.

Supporters are defending a House Republican proposal to liquidate Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and let the private market fill in the gaps. But despite a nearly complete lack of bipartisan support and even doubts from within his own party, the author of the proposal is pushing hard to fast-track the bill. This week, the House Financial Services Committee heard testimony from 11 experts on the Protecting American Taxpayers and Homeowners Act, introduced last week by Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-TX.“The PATH Act is a comprehensive proposal to create a sustainable housing finance system by ending the federal government’s domination of the housing finance market and give consumers more choices in determining which mortgage product best suits their needs,” said Hensarling.

Redwood Trust, not surprisingly, was the top jumbo MBS issuer in the first half of 2013, according to exclusive rankings from Inside MBS & ABS.

With legislation to replace the government-sponsored enterprises not likely to be enacted until after the 2014 election, the Mortgage Bankers Association is proposing five steps administrators can take now to ensure a smooth transition without disrupting the nation’s housing finance system. At a press briefing this week, MBA President and Chief Executive Officer David Stevens rolled out the trade group’s five-point plan that could be immediately implemented by the Federal Housing Finance Agency and/or Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac without the need for legislation. At the top of the MBA’s list and the tallest order of the five recommendations is...

Both supporters and detractors of a House Republican bill aimed at comprehensive mortgage finance reform told members of the House Financial Services Committee this week the proposal has room for improvement, but the author of the proposal is pulling out all the stops to get the legislation on the fast track despite a nearly complete lack of bipartisan support. This week’s hearing, called by Rep. Jeb Hensarling, R-TX, committee chairman and author of the Protecting American Taxpayers and Homeowners Act, was designed to gather input on the bill with an eye toward marking up the PATH Act before the House adjourns for its August recess. The bill would put...