The prospect of legislation being offered that would grant the Department of Housing and Urban Development greater authority to manage the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage program has improved significantly after two House lawmakers declared their intention to introduce a bipartisan bill. Reps. Michael Fitzpatrick, R-PA, and Denny Heck, D-WA, announced during a recent hearing by the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Insurance that they will co-sponsor legislation to give the FHA the authority it needs to swiftly implement HECM reforms by mortgagee letter. Fitzpatrick expressed his support for ...

The estimated $119 billion in purchase-mortgage originations during the first quarter was up 15 percent over the level at the same point in 2012.

Legislation introduced last week by a Senate Republican would revoke the charters of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and create a new Mortgage Finance Agency for the securitization of single-family and multifamily mortgages. Meanwhile, a separate bipartisan Senate bill still in the works would also dispense with the existing two government-sponsored enterprises while building a new one. Filed on May 23 by Sen. Johnny Isakson, the Mortgage Finance Act of 2013 is patterned on legislation the Georgia Republican proposed in 2011. It would put the GSEs into “irrevocable receivership,” with the Federal Housing Finance Agency tasked as their receiver no later than 18 months after enactment of the bill. “Immediately upon placement of the enterprises into receivership, the FHFA shall commence...

Consumer advocate Ralph Nader doesn’t exactly have a seat at the mortgage reform table, but that isn’t stopping him from asking the Treasury Department to do something to protect what he calls “the already financially injured common shareholders” of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. In a recent letter to Treasury Secretary Jack Lew, Nader blames a host of senior government officials – including Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke – for misleading investors about the financial health of Fannie and Freddie just months before they were seized by the federal government in September 2008. Nader, a one-time shareholder in the government-sponsored enterprises, is pushing...

Banks and thrifts reported $7.7 billion in mortgage banking income during the first three months of 2013, a 16 percent jump from the previous quarter.

Nonbank servicers had an average of 275 loans per employee in the second half of 2012, according to Fitch, about the same level seen since 2010.

Bank investment in residential MBS fell 1.1 percent during the first quarter of 2013 to $1.562 trillion.

A new bill to replace Fannie and Freddie with a single government guarantor is already being dismissed.

When was the last time a financial institution operating under a government conservatorship started a new company, one that potentially stands to make a bunch of money, given the rapidly improving mortgage market? Answer: Never. This and other questions are being asked by mortgage executives who are trying to track the progress of the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s common securitization platform, a joint venture between Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. FHFA officials...

Ginnie Mae has proposed revising its buyout policy to eliminate inconsistencies in servicers’ repurchase practices and to discourage early buyouts of seriously delinquent loans from Ginnie MBS. Under the current policy, Ginnie Mae issuers may buy out delinquent loans if the borrower fails to make any payment for three consecutive months. However, many issuers have been applying the policy inconsistently, according to Michael Drayne, senior vice president for issuer and portfolio management at Ginnie Mae. Some servicers have been interpreting...[Includes one data chart]