Legislation was introduced this week in the House of Representatives that would effectively neutralize a proposal for local governments to use “eminent domain” powers to seize underwater mortgage loans and perform controversial modifications. Rep. John Campbell, R-CA, has introduced The Defending American Taxpayers from Abusive Government Takings Act, which would prohibit the FHA and VA from originating, insuring or guaranteeing a mortgage loan in jurisdictions that have invoked the power of eminent domain to seize a loan within the last 10 years. Fannie Mae and Freddie would be subjected to ...

SunTrust Banks, Inc. is planning to shift $3 billion of loans, including an undetermined number of delinquent Ginnie Mae loans and other nonperforming loans, to its held-for-sale portfolio and record a $375 million provision for mortgage repurchases in the third quarter of 2012. The moves are expected to strengthen SunTrust’s mortgage portfolio and put the company in a better position by improving its risk profile and balance sheet and stabilizing its capital ratios. The $3 billion transfer of loans to the held-for-sale (HFS) category will include ... (1 chart)

The Federal Housing Finance Agency and the National Credit Union Administration recently filed separate lawsuits seeking repurchases of mortgages in non-agency mortgage-backed securities. The FHFA lawsuit filed in August against DB Structured Products relates to ACE Securities Corp. Home Equity Loan Trust, Series 2006-FM1, which Freddie Mac purchased in August 2006. The FHFA did not disclose the size of Freddie’s investment. And last week the NCUA filed a lawsuit against UBS Securities ... [Includes three briefs]

The eminent domain proposal from Mortgage Resolution Partners will either painlessly help thousands of non-agency borrowers or severely harm the non-agency market, according to industry participants. The newly expanded plan could even hinder efforts to revive the non-agency market going forward, according to MRP’s opponents. “Eminent domain is an important method for mitigating losses to investors,” Graham Williams, CEO of MRP, said in a comment letter last week to the Federal Housing Finance Agency ...

The government-sponsored enterprises’ guaranty fees will increase by an average of 10 basis points in the coming months as the Federal Housing Finance Agency works to align agency pricing with the private market. An increase earlier this year brought interest rates on agency mortgages slightly closer to the rates on non-agency jumbo mortgages but industry analysts suggest that the conforming loan limits have a greater impact on the market share for non-agency originations. “These increases will move [GSE] pricing ...

A trio of industry trade groups is asking a federal appeals court to uphold a nearly century-old law that grants federal-court jurisdiction to civil lawsuits against any U.S. corporation in which claims arise from international banking or banking transactions in a U.S. territory. Last week, the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, New York Bankers Association and California Bankers Association filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals on behalf of Bank of America in its MBS lawsuit with American International Group. AIG filed...

Fannie Mae will retain an “equity interest” in the nearly 700 real estate owned properties the government-sponsored enterprise has sold off to be managed as rentals as part of the pilot program to move GSE-held foreclosures off the books. The Federal Housing Finance Agency this week announced the first winning bidder in its REO pilot initiative. San Diego-based Pacifica Companies LLC paid $12.3 million for a share in a joint-venture with Fannie for 699 properties in Florida, resulting in an estimated transaction valuation to Fannie of $78.1 million or 95.8 percent of the properties’ estimated value, according to the transaction summary. “Fannie Mae sold...

What started as a battle between investors has spread to include lenders, borrowers and servicers. Proponents of plans to use eminent domain for principal reduction warn that the government-spon-sored enterprises and lenders could be subject to redlining and other consumer protection regulations for opposing the evolving scheme. No county or municipality has implemented a wide-scale eminent domain plan, though a number of areas are considering the option. Non-agency mortgage-backed security investors have strongly opposed eminent domain proposals, claiming they are unconstitutional, among other issues. “This unprecedented use of eminent domain law, if successful, would...

A growing challenge for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is the “increasingly vigilant role” of the Federal Housing Finance Agency Office of Inspector General, according to an industry expert. “The FHFA Inspector General, like most IGs, takes his responsibilities seriously, but tends to view things as, if they’re not 100 percent right, then they’re wrong,” said Bob Bostrom, a partner at the SNR Denton law firm. “He has, I believe, had a chilling effect on the willingness of the enterprises, and the FHFA in some cases, to make business decisions,” the former Freddie official said during the American Mortgage Conference sponsored by the North Carolina Bankers Association. The best example of that occured at year-end 2010, when Fannie and Freddie both reached...

Uncertainty about risk in a rapidly changing regulatory environment and the still destabilized economics of the housing market continue to keep private capital from returning to the mortgage market, according to industry officials at this week’s American Mortgage Conference sponsored by the North Carolina Bankers Association. “Everybody’s very concerned about the role of the government, that the government is supporting too much of the marketplace today,” said Meg Burns, senior associate director for housing and regulatory policy for the Federal Housing Finance Agency. “But it’s really hard to envision how people can pull back from that government support when we don’t actually understand not only who holds the credit risk but what the requirements are for retaining that risk in terms of capital.” All of the Dodd-Frank Act regulations that are still in play are...