The chairman of the House subcommittee that oversees the GSEs unveiled a bill late this week that seeks to drastically overhaul the secondary mortgage market – without the need for Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac.The Private Mortgage Market Act would create a heavily regulated mortgage-backed securities market consisting strictly of private entities functioning without a federal guarantee, according to Rep. Scott Garrett, R-NJ.Garrett, who chairs the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government-Sponsored Enterprises, said the goal of his legislation is to facilitate continued standardization and uniformity, ensure rule of law and provide MBS investors with the necessary transparency and standardization to ensure “that a deep and liquid market develops” without Fannie and Freddie.

Fannie Mae earlier this month released additional results of its new servicer evaluation program for the first half of 2011, noting that 11 out of 13 servicers in this peer group are considered on track to meet at least median performance levels.In February, Fannie rolled out its Servicer Total Achievement and Rewards (STAR) program, designed to encourage customer service improvements and better foreclosure prevention outcomes for homeowners by rating servicers on their performance in those areas. Fannie categorizes servicers into three peer groups based on the number of loans they service, with each servicer scored using the Servicer Performance Scorecard. STAR ratings are based on a five-star scale.

Long awaited alterations to the Home Affordable Refinance Program announced by the Federal Housing Finance Agency this week are expected to be of some relief to underwater homeowners but it will do little to endear the Finance Agency to its critics, particularly among House Democrats, who think the FHFA should do more.Among the new HARP enhancements is the elimination of certain risk-based fees for borrowers who refinance into shorter-term mortgages and lower fees for other borrowers. Also removed is the current 125 percent loan-to-value ceiling for fixed rate mortgages backed by the government-sponsored enterprises.

In a major shakeup of its executive suite, Freddie Mac’s chief executive will step down next year while three members of the GSE’s board of directors are also headed for the exits, the Federal Housing Finance Agency announced this week.Freddie CEO Charles Haldeman Jr. informed the board of his desire “to step down sometime in the coming year,” according to the FHFA announcement. Freddie did not comment on Haldeman’s resignation, nor did it make the announcement itself, referring to the Finance Agency’s official press release in its Securities and Exchange Commission 8K filing this week.

The Federal Home Loan Bank of Dallas has rolled out a new home modification grant program for disabled veterans who were injured in the line of duty during post-Sept. 11, 2001, service.FHLBank of Dallas has allocated $250,000 for its Housing Assistance for Veterans (HAVEN) program effective Oct. 3.HAVEN grants are available through participating FHLB Dallas member institutions to assist individuals in FHLB Dallas's five-state district of Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Mexico and Texas.

Legislative and executive branch policymakers should carefully consider curbing investment portfolios of the Federal Home Loan Banks, say former Bank officials, while a current top Bank official says any such changes in the FHLBanks’ investment authority could undermine the system’s ability to carry out its mission.Since 1990, when Congress broadened the FHLBanks’ previously restricted membership, the pressures for dividends, price competition for advances and increases in required capital levels have significantly increased the “investment” portion of the Banks’ balance sheets, according to former Federal Housing Finance Board Chairman Bruce Morrison.

Mortgage securitization experts have not yet figured out how to preserve the liquidity and consumer benefits provided by the to-be-announced agency MBS market in a mortgage finance system that doesn’t have a role for government agencies. “The failure of the private market has been in figuring out how to encourage a solution with less government,” said Peter Nirulescu, a partner at Capital Market Risk Advisors, during a panel held by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association this week. Despite panelists’ varying perspectives, all agreed that the TBA market continued to perform robustly and any changes made to the...

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s total taxpayer cash infusion could top as much as $311 billion by the end of 2014 – a “savings” of some $52 billion from similar projections one year ago, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency.The FHFA this week released its updated projections of the financial performance of the two GSEs, including potential draws under the Senior Preferred Stock Purchase Agreements with the Treasury Department. "The projections have been updated to reflect the current outlook for house prices, interest rates, and recent trends toward borrower behavior,” explained the FHFA.

House Republicans have already introduced a variety of separate bills to clamp down on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac while the two government-sponsored enterprises remain in conservatorship, and a key GOP lawmaker this week introduced legislation intended to jumpstart a private MBS market to take over when the agencies are finally dissolved. The Private Mortgage Market Investment Act, drafted by Rep. Scott Garrett, R-NJ, would create a heavily regulated MBS market made up solely of private entities functioning with no federal guarantee at all. The lawmaker, who chairs the House Financial Services Subcommittee on...

As the picture of the revised Home Affordable Refinance Program finally came into greater focus this week, MBS analysts indicate that the impact of HARP 2.0 will neither be quite as terrible for MBS investors as feared, nor terribly helpful to the stagnant housing market and the economy at large. The Federal Housing Finance Agency made most of the changes the market expected and steered clear of one that might have boosted HARP business significantly: changing the eligibility cut-off date to give existing HARP borrowers a second crack at the program. The agency agreed to remove the 125 percent loan-to-value cap – although very little...