Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac this week announced enhancements to their flex modification programs. The primary aim is to ensure that modifications result in a 20% reduction in P&I payments.

A new advisory bulletin from the FHFA will require the GSEs to come up with comprehensive, actionable plans to deal with the impacts of climate change on housing finance.

Fannie and Freddie boast about their downpayment assistance and consumer education programs, key initiatives to help first-time homebuyers in a high-interest-rate, low-supply market.

High delinquency rates in the GSEs’ senior housing portfolios suggest that the sector still hasn’t recovered from the panic created by the pandemic. High interest rates and inflation haven’t helped.

The Financial Stability Oversight Council last week endorsed FHFA’s years-long request for prudential regulatory authority over nonbank mortgage servicers.

Among the questions raised is should FHFA continue to focus on how much liquidity FHLBanks provide for housing and community development or are there other components to FHLBank operations that deserve more attention.

FHFA and the Mortgage Bankers Association have asked legislators to exempt Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from new laws governing the use of automated underwriting systems and other artificial intelligence tools.

FHFA and its Office of Inspector General both missed the Bureau of Fiscal Service’s faulty calculation of the agency watchdog’s yearend payroll liability.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency last week joined the OCC, FDIC and NCUA in reproposing a rule that will prohibit incentive-based compensation agreements.

Even though Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac maintained healthy profits in a tough market in the first quarter, their capital shortfalls under the ERCF remained absurdly high. (Includes data table.)