The Federal Housing Finance Agency may pursue a fraud lawsuit against Ally Financial despite the bankruptcy status of Ally’s Residential Capital mortgage unit, a Manhattan federal judge ruled this week. U.S. District Court Judge Denise Cote denied Ally’s request to stay the FHFA’s litigation, a typical motion by bankrupt debtors to defer litigation as they seek to reorganize. In 2011, the FHFA filed 18 lawsuits alleging that Ally and other large financial institutions misrepresented the quality of non-agency mortgage-backed securities sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac before the 2008 financial crisis.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, at the direction of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, are developing a standardized dataset to support the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s yet-to-be finalized consolidated closure disclosure forms, the GSEs recently announced. The GSEs’ new Uniform Closing Dataset is a component of the FHFA-mandated Uniform Mortgage Data Program, which is designed to standardize the way loan data is defined, captured and delivered. “The UMDP is a multifaceted, ongoing program in which the GSEs develop and implement mortgage data standards for the single-family loans we purchase and/or securitize,” Freddie said. “Capturing consistent and accurate data is essential to our ability to effectively assess risk on the mortgages we purchase and will create efficiencies for all industry participants.” In conjunction with the uniform appraisal data standards, Freddie said it has worked with Fannie on a joint appraisal data delivery portal, the Uniform Collateral Data Portal, for the electronic capture of appraisal data.

Michael Chan, vice president of ComplianceEase, has come up with a check-list that should be part of every lender's due diligence effort.

FBR notes that a key provision in the draft QRM rule is that any mortgage securitized by Fannie or Freddie is automatically a QRM.

The FHA has consulted with the CFPB regarding the impact of faulty TILA disclosures, which could spell trouble for the industry.

PennyMac is once again stepping up to the NPL plate with some major deals. Meanwhile, cash-out refis continue to dwindle.

Last week, SunTrust and PNC separately disclosed they are being investigated by agencies of the federal government over some of their mortgage practices as the drive continues to bring enforcement actions in the wake of the financial crisis. For SunTrust, the U.S. government is probing whether it properly processed borrowers’ loan-modification applications under the Home Affordable Modification Program. SunTrust Mortgage “has been cooperating...

Any private label mortgage seized through the use of eminent domain will not be eligible for FHA coverage, HUD hints in a new letter.

The IG's evaluation survey found that the total cumulative voluntary attrition rate at Fannie’s capital markets group “increased somewhat” from January 2010 through 2012.

The market did not react kindly to PennyMac's announcement about selling more shares of common stock.