Will cash-out refinancings ever return? Meanwhile, a new petition posted on the White House website that might helps GSE shareholders is taking off.

Community banks are getting slapped with a "low activity" fee from Freddie Mac and the ICBA is not happy.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has issued two new compliance guides but is warning that they are not substitutes for the underlying rules.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has settled its second mortgage-backed securities lawsuit in its massive litigation effort against non-agency MBS issuers and underwriters that sold to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Citigroup last week agreed to pay damages to settle allegations that the investment bank sold $3.5 billion of faulty MBS to the two GSEs in the years leading up to the financial crisis. The FHFA filed suit during the summer of 2011 against 18 financial institutions, including Citi, alleging violations of the federal Securities Act of 1933.

Residential lenders tend to like the mortgage market in the state of New York because home values there have been steadily improving for years, especially in Manhattan and surrounding areas within a decent commuting distance to the city. But for nonbanks seeking licensing approvals for their loan officers, they would like nothing more than to tell state regulators to take a hike. According to interviews with mortgage executives and some of their attorneys, the Empire State is the pits when it comes to ...

The Obama administration has mounted a public relations push, including a recent White House social media buzz, pushing for the HARP 3.0 program.

Don't put too much stock in the new government figures on mortgage hiring. Some firms are cutting back like Pacific Union Financial.

By excluding from the points and fees calculation compensation paid by creditors and mortgage brokers to their employees, the bureau prevents some double counting.

U.S Bank may proceed on a limited basis in its legal claim against Bank of America and Countrywide Financial in connection with a soured $1.75 billion MBS deal after a New York state judge ruled last week to narrow the case to just a fraction of the loans in dispute. Judge Eileen Bransten dismissed a breach of contract claim against BofA that sought to force the bank to repurchase some 4,400 loans in the pool due to “pervasive breaches” in the representations and warranties of the securities. U.S. Bank, in its capacity as trustee for HarborView Mortgage Loan Trust, sued BofA and Countrywide in August 2011 seeking repurchase of non-performing loans from the underlying residential MBS. The judge said...

The bipartisan legislation to replace Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that’s taking shape in the Senate would leverage key reform projects already underway at the government-sponsored enterprises, but it doesn’t tackle some of the key transition issues the market would face by putting the GSEs out of business. The reform plan being put together by Sens. Bob Corker, R-TN, and Mark Warner, D-VA, has at its core the risk-sharing projects currently being designed by the GSEs, according to a copy of the draft legislation provided to Inside MBS & ABS. The Secondary Mortgage Market Reform and Taxpayer Protection Act of 2013 would also implement the common securitization platform that Fannie and Freddie are building under the direction of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The legislation would put...