Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could repay the U.S. Treasury faster than previously forecast, according to updated projections of potential draws for the two government-sponsored enterprises issued last week by the GSEs’ conservator. According to the Federal Housing Finance Agency, Fannie and Freddie are expected to draw between $191 billion and $209 billion from Treasury by the end of 2015. This year’s “reduced and more stable” projection by the FHFA is lower than the previous estimate made only a year ago, which offered a range of between $220 billion and $311 billion for total support through the end of 2014. “The key drivers of those results include...
Officials at National Mortgage Insurance say a state-of-the-art business platform and a somewhat old-school approach to writing private MI will help the company establish a beachhead in an industry that’s seen three long-time players washed out to sea by the housing market collapse. National MI hopes to have its Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac approvals within the next few months, and it’s made significant headway in lining up state approvals, officials say. In June, the new private MI was approved for an accelerated licensing process that allows it to seek multiple state licenses on a streamlined basis. The private MI industry has seen...
Valuations of mortgage servicing rights could take a severe beating if scores of banks dump MSRs to avoid costly new capital requirements under rules to implement controversial international guidelines that have been proposed by U.S. banking regulators. Proposals to implement the Basel III capital rules for U.S. banks would be a game-changer for the mortgage industry, said David Motley, president of Colonial National Mortgage, during a panel session at the Mortgage Bankers Association annual convention last week. As proposed, the Basel III rules “would restrict our ability to grow and may cause us to shrink,” he said. The complex set of Basel III proposals would affect...
More Talk Heard About Changing Dodd-Frank. Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee member Mark Warner, D]VA, recently told the Bipartisan Policy Center that he has hope the 113th Congress will be able to put together a technical corrections bill to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. gCongress never gets it right, when youfre looking at massive reform legislation the first time through,h Warner said. gYou directionally head in an area and then you come back two years, three years...
Last week, the CFPB issued its final rule for overseeing debt collectors – which will allow the agency to supervise the larger consumer debt collectors – and included attorneys among those who are going to be subject to direct federal supervision for the first time. That leaves some observers wondering if enforcement actions will be next. Also, with this expansion of the supervision program to oversee nonbanks that are larger participants in the consumer debt collection market, the bureau is now going to be able to...
The CFPB recently put out its small business compliance guide for the bureaufs international electronic money transfers rule (also known as the remittance rule), which will take effect Feb. 7, 2013. The publication summarizes the remittance rule, and includes information to assist a business in determining whether it will be subject to the rule, along with details on the rulefs requirements. The guide is not a substitute for the rule, but it highlights issues that businesses, in particular small businesses and those that...
Representatives of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, the Federal Housing Finance Agency and the CFPB had a meeting late last month to discuss the bureau’s integrated mortgage disclosure rule proposal. The two government-sponsored enterprises told the CFPB they have learned a great deal about data standardization and the electronic capture of data in the course of the three years they have been working on the Uniform Mortgage Data Program, according to a document filed with the bureau. The GSEs “are interested in providing this...
The CFPB announced last week that it is now accepting consumer complaints about credit reporting agencies, another indication that the bureau is aggressively expanding its efforts to protect consumers throughout the financial services sector. “Credit reporting touches the financial lives of nearly each and every American,” said Scott Pluta, head of the bureau’s Office of Consumer Response. “Credit reports affect whether or not you are able to get a credit card, a home loan, an auto loan, or a student loan...
Last week, the CFPB released a report entitled, “The Next Front? Student Loan Servicing and the Cost to Our Men and Women in Uniform,” outlining the unique servicing obstacles reported by U.S. military service members seeking to pay off student loan debt. “Since I began this job almost two years ago, I’ve visited over 40 different military installations – talking to senior leaders, military service providers and thousands of service members and spouses,” said Holly Petraeus, head of the bureau’s Office...
A report recently issued by CFPB Student Loan Ombudsman Rohit Chopra likens complaints in the massive student loan sector to complaints related to problems in mortgage servicing. “The complaints and input received by the bureau resemble many of the same issues experienced by mortgage borrowers, such as improper application of payments, untimeliness in error resolution, and inability to contact appropriate personnel in times of hardship,” the report stated.
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