The agreement among Republicans, Democrats and the White House for the need to act and the heightened urgency to pass legislation before a potential shift in power after the mid-term elections could determine the outlook for housing reform legislation in 2014, according to analysts. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac reform efforts in Congress and investor lawsuits are helping shape the housing debate this year, and the recently issued Johnson-Crapo draft legislation is the bill to watch going forward, said Bloomberg Industries analysts this week. The profitability of the two government-sponsored enterprises in 2013 not only fueled...

At the end of 2013, the Fed’s holdings topped the commercial banking industry’s total MBS portfolio of $1.369 trillion, and it accounted for 26.6 percent of the $5.601 billion of agency single-family MBS outstanding at that time, according to Inside MBS & ABS.

When Fed Chair Janet Yellen was subsequently asked to define what the committee meant by the term “considerable time,” she replied that it is “hard to define” but “probably means something on the order of around six months.”

The OMB recently estimated that Fannie and Freddie will pump more than $179 billion into the Treasury over the next 10 years, assuming the two GSEs remain in operation and continue to pay dividends to the government.

All the world loves the CFPB? Not in the mortgage space, it seems. Financial services consultant Joe Garrett said he has six mortgage clients that have undergone exams by the agency. To say the least, it hasn't been a happy experience.

With the first quarter of the year nearly over, the Federal Housing Finance Agency has yet to indicate when, or even whether, it will issue its 2014 Conservatorship Scorecard. The agency debuted its scorecard in early March 2012 under then FHFA Acting Director Edward DeMarco as a means to implement in fuller detail the Finance Agency’s “strategic plan” for a post-Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac secondary market.

With nearly three dozen enforcement actions under the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s belt during its three years of existence, the bureau has shown itself to be willing and able to play hardball with lenders. “The first 35 cases show that the CFPB will be an aggressive enforcer, which is what its backers wanted and expected,” said K&L Gates partner Jon Eisenberg, who recently did an extensive analysis of the cases. “It has the luxury of relying on statutes that employ extraordinarily ...

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have a liquidation value – excluding what they’ve already paid to the federal government – potentially well north of $200 billion, according to an independent evaluation conducted on the two GSEs.The report, conducted by Alvarez & Marsal, concluded that if the two GSEs are eventually liquidated, the federal government could reap $170 billion to $234 billion in net proceeds. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have a liquidation value – excluding what they’ve already paid to the federal government – potentially well north of $200 billion, according to an independent evaluation conducted on the two GSEs. The report, conducted by Alvarez & Marsal, concluded that if the two GSEs are eventually liquidated, the federal government could reap $170 billion to $234 billion in net proceeds.

When conflicts of interest were unearthed, Aurora terminated the contract in 2012, leaving $28 million in unpaid bills. But Allonhill wanted its money.

Bank and thrift holdings of adjustable-rate mortgages have increased significantly in recent years, according to an analysis by Inside Mortgage Finance, driven in part by originations of jumbo mortgages. Banks and thrifts held $647.42 billion in ARMs in portfolio as of the end of 2013, according to call-report data. The total ARM portfolio increased by 0.7 percent last year, the third annual increase in a row, while the aggregate bank and thrift retained portfolio of first-lien mortgages fell 3.0 percent. ARMs accounted for 37.1 percent of the bank/thrift mortgage portfolio at the end of 2013, compared to just 31.9 percent at the end of 2011. Lenders have to keep generating...[Includes two data charts]