Public Comments on the Mortgage Closing Process are Due Feb. 7. Early in January, the CFPB solicited consumer comments on the mortgage closing process, specifically asking consumers to identify the key “pain points” associated with mortgage closing and how they might by addressed by market innovations and technology. The bureau specifically said it wanted comments on how to increase the use of technology and promote inventions that encourage a more streamlined mortgage closing process while also improving consumer knowledge. The CFPB...
The Federal Reserve’s Open Market Committee fulfilled investor expectations this week by voting to reduce its support of the financial markets by another $10 billion overall, starting next month. That will reduce its targeted monthly increase in its agency MBS portfolio from $35 billion to “just” $30 billion. With new production of agency MBS falling more quickly than the central bank’s targeted purchases, the Fed may actually be taking a larger chunk of the market. When the Fed announced a $5 billion per month reduction in its MBS growth target in November, actual agency MBS issuance declined by more than twice as much, $11.3 billion, from the previous month. The FOMC said...[Includes one data chart]
Only a handful of FIRREA cases were filed in the first 20 years after enactment of the statute. In the last two years, however, the government has aggressively used FIRREA to target financial institutions for activities related to the origination, rating, securitization and servicing of residential mortgages.
DOJ’s initial penalty calculation was based on the gross loss to Fannie and Freddie from the default of the loans, but now the government says the court should use gross gain, instead of net gain to set the maximum allowable penalty.
Federal prosecutors have been successful in defending their use of the Financial Institutions Reform, Recovery and Enforcement Act of 1989 in pursuing mortgage-related securities fraud and will continue to use the statute aggressively in enforcement actions barring any adverse court action, according to industry compliance experts. Only a handful of FIRREA cases were filed in the first 20 years after enactment of the statute, mostly simple fraud cases. In the last two years, however, the government has aggressively used FIRREA and the False Claims Act to target financial institutions for activities related to the origination, rating, securitization and servicing of residential mortgages. Of the two statutes, the government has pushed...
A Manhattan federal bankruptcy court this week approved Lehman Brother’s proposed $2 billion-plus settlement that would end an $18.9 billion claim filed against the defunct investment bank by Fannie Mae over soured mortgage securities. Judge James Peck of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, signed off on the settlement agreement between Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and the government-sponsored enterprise, as well as Lehman’s wholly owned subsidiaries Aurora Commercial Group and Aurora Loan Services. ALS was a large Alt A lender/servicer. The deal grants...
President Obama’s scant mention of housing finance reform or mortgage policy during this week’s State of the Union address was not entirely a surprise, say industry observers, but an administration official’s remarks last week on the Home Affordable Refinance Program’s outlook were more encouraging. Obama spoke of housing exactly twice during his prime time speech: first to describe the housing market as “rebounding” and again to demand from Congress “legislation that protects the taxpayers from footing the bill for a housing crisis ever again.” Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac were mentioned...
At deadline we got wind of a former Wall Street investment banker who is setting up a fund to help independent mortgage firms (nonbanks) raise capital.
The Treasury Department and the Structured Finance Industry Group announced separate initiatives last week aimed at increasing activity in the non-agency market. Both efforts plan to round up a variety of industry participants to work through issues that have prevented significant issuance of new non-agency mortgage-backed securities. “In the absence of an apparent leader, Treasury plans to coordinate a series of conversations with relevant regulators, market participants and other stakeholders to help ...
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